Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ments with new trails through federal lands, state lands, and private ranchlands. But since the
CDTA depends on private donations and volunteer labor, they need your help in this historic
undertaking.
From April through October since 1996, the CDTA has hosted volunteer trail-building
projects. Since they began, more than 7,500 volunteers have built 1,355 miles of trails, 32
bridges, and 46 trailheads.
Keep in mind that the work is all done in the backcountry, in places where you can't
just skip over to the convenience store for a hot coffee. If you volunteer for one of CDTA's
40-plus annual projects, you'll be sleeping in a tent, eating from a camp stove, and hiking
each day just to get to your work site. Suffice it to say, there's no cell phone reception.
The work is demanding, but the rewards are immense. For one thing, the scenery is spec-
tacular. Most of the trail is above 8,000 feet in elevation. You'll see vistas the average person
sees only on postcards. And since CDTA volunteers range from investment bankers to rodeo
bull riders to highway crew workers, the after-dinner chats can get mighty interesting. Rox-
anne McKay, a cardiothoracic surgeon in her 60s who has volunteered on the trail for two
years in a row, said the post-dinner fireside chats ranged from “previous trail projects, the
Vietnam War, and Peace Corps experiences in Uzbekistan to opinions on stock investments
and the latest camping gear.”
Best of all, you get the chance to make history, to open a trail that accesses the wildest
and most remote parts of our country. You'll get a glimpse of the West as it was when Lewis
and Clark traversed its wild tracts, before our overdeveloped, overstimulated society decided
to turn every other mountain into a ski resort or a condominium development.
THE BIG LEAGUE OF HIKING
Hiking the Continental Divide Trail is not for the weak of heart. It's remote and
wild, posing numerous hazards. Watch out for everything from grizzly bears and
charging moose to fickle weather complete with lightning strikes. On large stretches
of the trail, you'll be above timberline. One hiker joked that his friends argued about
who would get dibs on his gear once his body was found—if his body was found.
