CDT Thru Hike Ep 15: I70 (Frisco) to Grand Lake - "Adapt, Reroute"

Adapt, Reroute - In this episode of my Continental Divide Trail Thru Hike Documentary, I hike from Interstate 70 to Grand Lake. It's an 81 mile hike over 2 half days and 2 full days. The Sugarloaf fire has a section of the CDT closed just north of I-70, and instead of doing the official reroute, I'm doing what I do best... my own thing. Created my own fire reroute. Unfortunately, after rejoining the CDT, lightning me forced off the divide and down into a valley through Vasquez Peaks Wilderness and into Winter Park. This was not my plan, but yet another lesson in flexibility out here. I saw my first couple of Moose in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Near Grand Lake, the trail follows the shores of Lake Ganby, the Colorado River, and Shadow Mountain Lake, the first extended walk along a large body of water along the CDT.
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Day 2 - 1:40
Day 3 - 6:30
Day 4 - 8:37
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To read more (and see pictures) about the I70 to Grand Lake section of the CDT, visit my hiking blog:
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[@Twobarpsi]

Glad to see you respect lightning! Some people don't.

[@Twobarpsi]

It's shocking that some don't! Almost got hit on a golf course. A bolt struck about 200 feet away.

[@ManailBidrussian]

This has been an awesome series so far. You're a great inspiration for many. Looking forward to the rest of this. I'm learning about this CDT, thanks to you.

[@SeekingLost]

Hey thanks so much, glad you're enjoying the journey!

[@mikeb7117]

Beautiful lake views! I can't wait to back on trail!

[@SeekingLost]

Ugh, me too! no long trail plans for this year though :(

[@3pterodactole]

On 3:47, at the back left, do we see incredible waterfall?

[@nobodyhikes]

That campsite was such a good one! Cool to see you blaze your own reroute. Have you had to use any paper maps and compass yet?

[@SeekingLost]

Most nights on the CDT, I had less than ideal campsites. So getting ones like these were great when I lucked out. I started the hike with paper maps as a back up to my GPS, but switched the Guthook app for my phone after a few weeks and ditched the paper maps. Kept the compass, but without the paper maps I probably should have sent that home too. Both phone and GPS have compass. And other ways to find direction. This one is my fav: "Turn the watch so the hour hand is pointing directly at the sun, then find the middle point of the angle between the hour hand and the 12:00 mark on the watch. The middle point marks South, and the point directly across from it is North. Before noon, measure clockwise, or measure counter-clockwise if it's afternoon."

[@mountainsaunter2061]

Last time I was at Grand Lake there was a lot of battle kill.

[@SeekingLost]

Battle kill? Sounds brutal. Yeah there was a lot of beetle kill in the area south of GL. Such a widespread issue in Colorado

[@frank-to7lu]

How heavy is your pack?

[@SeekingLost]

My base weight, without food and water, is about 20-21 pounds. 5 pounds of this was my camera gear, electronics, batteries and chargers

[@nobodyhikes]

@@SeekingLost this was my base weight as well on my last trip. Also 5-6 lbs of electronics

[@SeekingLost]

That's a helluva lot lighter than my pack was when I first got into hiking! Seriously, good job. I bought a lot of stuff twice. But now it's extra gear for my friends if they come with me so it kinda works out.

[@frank-to7lu]

@@SeekingLost Thank you. Just starting out; felt like my pack was trying to kill me. Weighed in at 34 pounds with two litres of water. Excellent video... it was cool to see you and Dixie sharing the trail for a bit. Hope the rest of the trip feels like Nirvana...

[@SeekingLost]

@@frank-to7lu I know the feeling. I had some insanely heavy pack weights when I started too. Did a 5 day hike in Big Bend back in 2012, hauled 3 days of water, pack weight 60 pounds. With big 'ol leather boots too. But I eventually learned :)

[@ungerwhere.]

Smegel!

[@SeekingLost]

Ryan knows his hikers! Did you hike the PCT?

[@ungerwhere.]

I did the PCT in 2017 and did a few hundred miles with a few of the people in the videos. Keep it up!

[@SeekingLost]

@@ungerwhere. Cool, I had a feeling! What's next for you, CDT?

[@mountainsaunter2061]

Haha...beetle kill