hitchhiketoantarctic

Moose are the scary things. They are mean, and BIG.

I've seen lots of wild bears. All but one I was walking along minding my own business when all of a sudden there was a rustle coming from a bush next to the trail with a fuzzy bear butt tearing out of it away from me as fast as they can. Still scares the bejeezus out of you though.

The other one was getting into garbage habitually, I believe it was eventually trapped and relocated.

Simple tips for bear safety: when hiking make noise. Sing songs, clap and stuff. If you don't surprise them, you'll get to see their fuzzy butts like I did.

When camping, keep your food well sealed, and not in your tent. If you don't have too much, hang it in a tree overnight.

I'm not a proponent of firearms for bear protection. Bears have incredible senses of smell, which is why bear spray works so well if one ever charged you--imagine trying to function after snorting a pile of black pepper. Now imagine that your sense of smell is an order of magnitude stronger... The spray also covers a decent area, and therefor doesn't require great aim.

Hey guys! Thanks for doing this!

Richard: did you EVER expect that once leaving public service that your experience with government ethics would become so relevant?

Very nice.

Are you planning on doing the CDT North to South, or South to North?

Gotcha.

Well it's late October and the Divide is bone dry near Loveland. I know it won't last, but I'm happy that it isn't snowing yet because I've still got stuff to do before the winter sets in!

I've backpacked most of the CDT in the state, and the most snowpacked section was always in the south for me--near the NM border actually. It was often late June before we could get through that.

I'm far enough from the Denver metro area that it's not too bad. Real estate and rent prices aren't astronomical, and I don't notice anything being crazy expensive.