Continental Divide Trail hikers already have a superb map resource, the one I’ve used on all my hikes, Jonathan Ley’s CDT-ROM. He’s been providing an incredible service to hikers for nearly a decade, and I’ll use his maps as long as he’ll make them and I can hike them. I’ve given him data and feedback…

At last I’ve finished obsessing over my trail photos! Part of the reason it took so long is that I really wanted a “storybook” view of the photos – a way to browse pictures and captions from at least the three different hikers in chronological order. This turned out to be difficult, so I took…

I failed in my goal of making map posts from the trail, but I still managed to collect a high-resolution GPS track of almost the entire hike. That in itself was challenging enough to be a proud accomplishment for me. I’ll write a little about how I did it, but let’s start with a map…

Some numbers from our walk across Wyoming: Miles Hiked: Hours Tracked: Elevation Gain (ft): Rattlesnakes: Mink: Badgers: Bison: Snails: Bears: Moose: Jackrabbits: Wild Turkeys: Jackalopes: Wild Horses: Deer: Elk: Antelope: Ticks: Biblical swarms of mosquitoes. Untold numbers of other insects, lizards, birds, marmots, and rodents.

Our last day of hiking in Wyoming has arrived! We’re not the first awake in the campground, there are already shouts and car engines roaring to life at 5 am. We have a big breakfast in Bob and Carol’s camper and drive back to Old Faithful, where we traipse along the many pools and geysers…

The theme of the day is set by our fantasies of food at our destination: french fries at Old Faithful. There is plenty to distract us from our obsession during the day, though, with the bubbling and steaming attractions of the Shoshone Geyser Basin and refreshing conversation with Steven and Kristen, who are out on…

Traversing around Heart Lake we start to see some people. A southbound section hiker headed for Togwotee Pass tells that a bear warning has been issued for the area. Apparently the bear layed in the trail blocking the passage of a solo northbounder, then bluff charged her when she tried to go around. When we…

In the morning we cross the Snake River, but it’s so close to the headwaters that it’s little more than an ankle washer. Soon after we enter Yellowstone National Park, and immediately see two other hikers. We leap frog these guys all day, and assure them that they’re on their intended route. It’s kind of…

I’m grateful that the rain has stopped by morning, but it’s cold, and putting on my wet clothes is a torture. We hike briskly to our last Buffalo River crossing, the North Fork. This time we assess it carefully before wading in. It’s just a little easier than the South Fork, and I assist Ann…

We get up very early to make it through the Togwotee Pass construction with enough time left to hike 20 miles. It goes smoothly, and we’re hiking around Brooks Lake by 8 am. We haven’t hiked an hour when we see two bears retreating up the valley. The trail here is most heavily used by…