Silly Chili and I have now completed almost 1200 miles in 61 days of the Continental Divide trail. We hiked through Colorado and Wyoming with 12 resupplies and 3 zero days (no hiking days). The route passed through many diverse and wild areas including: the high and snowy San Juan Mountain Range, Rocky Mountains, Rocky Mountain National Park, the flat and exposed Great Divide Basin, the scenic Wind River Range, Yellowstone National Park, and countless wilderness and national forest lands. The trail often was more of a route with no defined trail and had many alternate routes, which we usually found to be more scenic and pleasant.
For me the CDT was very challenging and strenuous. For the most part, Silly Chili would say it was absolutely incredible, but not as hard or taxing. We both were very hungry most of the time and ate and carried a ton of food. I lost weight and Silly kept his great physique. Evidence of who had to work harder every day.
Silly managed to complete two online college courses (both with A’s) while on trail. I managed to write and post a trail journal each day (a bit of a miracle). And more importantly we stuck with it and stuck with each other, even though I know at times we were very frustrated with each other.
This was indeed a great adventure. I think most mothers would agree that it was even more epic because I shared it with my son.
The following photos are from Silly Chili’s perspective from the last 500 or so miles. Thank you all again for following along. Enjoy!
Wow, so beautiful and inspiring. Am sitting in Auckland, New Zealand and have so loved following your summer adventure while we go through our winter here. I am nearly 2 years through a 5 year course learning to become an Osteopath which is very hard work, but my partner and I are will come to America and walk the PCT once I am done. This will be our reward for making many allowances during these 5 years which have meant big changes in our lives. It is blogs like yours that help me stay on track as I have to sit at my desk studying day after day and not out having adventures as well.
There are photos above that brought tears to my eyes, just stunning. I so look forward to seeing those sort of sights for myself soon(ish!). Thank you for sharing your adventures.
Hey Kona Girl from New Zealand! Thank you for your very kind and touching comment. When you come to hike the PCT in a couple years, we will be ready to help. I live right off the trail about 560 miles north of the border of Mexico and California. The Pacific Crest Trail is an amazing experience and I can’t think of a better way to spend a few months. Congratulations on becoming an Osteopath!
Happy trails and studying!
Beautiful Photographs!!! the CDT is an amazing trail!!
Well hello and thank you.
Thanks so much for sharing your Summer journeys with us all. It has made by cubicle job ever so much more bearable this Summer. =]
You guys are pretty amazing!
Elise,
Thank YOU for inspiring us and keeping us fed and encouraged with your comments and healthy goodies. What were your summer adventures out of your cubicle?
Rockin’, thanks for the great stories and the WONDERFUL pictures. I got connected with you via Wired’s blog. I really enjoyed your blog, thanks for your work on it. I’m getting ready to head out to the PCT for my annual section hike in about a week. This year will be from McKenzie Pass to Shelter Cove. I can’t wait! Cheers!
-GoalTech
GoalTech,
Thank you for following along and have a fun and memorable hike on the PCT. I have not hiked that section. Maybe next summer! Happy trails.
Thanks so much for sharing your life with us. It has been a huge blessing to follow the adventure. Really wonderful.
Tony,
That means so much. I love sharing, but I love even more hearing from folks out there and how they feeling and what they are doing. Great hearing from you.
As a mom about to set out on some small backpacking adventures with her teenage son (with whom I have a great relationship), I’m curious. What’s the most valuable piece of info you and Silly Chili could pass along to the both of us?
Great question. Thank you, thank you for the inspiration to write last week’s blog post:
https://ladyonarock.com/2013/08/09/when-theres-a-will-theres-a-way/
Hope you were able to read and get some tips. The main piece of advice my son would say is:
1. Both be equally and independently committed to the trip, and both be willing to make it work. We cannot express this strongly enough!!!!
Thank you for allowing me to share your wonderful adventure. I will miss it!
That makes me feel so good. Thank you. I will miss sharing also.
Can’t thank you enough for the wonderful words & pictures of your CDT hike! Your sharing of the good times and the hard times has helped me return to hiking. Your descriptions of gear & food prep have inspired me to update my gear and go into the woods again. May even drag my Son with me! Have a great school year and can’t wait to hear about your next trip!
Geryrig
Geryrig,
Well I hope as I am writing this you are on your way, on, or planning your next adventure! Drag that son along. You just never know what you might wake up and inspire.
Wonderful images! Thank you for sharing your journey. Congratulations!!!
Ah Swami my mentor and friend, it was a great honor to have you right along side this summer. Can’t wait to hear of your next exotic trek.
Know that the pics and travelogue meant soooo much to me. I don’t know how or when but some time in the next few years I plan to do the PCT and/or CDT. When I read that SC is your son it made me weep, for after hiking in OR/WA for years with my two children I had to leave them for work in TX. I miss having them with me in the wilds back ‘ome and cannot imagine what life must have been like for you two in the wilds of CO/WY. Namaste. Namaste. Namaste.
Oh wow. After reading I am in hopes that your kids are old enough to get outside on their own. It sounds like you gave them a great start.
You have some really good upcoming goals. I think everything starts with a BIG dream. Don’t you think? Thank you and glad you followed along.
Thanks for sharing your journey. The writing and photos have been great. I am a teacher too and have done chunks of the AT the last couple of summers and the JMT this summer. Not sure that I could do 1200 miles, but love being connected to the CDT through your blog especially now that August is here and work beckons again with its structured bell schedule. I hope you will be able to quickly adjust back to “normal” life.
Work does take over everything it seems. My year has started off great and I am slowly adjusting to every day routines. I think my way of getting back into things is to simplify my home and belongings. I love just having a pack and that is enough. Somehow life isn’t that way. Bummer.
Thank you for your kind words. Sounds like you had a very challenging and action filled summer yourself! Way to go.
A wonderful end to the grand adventure! Through your great photos and blog I have virtually visited a part of the U.S. I would not likely have hiked. Many, many thanks! Among outdoor blogs I have read, Rockin’, yours is a stand out — entertaining, informative, exciting — even the way you share the gear you use on various trips is such an education! You and Silly Chili radiated great joy and put down some impressive mileage. Best wishes for safe future expeditions.
I just love the virtual world of hiking. You can hike any where in the world. I hope to someday visit your stomping grounds on the AT. Who knows maybe next summer? Thanks again for your articulate, insightful, and very encouraging comments. Hope you are out there enjoying the outdoors.
I absolutely love the post where you are leaning against your pack and just taking it all in. What a great photo to end this portion of the larger journey. We are all waiting now for what is next for you and your family. Enjoy home and showers and real food. It won’t be too long that you’ll have to bear it before you are back out there again!
Hello Warren,
I just might add that photo to the header of this blog. As I am writing this I wish I could transport in time and go back to that lake on that day. 1200 miles is a lot and it seemed that something was a big challenge every day, but it went fast. Too fast. I guess that teaches us to be in the moment and savory the hard, bad, good, and easy. Just celebrate.
Yep, Warren I have many trips planned. I would like to get in some climbing after Labor Day weekend. The mountains are calling.
I’ll miss this.
I will too.
Wow! I stand in awe of this awesome accomplishment of yours and extend kudos galore in its completion. You are a very uniquely gifted person. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Hello Barbara!
Glad you were with me once again. I count on it you know. Hope you are well, doing fun things, and happy
So many times I felt I was right there with you through your incredible pictures. What an artistic eye you both have for beauty. Never stop taking those pictured. For me, I am so glad you are safe and home, although for you I know it has to be a mixture of emotions. You are both such an inspiration to those of us that see the world through a car window most of the time. You have helped me realize that there is a whole other world out there if I just open the door and get out. Thanks for sharing your journey. I kept every entry.
Personally I think you are the inspiration. I am just driven and crazy. Thank you for being there for both Grant and I, commenting and reading about our journey, praying for us, and most of all loving us.
Cheers to a most incredible summer! I’ve loved being a part of your journey and memories. You are truly an inspiration; I want to be YOU 🙂 Time to rest and recover now. Thanks again for sharing so generously.
Wow, that is quite the compliment! You already are doing, planning, hiking, backpacking, leading, mentoring, and now blogging. I think it is the reverse. Thanks for always following and cheering us on.
Rockin’ (and SC)–among your other considerable gifts, you have the gift of vision. The artistry of your photographs is a witness to both your technical skills and perhaps more importantly, your will to share your experience with us groupies. Thanks. A lot.
Hamburger Helper
Ahh Hamburger Helper! Thank you thank you for your inspirational quotes that really added to Grant’s and my walk, not to mention this blog. I agree the SC does have a gift. He sees things differently.
Hope you are well and enjoying the outdoors.
Rockin’ and Grant, congratulations on coming to the end of a grand adventure together. Your photos of spectacular scenery and trail commentary have inspired me. Memories of this trek will bring you joy for years to come! Thanks for sharing the CDT Colorado and Wyoming!
Georgette
Boy howdy they certainly will. Grant and I cannot stop talking about the trail. I am sure we are driving every one crazy.
You are in Hawaii as I write this and I am sure having a spectacular time. Thank you for commenting along the way and encouraging us to continue posting a journal daily. I am blessed to have such supportive friends.