How hard is it to hike off trail near the CDT?

[FrancisTapon]

Hi Francis, you answered my question so well on your forums (the one about mileage) that I thought I would try another. I wasnt sure if this question would be relevant enough for the forums but I will be glad to post there instead if you would like.

The trip I am planning (part of it anyway) would take me from the CDT (just west of Mt, Harvard and north-east of Taylor reservoir) to Conundrum Hot Spring just south of Aspen and then finish in Aspen. This would take me off trail for a considerable amount of time. I am not sure how much you had to hike off trail while doing the cdt but I was hoping you might be able to give me an idea of how difficult it might be. Could you usually find a route that was relatively unobstructed or was there thick underbrush that would slow progress? I enjoy the challenge of making my own way but I would be reluctant to do so if the going will be agonizingly slow.

I know that this is a rather specific question and may be difficult to answer but I will be appreciative of any input.

Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge with others,

Sean Elling

Sean: You're right, it's a tough question to answer without having done the same route. The good news is that I did some off-trail hiking near that section while hiking north on the CDT. It was May and it was completely snow covered. The good news about snow, however, is that it makes some terrain EASIER because it covers awkward terrain.

I'm not sure how good you are at reading topos, but this is what I would do:

• * Study the topo of the area closely.
  * Determine how many steep sections there are. Assume you'll have to walk around them and that they're too steep to climb down/up.
  * Determine how much of your route is above the tree line. (The more, the better.)
  * Consider wearing boots instead of trail runners.
  * If the topo shows green, you should be able to get a sense of how dense the vegetation is by how close it is to the tree line.
  * Assume you can't hike more than 1 mile per hour.
  * Having hiked nearby, I suspect that the vegetation is sparce enough to blaze your own trail without a machette.

I adore hiking off trail and I do it often. It's always an adventure! Just be mentally prepared for tedious, time-consuming terrain, thick brush at times, and sketchy steep sections. If you're ready for that, you'll enjoy the adventure. If you think it'll be a piece of cake, you'll be frustrated and disappointed. My bet is that the brush will be minimal and the only challenge will be some of the loose rock that will make footing tricky.

Please do report on how it goes!