As I emerged from the winter, where I tried to winter in the southern desert of Arizona, filled my time reading my Backpacker magazine, planning hikes and backpacking trips for the spring, summer and early fall.
I revisited the Continental Divide Trail days in Silver City New Mexico and within a month made my first-time appearance at the Appalachian Trail Days in Damascus, VA. (Blogpost coming)
The Continental Divide Trail Days took place the last weekend in April in Silver City, NM, and its growth was enormous. I met several groups of people who were 2018 Appalachian through hikers. The all smiled when I asked what they thought of the CDT trail as compared to the AT.
This year’s events began on Friday filled with various educational classes, promoting the trail, testimony from through hikers, along with tales from the trail, and an evening adventure film, all while promoting southern New Mexico as a Destination for outdoor recreation.
Silver Cities Gough Park was ground zero for the 30-plus vendors who set up their displays just after sunrise on a beautiful sunny Saturday morning.
WIth a free pancake breakfast being offered, the mix of locals, “Through hikers,” “section hikers,” and the volunteers who maintain the trail, fellowshipped well into the afternoon.
This was the fifth year for the CDT event, and it is growing as a great trails days event attracting many more people while promoting the beauty of Silver City well into the future.
As always the two-lane scenic drive to Silver city was a journey filled with vistas perfect for photography.
One of the great surprises of this years CDT trail days was encountering this bicyclist who was literally peddling through town when he happened upon the festivities.
He was peddling cross country in honor of a deceased friend. After his trial days encounter and the discovery of his ability to peddling the CDT on his bicycle, he is seriously considering hiking the trail after his bicycle trip.
Click the CDT trail link to discover more about the trail.
(https://continentaldividetrail.org)
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