I'm thinking of doing a portion of the CDT from Cuba, New-Mexico, to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, late springs and wanted to know if anybody had done all or some of this section. Will be hanging of course. Any info would be great. Thanks
I'm thinking of doing a portion of the CDT from Cuba, New-Mexico, to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, late springs and wanted to know if anybody had done all or some of this section. Will be hanging of course. Any info would be great. Thanks
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I hiked it a few years ago the first weekend in October. I would be concerned about snow if I were to do it much before Memorial Day. We had snow in the upper elevations but overall it was easy to work through. It was probably the second prettiest part of the CDT in CO. Trail was fairly easy to follow, and water was never an issue. Only saw one other person during the hike and that was a hunter with a llama. We averaged a little over 20 miles per day. Lots of wildlife. Incredible views.
I am planning on doing it late june, early july, due to snow in colorado. (if it ever snows again!!!)
Wondering as well about the Abiqiu/ghost ranch part as far as trees for hanging. If you remember, let me know if you think there will be sections where I can't hang. I wasn't planning on ground back up, but if I have to go to ground for more than a night, I might have to think about that.
There are a few large open areas but there should be no problems with hanging a hammock; on this trip I used a Tarptent only because I was hiking with my brother and I did not think he would like a hammock. Turns out he preferred a hammock and the next trip we took together we used hammocks and we were both more comfortable. As I said in my previous post the scenery was incredible. In one half mile section there were 5 small (15-25') waterfalls. Even above treeline I could have hung a hammock between boulders. I do remember this area for some of the most scary thunderstorms I have ever encountered; I would try to be below treeline after about 2PM each day. We had a lightning bolt hit near us and it scared us silly and all we could do was laugh (nothing else to do at the time).
I will try to upload some pictures if I can figure out how to get them on my computer.
Thanks Whmoller for the info, I can use as much as your willing to dish out.
It's only the section around (before) Ghost ranch that I'm worried about for hanging. The San Pedro wilderness around Cuba and pretty much from after Ghost ranch to Pagosa is pretty much all mountain forest if I'm not mistaking. I'll be doing that with with a ground dweller friend so we'll just have to deal with each other necessities for camp spots! On another note, everybody I've talked to definitely recommends getting CDT guide books/maps. What's your take on that? And if so, do you recommend Ley Maps, or Bearcreek maps, or both? Sorry about all the questions, this would be my first semblance of thruhiking. 220 miles more or less....
Thanks.
I'd love to see some pics. For a Mississippi boy, there is some beautiful scenery out west.
I used J. Ley's maps and some Trails Illustrated ones as well; I also used a road
map to give me the big picture so I always knew where I was in relationship to a road if I needed to get help. Still looking for the pictures. There are different options as to route, but markings were not the best. I just used a map and compass and had no real issues.
As I said; I hiked the first week in October, but my brother and I were both warm in 15 degree bags. Each day we got a mix of rain and snow; rain below treeline and snow above it.
Still looking for my pics.
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