Mountain Bikes on the CDT

Apparently the Continental Divide Trail has some of the same issues as the Pacific Crest Trail:

"Speaking of advocacy, thousands of acres in the Gallatin National Forest, including several epic sections on portions of the Continental Divide Trail, may soon be closed to mountain bikers. Forest managers are moving forward with a plan to designate the land as a wilderness area and off limits to bikes."

I found this snippet at Bicycling.com, where they seem hopeful that the area through the Gallatin National Forest will be designated a "National Protection Area," which would continue to allow bikes on the CDT. I am sure that there are some complex land use issues here (i.e. history, tradition), but I think the article is moot when it says: "[Patricia] Dowd added that an additional 1,300 miles of trails and roads were already open to bicyclists in the Gallatin."

What?  1,300-miles of trails and roads already open to cyclists?  Why can't cyclists be content with that amount of open trail? 

My hope is that the CDT follows similar rules as the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails and not allow mountain bikes on the trail. I am a cyclist myself here in San Francisco, and I recognize that there are some places where bikes do not belong like sidewalks, interstates and National Scenic Trails.

CDT Map on Phlumf.com

I am fascinated by maps. When I was a kid, I used to sit in a rocking chair and study the Time-Hammond world atlas, noting the locations of streams, lakes, and mountain ranges in places like Argentina or Madagascar. I always wondered how these places appeared.

When I first saw the three-foot long map of the entire Appalachian Trail sometime back in the 1990's, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Many times I had hiked a small section of the trail from Iron Mountain Gap to the Nolichucky River in Erwin, Tennessee, and I always wondered about other sections of the trail. That map showed that there was a lot more to the AT than the southern Appalachians, and I yearned to wholly interact with that map by hiking the whole trail, which I did in 2000.

Recently, I been fascinated with the Google Earth map of the CDT on Phlumf.com. In fact, there are many more pictures of Google maps on this site that has me so freaking "geeked" about hiking the CDT. As I look at this map, I feel like a kid again, as I daydream about the lakes, streams, and mountains in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.

I am posting my daydreams of the CDT on my trail journal. Please check them out, and feel free to sign my guestbook. Daydreams will eventually turn to reality! Check out this link of the map below and daydream with me.

Weathercarrot's Photo Tribute to Gene Espy

Weathercarrot is back in the Bay Area after a successfully serving the 27th Annual Gathering of ALDHA as its presentation coordinator. We had a chance to catch up today over lunch and talk trail and life. It was sure good to see him.

Since my computer was the final staging area for putting together a photo tribute to Gene Espy, who is recognized as the second man to hike the Appalachian Trail, Weathercarrot gave me permission to upload the video to YouTube, and host it on my channel.  I feel honored. Espy hiked the length of the AT in 1951, just three years after Earl Schaffer, and he is certainly another pioneer in the long-distance hiking community.

Props again to Weathercarrot for putting this video together with great care and reverence. Enjoy. 

Protecting the Pacific Crest Trail

A great article from Oregonlive.com on the pressing need for the funds to preserve the Pacific Crest Trail.  Check it out here.

Discovered a Website for CDT Planning

I am watching Disco's Walkumentary, which details his journey on the CDT. In the video, he references Jonathan Ley's maps.  I did a quick search for Jonathan Ley, and I discovered his website: http://phlumf.com, which has some sick information on the CDT.  I am going to link it here on my blog.  CDT 2009 Baby!

Billygoat Speaks

I ran into Billygoat at Pacific Crest Trail Day a few weeks ago - I think many of us thru-hikers can say that he is our hero. Our conversation was pleasant, and we talked about his hiking into the California wilderness with two backpacks (you must ask him about this yourself!). 

Anyway, I told him that I saw an article and a video about him that was done by the LA Times, and that I thought it was really well done. He agreed. I told him that I had shot video of a conversation we had in 2006, and I asked if him if I could put that on my blog.  Of course, he had no objections. So below is a short video about how he explains thru-hiking to a non-hiker. Enjoy!

ALDHA - West Gathering this Weekend

While I was hiking up in northern Oregon, I ran into Warner Springs Monty up in Cascade Locks. "What the heck you doing up here?" I asked him.  He responded saying that he was doing some "trail angeling," and then he was going up to Wenatchee, Washington for the ALDHA-West Gathering . "Cool," I said, "Can I get a ride up to Panther Creek tomorrow?"

Blunt as I may have been, I certainly had a heightened sense of curiosity surrounding this event on Septenber 19-21 and the ALDHA-East Gathering event on October 10-12. What the heck goes on at these events?

I spent a little time with Weathercarrot this past weekend, and I learned a lot more about what goes on.  These gatherings are similar to the Pacific Crest Trail Kick-Off events in that they provide programs and workshops for hikers to attend.  Much more than that, they are events where hikers get to hang out, talk trail, and just be a hiker. 

For those of us who have been bitten by the hiking bug, these events are necessary. Popular culture blesses going to college, incurring debt, getting a desk job, having a family, getting a mortgage, and blah, blah blah.  Taking six months off to go hike a trail goes against that norm, and for those of us who do it, we need a support system that blesses long-distance hiking.

I won't make it to either of these events this year, and the Pacific Crest Trail Kick-Off will continue to be my support event.  Nonetheless, I hope to get to one of these gatherings.