In the meantime, we'll be posting short reports and an appetizer of photos here, and we'll be catching up on a backlog of emails from team leaders. Just a few hours ago Jonathan Ellinger sent me an email:
"We finished last Saturday our trip from Big Hole Pass to Goldstone. My blog entry for the trip is here." Cool blog Jonathan! You can see photos from the trip on Flickr too.
Eli Schelin emailed us a short report this afternoon on their scout of the most northern 50 miles of the CDT.
"We covered the 52 miles from Waterton, Alberta, Canada to the Jackson Glacier Overlook. The trail is in excellent shape and is well signed. We saw lots of wildlife – deer, long horn sheep, and mountain goats in the campsites and on the trail. And we even saw a snow flurry as we came across Piegan Pass on the 8/23. All the team members did a great job supporting one another and sharing their skills and knowledge.
We have a ton of pictures that everyone is sorting through – but in the mean time I’ve attached one picture of the search party at the trailhead in Waterton, Alberta, Canada on the 8/19. From left to right are Andy Hubing, Brian & Shelley TerBush, Robert Vanderhoof, and Eli Schelin."
Check these photos out! Keith Gebo sent these in today from Team 49 on the CDT in Montana. There fires surround them for most of the trip. "We should have some great shots of a big grizzly bruin. The smoke kept us from getting very many 'Big Sky' photos," say Keith. "There were some serious issues with the trail markers and the trail conditions to a lesser extent. I used a MP3 voice recorder to document the trail conditions and warnings. I am working on transcribing it. When I finish I'll send a copy to you. I will also be sharing the information with the local USFS." Thanks for the update Keith.
Here's a new twist: Over the next two years Glenn Dunmire plans to backpack, scramble, climb, or do whatever it takes to trace the Continental Divide.
Not the trail, but the Divide itself.
His hope is to straddle the entire backbone from Mexico to Canada. Most of it will be off-trail, and some hairball sections will require X-treme climbing skills on rotten rock. Most of the trip he'll do solo, too.
Oh yeah, and according to his website, Glenn is doing this truly epic adventure on a rehabilitated hand with three missing carpal bones and a crippled left knee with "no ACL or medial or lateral meniscus."
Imagine the logistics to work a trip like this out? Imagine the all the T-storms he'll have to face being above treeline most of the time? Good luck, Glenn, we'll be watching.
Since our last blog on the Helena High Boys (Team 48), the team has successfully completed their 42-mile section. Listen to the rest of their adventure unfold below:
AUGUST 15 (DAY 3)
In this two-part podcast on Day 3, team leader Steve Wargo reports a few blisters but overall three great days. Tonight they camp at 7,800 feet under the shadow of Mount Black in grizzly country. They also talked about their encounter with The Onion, the thru-hiker who plans to yo-yo the trail this year.
First Report
Second Report
AUGUST 16 (DAY 4)
"Today has been absolutely spectacular!" The team tagged several peaks today, including the highpoint on their section. GPS location: 12T 0383937E 5183942N.
AUGUST 17 (DAY 5)
The five High Boys arrive back in Helena, MT. Team leader Steve reviews how they mapped some of the tough areas of their section and they have a lot of suggestions for land managers and BACKPACKER. In addition to other highlights and last thoughts about their trip, Steve tells a funny story on how a CDT sign clocked one of the High Boys in the head on their last night.
Team co-leader and frequent map contributor Leon Nelson of Redding, CA sent in these photos from their 50-mile leg in the Wind River Range of Bridger-Teton National Forest last week. Leon says the elevation proved to be the biggest challenge for the group who all came from hometowns well below 1,000 ft (the trailhead was over 9,000 ft.). Leon plans to call in day-by-day podcast reports later this week to re-cap their adventures. Send us more photos too, Leon!
Have you heard of this guy? Garret Christensen (trail name: The Onion) is attempting to yo-yo the CDT this year. That means he'll hike from Mexico to Canada then turn around and hike back to Mexico for a total of roughly 6,200 miles. Team 48 crossed paths with this speedhiker yesterday in Helena National Forest. By 5 p.m., The Onion already had 20 miles under his belt for the day and said he finished his north-bound hike in an impressive 95 days. He was on Day 105 or 106 and heading back to Mexico. So he's hiking about 33 miles a day, plus more miles on re-supply days. You can follow his progress on his blog.
This quick report came in last night from Sean Bullington of Centreville, VA:
"Just wanted to send you a quick update to let you know that we are back from the trip (we got in from Jackson, WY this past Sunday morning). We're sifting through the pics/etc and will be working on the trip report over the next week. Other than some blisters, having longer days than expected, walking through some good storms, seeing tons of wildlife, and having to re-route around a grizzly eating a horse on the trail, the trip went really smoothly! We'll keep you posted as the report gets finished, and here's a pic of us near some thermals on the way to Heart Lake!" Thanks for the great attitude and help, AWA!
From a windy saddle, Steve Wargo hells out a big thanks to David Payne and Michael Brown who helped his team through a parched and unsigned section of the CDT yesterday in Helena National Forest, Montana. The team completed 11 miles yesterday, and plans to hike 8 today. Listen to podcast below.
GPS Location: 12T o399751E, 5174135N
A quick recap from team member Kim Phillips:
"Our team set out last Sunday, August 5th to map a 67-mile stretch of the Continental Divide Trail in 
Trip Search
