Passing Creede Cutoff | ft. @extremepacktrip | CDT Ep 114

[@EarlyRiser71]

It was good to meet you, bro. I look forward to watching you finish this journey. Thanks for the conversation on this day. I was tired and hitting a low point! You helped change those variables for me. 🤘🕓

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

Hey man, it was good getting to chat with you also. I was dragging pretty bad also when you came across me

[@jgeisler]

What's the chances of crossing paths with Early Riser on the CO trail? Apparently, 100%.

[@EarlyRiser71]

​@jgeisler Ha! Matt moves pretty good out there. I was following someone on this morning and made it a goal to catch them. Usually, that isn't very challenging. I assumed it was just another older fella that would have to take a lot of breaks climbing the damn roller-coaster of elevation that morning. Finally, the guy stopped in a little pass, and as I was walking up on him, I could see all the bright colors he was wearing. My mind instinctively knew it was Matt. Oddly, I wasn't even surprised. I knew he was in CO, I just assumed he was past Lake City already. It was cool to get to spend time with him. 🤘🕓

[@TheRT88]

Pretty cool the 2 of you running in to each other. I started following EarlyRiser71 since his AT thru hike and Matt since his ECT hike.

[@YT-MikeL]

Dang - two of my favorite ThruTube hikers! When universes collide.....

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

Did I ever appear in their videos? I don’t know what day it was for them when we crossed paths

[@YT-MikeL]

@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes You did not. I believe you would have cross paths on his Days 14-22 section : kzbin.info/www/bejne/hampZpePbsulo5Y

[@butchbinion1560]

Thanks, great going best of luck. ✌🏻👊🏼

[@RS-pk4mp]

Beautiful views! Or, as you tend to say, "well that doesn't (entirely) suck!" Nice to run into fans on the trail, too. Doing great and now into the San Juans. Hike on! Tortoise

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

It’s been surprising how many folks have recognized me out here considering we’re a small channel and all. But it’s been fun chatting with folks

[@barbarataychert4910]

Beautiful scenery!

[@CNP-rn3gd]

Please don't be judging people by the size of their packs - they may have needs that you don't. I hauled a 50 pound pack up the mountaineers trail on Mt Whitney in 1986 complete with eye makeup. It still rates as one of the very best days of my life!

[@raktoda707]

See, your known and respected world wide ! Glad you're having nice encounters,you certainly deserve it! Hope you get to town soon.

[@TXMEDRGR]

An interesting and beautiful area, thanks for sharing it with us. Good luck!

[@DrDavidThor]

If that's beetle-work I reckon we could think of the beetles as a problem but it's prolly better to think of them as a solution and us as the problem. Don't know the local scene but we've prolly savaged, I mean logged, sensitive high-altitude forests and done who knows what else by way of stressing them. If it's like elsewhere, the beetles come in at our invitation. We made a mess, and the beetles come in and take weak trees out of the gene pool. A severe mercy. If it's like elsewhere, I feel gratitude for the beetles as they keep cleaning up after our savage party. Hairless apes bonzai-ing their own forest! The beetles prepare the weakened trees for the fires. Soon our species will be cleared out of the way, just like weak treelings, and the great forests will return. I do love me a bit of beetle-work. Not to mention nematodes on beeches. Stuff like that. Matt's camera reveals glorious mad-maxianly perfect scenery for the end of the world. If I'm right, the beetles are prophets.

[@DrDavidThor]

"The higher you get, the harder it gets. That's life." --Creed 3

[@BobBroeking]

I have watched a couple of videos of long distance horse/mule packing... pretty interesting.... nice video

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

I was surprised just how much extra hassle and support was needed when I first looked into it along the PCT. I think I had more of an image of a cowboy living off the land. I guess we’ll stick to our packs and canoe :)

[@BobBroeking]

@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes Exactly; I kept thinking to myself, do you really need to have the mule carry a table and giant stove in huge wooden boxes; an interesting adventure would be packing light with horses... when I saw the big alcohol bottles set out at camp to make the bar I was astonished! HA

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

@@BobBroeking the extremepack trip folks were saying how they had to swap out some of the horses because they were getting too thin. There are also sections of trail that aren’t passable by horses requiring backtracking

[@BobBroeking]

@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes if I wanted only one app for downloading trails maps and data would it be the far out app or the all trails app? Thanks for your time.

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

@@BobBroeking AllTrails is more for dayhikes, FarOut for thru hikes and longer trips

[@DrDavidThor]

"You wouldn't be any good to anybody if you didn't do what you loved." --Creed 2

[@tangenttrails]

I’d just left the San Juans a week before you near the Needles and it rained everyday for 4 days straight. Snowed on 2. Looks like you’re having better weather except the temps are getting cooler.

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

I had two bigger snow storms which happened overnight and lots of mixed precipitation storms blowing around. Weather seemed to improve the further in I got but the cold hard wind was the worst

[@tangenttrails]

@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes Best wishes to ya! If you’ve made it to Chama yet, check out Fina’s Diner if you like really good 4lb breakfast burritos. Good pizza at Felicianos Homerun Pizza and coffee at Rio Chama Espresso. Most places close by 2pm.

[@timfarness9949]

Awesome views in this one.

[@trudyeagan8160]

Are they taking those horses over the very same trail you’ve been walking? Imagine a horse spooking on a steep trail. I wonder how they handle the altitude.

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

My understanding is that they had a different route at times. Some of the sections aren’t passable by horse. And they said they’d had to swap out a few of the horses because they became too skinny at altitude

[@melissaarchuleta4661]

If you come through Del Norte, you have a place to stay, a great meal, and it's on me!

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

Sadly I’m already south of there but I really appreciate the offer!

[@shephusted2714]

interesting to see all the beetle killed trees - small wonder there are severe fires with all that tinder waiting to go up - see how wildfire season goes this year -so far seems on par but the season is long these days

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

I’ve been lucky so far as far as fires on the CDT. The year before last they had a really rough time and even early last season they had the massive fire down in New Mexico. Sadly it’s just the new reality hiking out west

[@shephusted2714]

@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes the key word here is lucky but obviously skill and experience play a huge part as well - just be hyper aware of your surroundings and don't forget you are out for fun and not necessarily masochism - that is kind of inherent with these treks and you want to try and minimize that aspect and just live in the moment - the weather is bound to be mercurial this time of year but you will probably have some really nice days as well as challenging ones - don't be afraid to take a random mental health day to just read and eat some good food and not in a hotel either but towards winter that may be more appropriate. pls update battery and shoe saga and also any other tech updates as i am sure the audience will love to see items that add value and are basic upgrades to tech gear carried - if it works for you will more than likely work for almost anybody #field tests

[@robinfinehout1160]

We just got back from that area where the enormous fire was. Incredible to see. ​@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes

[@davidkovachi2827]

The worst day I ever had it rained 4 inches followed by wet sleeting rain and alot of that then 17 inches of snow. All layers were soaked. Then getting to the top minus 20 degrees. Not including the wind which was 30 miles an hour and higher. Where I was I was stuck. That lasted 2 days. Luckly I had a minus 20 degree synthetic jack and expedition mitts and a minus 20 degree sleeping bag. The conditions very much called for an avalanche coming or going.

[@davidkovachi2827]

It was very cool you got to meet Early Riser.

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

Cold rain can be way more dangerous than just snow. Once your layers eventually wet out thermal challenges can get really bad

[@stitch3163]

Given that this video is out, I reckon there was no tree-crushing incidents. Were the San Juans worth it?

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

Tough but definitely worth it. Having said that I’ll be happy to cross out of Colorado at long last

[@stitch3163]

@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes Colorado doesn’t make it easy on you. I think that the price you pay is made up by the sheer beauty this place has to offer… minus thunderstorms above treeline.

[@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes]

I tend to be spoiled having had easy ish access to the Sierra high country for so many years and I compare everything to that. I was also apparently very lucky last year weather wise as I didn’t have near the volatility I’ve been seeing this year. Hopefully some of that moisture is making it down to New Mexico where the water sources get few and far between…

[@stitch3163]

@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes you enjoy New Mexico while I enjoy autumn in Vermont! Vermont should be all rained out by now, so I’ll send some your way.

[@DrDavidThor]

hey, that's prolly the Stitch who knew that Salida, where Matt jumped off on his final approach to landing at the monument, does in fact meaning "jumping off point."@@stitch3163