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| At the start on the US/Canada border in Glacier National Park, May 31, 1985 |
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On May 31, 1985 I walked 10.5 miles in Glacier National Park in the Rocky Mountains.They were my first steps on the Continental Divide Trail, a 3100 mile walk that would take me from the snowbound Northern Rockies to the deserts of New Mexico. En route I encountered deep snow, searing heat, floods, droughts, forest fires, blizzards and thunderstorms. I saw bears, moose, mountain goats, bald eagles, rattlesnakes and much more. I camped out on 149 nights, often in the most spectacular places.It was a wonderful, glorious wilderness walk.
Here are some of my pictures from the CDT.
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| The Chinese Wall, a huge limestone cliff in the Northern Rockies |
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| In the Scapegoat Mountains |
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| Camp on Vista Pass in the Wind River Range, Wyoming |
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| The Front Range, Colorado |
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| Bivouac in the desert, New Mexico |
Photographic note: This walk was long before digital cameras. I used a Pentax MX manual film SLR with Tamron 35-70 and Pentax 75-150 zoom lenses and Kodachrome 64 transparency film.
The MX was a good camera. Smaller than the Olympus OM10 with a nice viewfinder display. I always felt Pentax were underrated. I've still got one - the Pentax P30.
ReplyDeleteYes, an excellent camera. Light and small.Tough too.It survived both the Pacific Crest and Continental Divide Trails, unlike the Pentax ME Super whose electronics died on the PCT.
DeleteI had a Pentax MX too. Bomb proof and very reliable.
ReplyDeleteLooks amazing Chris. What are your recollections of the Wind River mountains in Wyoming? I've done some tentative research for a potential trip there later this summer. The "new" high route is being touted as one of the best routes anywhere (by Andrew Skurka et al.)
ReplyDeleteDave Porter
Dave, the Wind River Range is superb. I took a higher route than that recommended in Jim Wolf's CDT guidebook. I'm not familiar with the new high route. I went back to the area for a ski tour in 2009 - http://www.christownsendoutdoors.com/2009/05/wind-rivers-ski-tour-with-igloos.html
ReplyDeleteThanks for that link Chris. I've just read your report. That sounds like a deeply intense wilderness trip under those winter conditions. This is a range I've had my eyes on for several years but never quite made it. It needs some travel planning just to reach the general area.
ReplyDeleteYou may have seen these recent articles but, if not I'll put in the links here.
http://www.adventurealan.com/WRHR/#shuttle This is a very nicely illustrated and informative trip report.
http://andrewskurka.com/2014/wind-river-range-high-route-three-mistakes/ This is Andrew Skurka's reflective trip report.
Cheers, Dave Porter
Stunning stuff Chris. I am always in awe of the achievements of long distance thru-hikers.
ReplyDeleteHave you got a kit list for the CDT? Been looking at your PCT list (Jan 2015). Any changes in those 3 years?
ReplyDeleteThe only CDT kit list I have is the one I wrote in my journal at the time! There were some changes. I took a double-skin Wintergear Voyager (now Terra Nova Voyager) tent, a different sleeping bag, pack, clothing but it was all similar stuff. I'll do a piece on it when I get the time.
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