Twig Adventures

Category: Continental Divide Trail

Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho

Continental Divide Trail, Short Hikes

The Sawtooth Mountains were the 4th mountain range of my 5 range / 3 state impromptu summer tour, after I pivoted from the GDT due to the wildfires. This 30 mile hike came about because Woody wanted to do a short trip right before he started teaching again. Recall that he was one of my hiking buddies that I met up with at the beginning of July, to begin the GDT. When the fires shut us down, he flew back to Utah and I started working my way south to keep on hiking. He was hankering for some more hiking before the summer’s end, but unfortunately wasn’t able to join Strider and I for the Wind River High Route. On[…]

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Wind River High Route, Part 2

Continental Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, Short Hikes

WRHR NOBO Day 1, Saturday, Aug 10th, 2024, Big Sandy trailhead to Big Sandy Lake west end, 5 miles, Elevation 9700′. I felt a bit defeated after our first attempt at the High Route, but better about our chances on our second go around. Approaching the the route from the south allowed for more bailout points at the beginning. At first we were just going to do the Cirque of Towers circuit, but then we decided to go for the rest, wx forecast be damned. We brought about 6 days of food and hoped for the best. The biggest challenge was getting to the Big Sandy trailhead, which was almost a 2 hour drive one way. Incredibly, a Florida friend[…]

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Wind River High Route, Part 1

Continental Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, Short Hikes

We managed a quick turn-around in Pinedale, gathering enough food for about 6 days, as we planned to do the Alan Dixon version of the high route. We briefly considered the Andrew Skurka version, but it looked like a more difficult route than we wanted to take on. Plus, we were already in Pinedale, so our options were limited to the two trailheads on the western side of the range: Green River and Big Sandy. These are the 2 start/end points of the AD route. Getting to either trailhead is a daunting task, as I already knew from hitching to and from Green River while on the the CDT. But we figured we could swing it. We also had our[…]

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Jackson Hole & the Gros Ventre Wilderness

Continental Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, Short Hikes

We spent a day in Jackson Hole hanging out with other hikers and getting a taste of the town. First we made a visit to REI and Safeway for some provisions. My shoes were pretty shot, but instead of getting new ones (which I couldn’t anyway because no store carries Altra Superiors), I got Superfeet inserts. These actually did the trick in giving me a little more support and cushioning for the remainder of the summer. We met several CDT hikers at the Safeway, then got a ride over to the rec center. We’d determined the cheapest way to enjoy quality time in town was to buy a day pass for $15. So we spent the afternoon taking showers, hanging[…]

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After the GDT: Back to the US, Past Glacier, Yellowstone, and onto the Teton Crest Trail

Continental Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, Short Hikes

The following couple of posts will be more of a summary, combining multiple days in an effort to document some spontaneous section hikes over the 2024 summer. I spent about a week trying to figure out what to do after the GDT, then making my way back onto a trail. Roughly, my plan was to complete some alternate stretches along the CDT, which I missed in favor of sticking to the main route during my 2019 thru-hike. My strategy pretty much was to wing-it and see what happened. The first goal was getting back to the US. My post on the GDT FB page got the attention of an incredibly kind lady, Lisa, who offered to drive us from Calgary[…]

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2022 Year In Review

Appalachian Trail, Arizona Trail, Colorado Trail, Continental Divide Trail, Grand Enchantment Trail, Mogollon Rim Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Pacific Northwest Trail

I wanted to do recap of all my hiking in 2022, which is something I should’ve been doing since I started this blog in 2017. Maybe I’ll do some back-posts over the next winter season to cover years 2017-2021. I like collecting stats in one tidy place. Call it ego or whatever, really I just want to keep track of everything for personal reflections. 2022 was a pretty busy year! I thru-hiked one specialty route, the Mogollon Rim Trail (MRT, courtesy of Brett Tucker and Melissa Spencer) and also one official National Scenic Trail, the Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT). These 2 thru-hikes were quite different from each other and afforded a very wide array of habitats, conditions, and experiences. They[…]

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2022 ALDHA-West Gathering / Triple Crown Awards

Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail, Pacific Crest Trail

Saturday, September 24th, 2022, Keystone, Colorado I just wanted to do a quick post about the 2022 ALDHA-West Gathering. This is an annual event where hikers are honored for having completed the Triple Crown of Hiking: the Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and Pacific Crest Trail. I actually completed this trilogy the year prior, but given my Aug-Nov southbound hike of the AT, it was too late to submit my accomplishments for that year. I guess it was meant to be, since having the Gathering in CO aligned perfectly a visit to my home state after the PNT. A hiker friend, Tim Sharp (aka Nine Lives), gave me a ride to and from the event. I only attended one day[…]

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CDT/CT Bonus 2022: Grays Peak, Argentine Spine, & Searle and Kokomo Passes to Leadville.

Colorado Trail, Continental Divide Trail

September 15-20, Thursday- MondayDay 1: Hermit Gulch TH to Grays and Torreys TH, 6.7 miles, 1600′ gain, Elevation 11,245′Day 2: Grays and Torreys TH to Webster Pass, 17.5 miles, 7100′ gain, 6500′ loss, Elevation 11,500′Day 3: Webster Pass to bench near Blair Witch Trail, just before Breckenridge, 24 miles, 3900′ gain, 6300′ lossDay 4: 5 miles into Breckenridge on the road, then 1 mile outside of Copper Mt ski resort.Day 5: Copper Mt to Tennessee Pass, 22 miles, 4000′ gain, 3700′ lossDay 6: Leadville to Denver via car This is trip report of a hike I did with my friend Suvi, who I first met on the PCT in 2018. This year she was hiking the CDT southbound. My pit-stop[…]

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MRT (Bonus) Days 28 & 29: Silver City Fin

Continental Divide Trail, Mogollon Rim Trail

Friday May 6th, 2022, 0630-1800Sapillo Creek to Little Walnut Picnic Grounds outside Silver City24 miles. I heard some strange noises coming from the nearby cave dwellings in the morning. I wondered if it was from animals or ghosts? Perhaps some early-riser CDT hikers had discovered the caves? This area was also where I first heard a Mexican whippoorwill and again, one first thing this morning. They appear to have a very limited range in the SW of the US, but I’d heard them quite a few times on this hike. I always love the sound they make. I also forgot to mention that we saw a lone javalina by the river 2 days prior…first and only of this hike. The[…]

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MRT (Bonus) Day 27: Rollin Down the River

Continental Divide Trail, Mogollon Rim Trail

Thursday May 5th, 2022, 1000-1800Gila Hot Springs to Sapillo Creek17.5 miles. I woke and packed early,  but not so I could hike. My only priority was getting another soak in the springs. I felt pretty warm in my tent, but found my dress frozen stiff outside…it was only 30 degrees. I had to dunk it in the hot water just to be able to change into it. I decided that I needed to invent a hiking robe for such circumstances. None of the CDT hikers opted for a morning soak… probably because of the cold and also because they had thousands of miles left to hike. I had less than 50 miles and 4 days to get it done. It[…]

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