Continental Divide Trail Retrospective Part 1: The Failed Thru Hike | CDT 2022

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

This was recorded in 2022 after I was forced off the trail by illness. At the time I was struggling quite a bit and it just didn’t feel worth posting. Recently while finishing up New Mexico I took another look and reconsidered. Part two to follow covering the events of this year.

[@MaxZomboni]

You had me feeling like i was watching Groundhog Day when you started talking about your upcoming plans. 🤣

[@robinfinehout1160]

Yeah, I got to the part about the Mississippi paddle and realized this was last year. Was wondering why you hadn’t mentioned the helo rescue and NM! Enjoyed listening to the Glacier and Bob stories again.

[@TroutWest]

I definitely should have done more of these hikes when I lived with the folks, keep doing it while you have those resources man.. .life hits quick. Congrats on another huge hike, probably the toughest there is. Looking forward to the next hikes.

[@stitch3163]

Glad that you decided to post this, Matt, and not leave it in a digital dungeon. Nice recap of CDT 22. Looking forward to CDT 23 recap.

[@channeilforeveryours5355]

Glad your feeling better. ❤ HI Jen!!! 👋🏽

[@eaglerare1273]

Great content, thanks for the share. Looking forward to the new adventures

[@swilliams2575]

Thanks for part 1. Looking forward to part 2 and you on the ADT.

[@edfrhes]

Thanks for update.😊

[@20Hikecdt23]

Way to go! Sorry you hot sick. It’s still here, return when you can. Trail is not going anywhere.

[@TXMEDRGR]

It must be an amazing experience to be in the wilderness for weeks at a time. The closest I've come is to be at sea for several weeks. Good luck in 2024, I plan on following your adventures.

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

It is something I feel very privileged to be able to experience. Until 2019 I had so little time away from work everything was rush out to the Sierra / desert for a long weekend of peakbagging and rush back to work. Never got a chance to really settle in or get into more remote country

[@barryparris91]

I was just thinking that we haven't heard from Matt in a while. Glad to see a new video.

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

It's been a slightly busy time since I've been back between the mexico trip and getting the wilderness class kicked off. Hopefully things will calm down here and I can start getting some of these projects finished...

[@ervinslens]

Brilliant scenery my friend, shots are amazing 👏

[@20Hikecdt23]

Thanks for all the good comments. Maybe I’ll see you on trail (cdt). Good video. Thanks!

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

I went back and finished it last year after finishing the GET and Mississippi :)

[@jimwilson5041]

Great content - can't wait for your ADT Adventure. JW

[@RS-pk4mp]

Great recap Matt! You keep bouncing back and that makes all the difference! Hike on! (Even if you can't dive.) Tortoise

[@LenserX]

How is this video just showing up? I feel like we've traveled back in time. Looking forward to ADT!

[@quirkykindalife2948]

It took me five minutes before I realized you recorded this last year. Thanks for the recaps!

[@michaelknepler857]

I am glad you liked the basin. I do too. Most people say they are bored to death.

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

It was a very different feeling section from the surrounding bits and personally that's something I really like about long distance trails. That was why I think I wasn't as bothered by the connecting sections on the CDT where you pop out of a mountain range and walk dirt roads to get to the next one. Also the animals out in the basin were really memorable.

[@terrypaschal348]

Right on soul brother. Great to hear from you.Thanks for the share.

[@danididit3422]

Had to chuckle at the term "Cow Field" - might be a Minnesota thing, but here an area for cattle grazing is called a "Pasture" so sorry not trying to be critical - I followed your channel the whole way - OH MY GOODNESS! you certainly went thru POOP in more ways than one! More than once I'm waiting for your next video just to be sure you were ok (and alive!) Loved it though - keep trekking! Love your attitude!

[@jgeisler]

Haha, what you didn't know when you made this. I mean, it is Masochist. But as we know, all and all, things turned out not too bad. This does bring back many memories of your adventures last year. Looking forward to Part 2.

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

It's always kind of fun to look back on videos like this after the fact and reflect on how it went. Sometimes it's "Gee that all went fairly well" and other times it's more along the lines of "Damn I really didn't realize what I was in for..." :) Can't really complain about this last summer though. Epic trips and a distinct lack of vomiting compared to the last few years...

[@jgeisler]

The Source to Sea adventure was epic. I still find it so incredible.

[@donrobinson5540]

Good to see you back on the channel. How about an interim update on what you’ve been doing since finishing the CDT.

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

I have an episode 176 post trail update and the part two of the retrospective in the works. Along with some other things...

[@user-cc6pc9wn7x]

Great to see this one ! Just finished bingewatching your CDT video's ( '22 and '23 ) .This is a welcome adition. Looking forward to the '23 retrospective ! How is the shoetesting going so far ? Just curious if the Topo Ultraventure 3 's i recommended to you are working out .

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

I’ve been trying out a few things. The non pro Ultraventures do seem to be wider in the toe vs the pro version. Right now that’s the front runner since the new balance just feel a little too narrow

[@user-cc6pc9wn7x]

It's a confy shoe made for cruisy trail and roadwalking ( something like the first part of the ADT) . For more difficult trail go try the Pursuit or the new Traverse , if you can find them in your size.

[@benjamintrivett3675]

A video post containing any and all preparation for the American Discovery Trail, please.

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

I have some rough notes for a video about my ADT plans but there's a lot less prep for something like this than people usually assume :)

[@benjamintrivett3675]

@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes Thank you for the reply

[@20Hikecdt23]

Red line for me. Thanks.

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

It’s significantly harder but the San Juan’s and Black Hills (which are skipped by most folks) ended up being some of the most iconic sections for me

[@MrIanJHoy]

You'll be overlapping with the NCT a bit on the ADT. Since you mentioned that you may hike the NCT some day, I thought I would share this message from the Ohio coordinator about the alt that has the same number of trail miles with hundreds less of road miles. I know you are a purist but this would eventually be similar to the Florida Trail option around Orlando. The original route somehow has to do with canals, however there are the same amount of canals staying north on the Buckeye Trail and go through Cuyahoga National Park and Cleveland Metroparks which are safe and have camping options. Also the trails are loved and actually maintained compared to the southern section. Here is a response from an email exchange: "Thank you for your comment and you are not alone here! I have been informed that we frequently receive similar inquiries due to the nature of Ohio and the obvious alternative route in the NE. Our Ohio route was originally planned and approved by Congress with the intention to connect the trail along various historical canal and tow paths throughout the state. Getting an alternative route such as this passed would have to go through NPS and Congress, which would require decades of us working with them to change that designation. All that is to say, it can be done and we have succeeded in that before (changing the arrowhead route in Minnesota took us 20 years) but I am not involved or aware of any current efforts to make this happen. At minimum, I wish we could publish mapping for a bifurcated route, but even that would need NPS approval so for now the best option is for thru hikers to be aware of the Buckeye Trail Route as an alternative if they are interested in fewer miles and a more direct path. Hope this helps answer some of your questions and unfortunately it's probably not the response you were looking for. That said, if you need anything further please reach back out. " -- Lauren Kennedy-Little (she/her) Regional Trail Coordinator, Ohio and Pennsylvania North Country Trail Association

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

I'm a purist in that I don't like things that lessen my adventure and I want to feel like I did the entire trail. Florida Trail just has east / west alts and they seemed roughly equivalent so I just picked whatever was most commonly used. I mostly became anti alt on the CDT because they mostly just seemed like shortcuts but I did do things like Spotted Bear and one of the winds alts. NCT is probably 2026 so I haven't started looking into it very much. Is the alt your talking about published anywhere on one of the mapsets?

[@MrIanJHoy]

@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes yes map set of Buckeye trail is on farout or Avenza. This is needed no matter which way you go on this loop of Ohio. The alt goes through the northern side of the loop.

[@markrenfrow9873]

Hey Matt!

[@georgem7965]

Glad to hear from you again. This was a nice filler and persprective from the past. It was interesting to hear your plans for the future when that future for you and us is now the past. Looking forward to March but beware that in that part of the country you can get some late winter/early spring storms but the area is populated enough that it should be pretty eay to hole up for a few days and the continue. Is Jen going to join you for the middle section when she is out of school?

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

Jen will actually be with me for a week near the start for her spring break and then for her usual summer. At the moment she's just really hoping I make it at least most of the way through Kansas before she rejoins me

[@nickd.9179]

Topo recently launched a new shoe the Traverse specifically designed for thru hikes.

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

I saw that. I have a pair on the way now that they are back in stock. I'm somewhat sceptical but we shall see. Currently the best non altra shoe I've found is the non pro version of the ultraventure

[@debbiemansfield1481]

Are you going to put up a video of your Mexico dive trip you just took?

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

Yep! The editing on those is just a bit of a nightmare due to circumstances on the boat. So it'll be a bit longer. (Makes me appreciate how straightforward the hiking / paddling videos are)

[@snowcrash512]

Not sure if you saw but Topo replaced the ultraventure Pro with the Traverse, its supposed to be more durable but who knows honestly. Now that New Balance is ruining the next Hierro in the spring I am desperately buying as many discount pairs as i can and scrounging for someone that believes feet are wide and size 14.

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

I was going to try a pair of New Balance. What’s happening with the Hierro? The Ultraventure Pro didn’t work well for me. Too narrow in the toes. The non pro seems promising so far

[@snowcrash512]

@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes Hierro 8 is getting a stack height increase, which is fine, needed even I would say. However they are swapping the glorious Vibram Megagrip outsole out for Vibram Ecostep which has sucked in every other shoe I've had it on, mediocre grip and subpar durability compared to Megagrip.

[@MaxZomboni]

13:42 That should be said for the AT trail builders as well. The most irritating thing about watching most KZbinrs hiking the AT is listening to them whine endlessly about the rocks and PUDs. There is absolutely no reason to complain about that. It's that way by design. Until the 1990s the AT was almost entirely road walking. Yeah there was the Smokies and the Whites, but the rest was pretty much entirely on road shoulders. A lot of money was spent to buy right of way to reroute the AT off the roads.The Roller Coaster section didn't exist. Most of the most iconic sections of the AT that people love to film today didn't exist. I read in one old article that the New York section was called the least hiked section of the AT, because most AT hikers skipped it. Reason being the entire NY section was virtually entirely on road shoulders. It was considered too dangerous and not even worthwhile to hike it. Now people want to skip it due to the PUDs. 🤦‍♂

[@david_W5QDF]

I agree with you and you should carry your pack the whole length and you should not take shortcuts. 🥾🥾🥾

[@thomasmontoya7279]

please shave your head at the start of the discorvery trail

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

Jen would be really unhappy if I did that…

[@tomgarcialmt]

My girlfriend was upset when I shaved my head. Now she likes it and is my wife!@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes

[@James-mi2fj]

Hey man i was on your web site trying to email you but couldnt get the link to work..... i had some questions about your thru paddle...... any chance i can get ur email address

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

Odd, I just checked and the contact link on my website worked for me. [e-mail]