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The goal was simple: a bikepacking route from Pagosa Springs to Durango. Quiet, primitive, dirt, singletrack if possible. It would detour us around the Weminuche Wilderness on the CDT, so we can rejoin the trail outside of Silverton. Looking at the maps makes your brain hurt. There is a huge network of trails, roads and …. [Continue reading] 
We stopped at the bike shop on the way out of town. Picked up a tube to replace the one I had to put in my rear wheel after simultaneously breaking a spoke and flatting. We also picked up a $1 map of the most popular trail system in town. As we were getting ready …. [Continue reading] 
It was a bit of a dubious plan. Snow levels were still high, melting fast and creating high runoff. relaxing at Lucky Acres We could have played it safe, staying in Chama with our awesome hosts, Dave and Bev. As attractive as that option was (mmm… Elk Tacos) we are action figures, as …. [Continue reading] 
I awoke sometime in the dead middle of the night, enough to rouse to full consciousness. Above me was the deepest and darkest sky I can ever remember seeing. I recalled there are no major cities for hundreds of miles. No light pollution. No clouds. I could see the swirl of the Milky Way intermixed …. [Continue reading] 
It’s hard to describe today’s riding. I can’t even fully describe it to myself, or remember it all. I think that’s the sign of a good day, or maybe a good long day. It rained enough drops overnight that we were happy we had the tarp up — just for peace of mind. …. [Continue reading] 
At lunch in Ghost Ranch we talked with a fellow who told us of a horse packer who rode the CDT to ‘reassert’ pack access on the trail. It sounded like quite a challenge. It might be a way of putting what we are doing — reasserting bike access on the CDT. We finally pulled …. [Continue reading] 
We were pretty content at taking a zero day at Ghost Ranch, and who wouldn’t be? It’s a retreat afterall — peaceful and the perfect place to rest up. But as Eszter says, we are action figures and resting is hard sometimes. She provided the motivation to get us back on the bikes for …. [Continue reading] 
You win some, you lose some. Yesterday’s hot springs route was a total win. Today’s National Recreation Trail, not so much. I’m not going to say it was a lose, because we enjoyed it on many levels, but it sure wasn’t a sweet singletrack descent. More like a log filled, never traveled trace of a …. [Continue reading] 
Part of the beauty of a trip like this is that it was simply too big to plan at once. We knew we would have to stay flexible and make things up on the fly. So it was today that I invented a new route through the San Pedro mountains, eschewing the divide route since …. [Continue reading] 
The mesa country north of Mount Taylor. One of the most beautiful and remote sections of the divide route. Discovering that there was now CDT singletrack was a huge impetus for getting this trip off the ground. I was perhaps more excited to explore the mesa country and ride along rims than for any …. [Continue reading] 
A six thousand foot climb is not the friendliest of reintroductions to life on the trail. We knew it was going to be a tough transition… it was just a matter of how tough. We were both about one day into stir crazy in the motel. 3 days was great, 4 was just a bit …. [Continue reading] 
We’re back on the CDT north of Silver City! It’s the official trail, but a section few hikers take. Not because it’s hard (though we did push bikes!), but because there’s a better route and one that has more water (the Middle Gila). It’s wilderness, though, …. [Continue reading] 
CDTbike photos from the first 200 miles, to Silver City, NM! Roger Payne, man of leisure (according to his brother!), dropping us 28 miles from Crazy Cook. What a guy. The story of Crazy Cook, much of it obscured by the sands of time. We’ve heard a few variations of the …. [Continue reading] 
We are camping at 8000′ somewhere in the Zuni Mountains, on an improvised shortcut that turned out brilliantly and gave us the best riding of the day. Today wasn’t a good day for singletrack hunting, but it might have been a good day for future CDT bikers and the route, in general. It was hard …. [Continue reading] 
We have arrived at one of the legendary stops along divide: Pie Town. Yes, the place actually exists. It’s home to maybe 50 people and two pie shops. That’s the correct ratio of pie to people, if you ask me. The pie was especially delicious for us since we were running pretty thin on …. [Continue reading] 
The sunset on Mangas mountain made it all worth it. The CDT has quite the personality in New Mexico. We pushed bikes. We navigated moonscape burn areas. We lost the trail. There was no trail. We stopped at the top of a 2000 foot descent with little hope for trail, let alone a clear …. [Continue reading] 
All predictions on the beauty of the night held true. Sleep was deep, for bikepacking.. only waking up occasionally to check the status of the nearly full moon. We dug right into ‘the Gila’, cresting ridgelines and dropping into deep canyons. It’s quite a road. What I remember most was miles and miles of coasting …. [Continue reading] 
Silver City isn’t the kind of place you can feel good about leaving too quickly. There’s something about it. Eszter says it has the friendliest people, and I think she’s on to something. For sure the good folks at the Bike House were kind to us, welcoming us in just about every way possible. It …. [Continue reading] 
Woke up to a bright sun on ponderosa pines, and purple lupines just outside the sleeping bag. The order of the day was dropping down forest singletrack. We had a choice, and we decided to continue on CDT, skipping a faster route to Silver CIty and the route thru-hikers use. It was early in the …. [Continue reading] 
We took a leisurely start, which was much needed. The wind picked up to 20-30 mph very early. If we’d been on the trail by 6 or so, we might have had a long enough window to get out of the flats, but I kinda doubt it. So we left Lordsburg, on trail and on …. [Continue reading] |
 Scott Digital Nomad, nowhere, USA Lifelong mountain biker, trail mapper and programmer. Sometimes bikepacker, sometimes runner, sometimes packrafter. I love to ride my bike, get out, and explore this beautiful planet we find ourselves on. I live in a 20 foot GeoPro Trailer, traveling about the west. Main author of TopoFusion GPS Software, co-founder of Trackleaders.com. More... Projects / Sites  
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