Too Many Choices

If you get overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices in the cereal isle of the grocery store, then you know what it feels like to plan a Continental Divide Trail thru-hike. When a trail following the continental divide was first conceived in the 1960s, it was a 50 mile wide corridor on either side of the divide for 3,000 miles. The first people to hike the "trail" patched together various
routes using existing roads and trails, where available, and blazing their own path for over a 1,000 miles of wilderness. There is no "official" route to follow, and there is still approximately 450 miles of unfinished trail. There are two popular maps for the CDT that require a ream of paper each! To complicate matters, both maps offer their own recommended route as well as many alternates varying in length from one mile to hundreds of miles. If you patched together the shortest possible route, the trail would be approximately 2700 miles. The longest route would be over 3,000 miles. There are pros and cons to both recommended routes and the many possible alternates. Is your head spinning yet?

For many people, part of the appeal of hiking the CDT is the freedom to choose your own route, For me it is a logistical nightmare. Mr. plan every detail in advance and leave nothing to chance is having an organizational melt down. My propensity for planning is being powerfully perplexed. Who knew hiking was so complicated! Hiking the CDT is going to be a S-T-R-E-C-H for me in many ways, including the impossibility of planning every detail and preparing for every contingency. I'm going to learn to live with uncertainty, embrace the unknown, and allow the adventure to unfold. Take a deep breath Loren, it's going to be ok. Keep calm and plan on.