Day 00 Prologue

It all began innocuously enough. While mountain biking the Colorado Trail in 2009 my oldest daughter, Cassi, and I noticed that it overlapped in parts with the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). We had heard in almost mythic tones about the CDT. It was over 3000 miles long. It went through the most remote wilderness in the lower 48 states. It wasn't complete and often went cross country. Few people attempt to travel it's entire length and even fewer do so in one season. We were hooked.

Here is a link to our Colorado Trail mountain bike trip: sites.google.com/a/greyrock.org/colorado-trail

After researching the trail and talking we decided it would be best to travel it over several summers. Neither of us could take off the 6 months from school/work needed to complete the CDT in one season. We decided to travel south to north, starting at the Mexican border and doing one state each summer. We traveled New Mexico by mountain bike last summer (sites.google.com/a/greyrock.org/new-mexico-s-continental-divide) This year in Colorado we switched to hiking due to the steepness and difficulty of the terrain and to not miss any wilderness areas. Bikes are not allowed in wilderness areas and we would be traveling through nine in Colorado.

We spent a lot of time walking to get ready for our trip. Biweekly day hikes in the foothills near our house were curtailed in June by the High Park Fire which for weeks fouled the air and closed the forest. We supplemented by walking the Poudre River trail to and from work.

Our preparation was not all physical. We studied maps and down loaded routes on our GPS. We read books about the CDT in Colorado and about wilderness medicine. Cassi even took a Wilderness First Aid class to feel better prepared.

We had most of our gear from previous trips. However we did get new shoes and socks and Cassi a new/lighter pack and sleeping pad. We minimized our pack weight. Without food and water Cassi's was 10 pounds and mine 12. Our maximum weight with a week of food and water about 24 / 28 pounds, average weight with three days provisions 17 / 20 pounds

Our friends and family were getting used to our madness. Though none were crazy enough to actually hike with us they were invaluable in assisting us on our trip. My middle daughter, Mila, helped us package and mail food to resupply points along the way. My youngest, Mika, and her mom, Dawn, took us to the start at Cumbres Pass and met us 4 days later with a resupply at Wolf Creek Pass. Mika's spent several weeks with her family (aunt, uncle, cousins, grandma) in Cortez. My parents helped take care for her and Mila after.

At work we hired Ruth Hand, a nurse practitioner, to cover our vacations. Her first assignment- fill in for me for a month. On the evening of July 12th Dawn, Mika and I picked up Cassi at Denver International Airport and drove through the night to the New Mexico-Colorado border. We had the tent up and were in our sleeping bags before midnight but I could not sleep. I was too excited about the adventure to come.