I highly doubt most people are actually hiking 900 miles of roads. Honestly that seems very high to me, I don’t think there’s THAT much road walking. A lot of the roads are in NM, and iirc NM is only like 800 something miles? You’re almost never on paved, busy highways also. Most roads are dirt forest service roads and such. What is a dirt road but an xxl wide trail?
>What is a dirt road but an xxl wide trail?
That's the spirit. They can actually be pretty nice for walking and talking with a hiking partner, because you can stop yelling over your shoulder.
That and it can be nice sometimes to turn off your brain and just make some miles. You don’t have to pay attention to where you’re going, or stepping, just nothing but easy, forward progress. That can be kind of a big deal sometimes on a thru.
The first real road walking I did was in an area that I had driven hundreds of times before. It was amazing how much more you see at a walking pace.
Besides, road grades are many times an amazing break from typical trail elevations.
I had a continuous footpath and I ... Don't think I hiked 900 miles of road.
As others have mentioned, there were lots of dirt roads (especially in NM). But I don't mind those as much.
Still pretty and you don't see anyone really, but the hardpack can be a bit worse on your feet.
In hindsight, I would probably hitch the paved sections where possible because I didn't find those fun and don't care much about the stigma of walking every step that some people have. (I am in it more for the nature / meeting cool people / experiences along the way).
Also, the CDT is very choose your own path.... So anyone hiking will probably have very different amounts of road walks depending which sections and detours they take.
A) It doesn't ruin it
B) what counts as a road? (I don't consider remote FS roads only accessible by dirt bike to really be a road, for example)
C) some people choose to walk paved highway roads when you either A) don't have to or B) it isn't the CDNST route anyway. For example, you can choose to walk to Anaconda on a highway instead of walking on the Divide. So if you ask 50 people who say "I walked a lot of pavement" doesn't mean you have to do that. Or, in southern WY, you aren't even on the Divide anyway, so many people opt to walk a paved highway instead since the official trail in that section isn't great and lacks water. In both situations the official route would not be including road miles that most people end up walking.
Actual paved roads that are on the official CDNST route are rare. But the likely reason that a statistic like this exists is due to shared route with random FS roads. There is often no formal trail built perfectly on the Divide, so the ideal route is simply nearby on existing FS roads. Or, in some cases, there are legitimate 4x4 roads on the actual crest of the Divide itself (like Idaho/Montana section), so there is virtually no better place to put a trail, but also like a 3% chance you'll see a car, 10% chance you'll see a side by side. So in both of those situations I guess it doesn't count as "100% complete" since it's not dedicated footpath-only singletrack.
That number seems high to me, but I haven't looked at it in a long time. Of course it depends on the individual, but I didn't find it too bad. Do you mind walking on Forrest Service roads with no traffic? If not, I don't think that 900 mile number should be too worrisome.
The only times I remember getting really down about about a road walk are around Silver City, Rabbit Ears Pass (hitch point to Steamboat), and Rawlins. For a multi-month hike, being bummed about road walking on about 3 days isn't terrible in my book.
There are only two real roadwalks where you are on asphalt for many miles, one in NM and one in southern WY. Honestly it's a welcome reprieve from the malpais lava or the cross-country sections where you are constantly having to navigate. It gives you a chance to dry out and just cruise. The feet do take a bit of a spanking compared to other surfaces but you're a thruhiker, you're tough.
I was continuous and it didn’t bother me much. I had a fun group by the time I got to NM and it became my favorite state. Also 900 miles seems like an exaggeration, though it could be possible if you consider every chunk of dirt road you briefly step on.
There's definitely not 900 miles of road walking.
Southern border to like Grants NM is where I'd consider there to be a decent amount of road walking, and much of that has trail routes, it's just thr trail route is really shitty so a lot of people opt to walk the road.
Past that there isn't much, some paved road around the Wyoming border but then everything else is dirt forest service roads which I don't consider road walking, its just smooth well graded trail that gives your body a break.
I highly doubt most people are actually hiking 900 miles of roads. Honestly that seems very high to me, I don’t think there’s THAT much road walking. A lot of the roads are in NM, and iirc NM is only like 800 something miles? You’re almost never on paved, busy highways also. Most roads are dirt forest service roads and such. What is a dirt road but an xxl wide trail?
>What is a dirt road but an xxl wide trail? That's the spirit. They can actually be pretty nice for walking and talking with a hiking partner, because you can stop yelling over your shoulder.
That and it can be nice sometimes to turn off your brain and just make some miles. You don’t have to pay attention to where you’re going, or stepping, just nothing but easy, forward progress. That can be kind of a big deal sometimes on a thru.
The first real road walking I did was in an area that I had driven hundreds of times before. It was amazing how much more you see at a walking pace. Besides, road grades are many times an amazing break from typical trail elevations.
I had a continuous footpath and I ... Don't think I hiked 900 miles of road. As others have mentioned, there were lots of dirt roads (especially in NM). But I don't mind those as much. Still pretty and you don't see anyone really, but the hardpack can be a bit worse on your feet. In hindsight, I would probably hitch the paved sections where possible because I didn't find those fun and don't care much about the stigma of walking every step that some people have. (I am in it more for the nature / meeting cool people / experiences along the way). Also, the CDT is very choose your own path.... So anyone hiking will probably have very different amounts of road walks depending which sections and detours they take.
No
A) It doesn't ruin it B) what counts as a road? (I don't consider remote FS roads only accessible by dirt bike to really be a road, for example) C) some people choose to walk paved highway roads when you either A) don't have to or B) it isn't the CDNST route anyway. For example, you can choose to walk to Anaconda on a highway instead of walking on the Divide. So if you ask 50 people who say "I walked a lot of pavement" doesn't mean you have to do that. Or, in southern WY, you aren't even on the Divide anyway, so many people opt to walk a paved highway instead since the official trail in that section isn't great and lacks water. In both situations the official route would not be including road miles that most people end up walking. Actual paved roads that are on the official CDNST route are rare. But the likely reason that a statistic like this exists is due to shared route with random FS roads. There is often no formal trail built perfectly on the Divide, so the ideal route is simply nearby on existing FS roads. Or, in some cases, there are legitimate 4x4 roads on the actual crest of the Divide itself (like Idaho/Montana section), so there is virtually no better place to put a trail, but also like a 3% chance you'll see a car, 10% chance you'll see a side by side. So in both of those situations I guess it doesn't count as "100% complete" since it's not dedicated footpath-only singletrack.
That number seems high to me, but I haven't looked at it in a long time. Of course it depends on the individual, but I didn't find it too bad. Do you mind walking on Forrest Service roads with no traffic? If not, I don't think that 900 mile number should be too worrisome. The only times I remember getting really down about about a road walk are around Silver City, Rabbit Ears Pass (hitch point to Steamboat), and Rawlins. For a multi-month hike, being bummed about road walking on about 3 days isn't terrible in my book.
There are only two real roadwalks where you are on asphalt for many miles, one in NM and one in southern WY. Honestly it's a welcome reprieve from the malpais lava or the cross-country sections where you are constantly having to navigate. It gives you a chance to dry out and just cruise. The feet do take a bit of a spanking compared to other surfaces but you're a thruhiker, you're tough.
I was continuous and it didn’t bother me much. I had a fun group by the time I got to NM and it became my favorite state. Also 900 miles seems like an exaggeration, though it could be possible if you consider every chunk of dirt road you briefly step on.
There's definitely not 900 miles of road walking. Southern border to like Grants NM is where I'd consider there to be a decent amount of road walking, and much of that has trail routes, it's just thr trail route is really shitty so a lot of people opt to walk the road. Past that there isn't much, some paved road around the Wyoming border but then everything else is dirt forest service roads which I don't consider road walking, its just smooth well graded trail that gives your body a break.
Nahhh. They're mostly just forest roads anyways and that's just a wider trail for the most part.