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The Greater Western Loop
Greater Western Loop
I am starting my next big hike soon with my partner Not Ready. We plan to start with the Continental Divide Trail and head sobo (southbound). We’ve planned out our own version of a route called the Great Western Loop. Most hikers that complete this route do it quickly in one season, but we are planning to take about 15 months to do 8900 miles.
Our route is the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) sobo, Grand Enchantment Trail (GET) westbound, Arizona Trail (AZT) sobo, a westbound self-made segment that crosses the Sonoran/Mojave deserts, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) nobo (northbound), and eastbound on the Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT). The trails will all be hiked in entirety as opposed to linking them together to form the loop. We will be doing a lot of logistics in between segments. Our goal is to redline whenever it is safe to do so. If we get in above our skill level, we will find an alternate route to keep a continuous footpath.
I met Not Ready (formerly known as Sidewinder) when he was finishing his Appalachian Trail sobo thru hike in February 2020. We went on to hike the CDT together to finish out my triple crown. I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2015, PCT 2017 and CDT 2020. We are very excited to do the CDT again! I think it will be an entirely different adventure. We are especially excited for the winter segment of this adventure! Lots of planning and gear research went into making this happen. We both spent the last three years saving up to make the trip possible.
We are currently on a train from Boston headed to East Glacier, Montana. When we get to East Glacier we will go to a hiker hostel called Luna’s Looking Glass Basecamp. We have allotted a day for traveling to a ranger station in order to sort out backcountry permits, then we hope to start on June 21st.
Not Ready brought an extra backpack filled with our resupply food for the East Glacier to Augusta section. We also have a giant bag of train food. We have a comical and outstanding presence in the train stations. It feels great to be on our way!
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Comments 4
Your bio is Magnificent!
What an undertaking…your western loop…and an adventure of a lifetime.
Looking forward to following your experiences and discoveries.
Thanks so much! We are very excited for the adventure!!
Hello! It sounds like a great trip. That said Ray’s law says if you need a permit or will see other humans or sign of them don’t do it. I really like discovering caves for this reason. Hello Wrangell-St. Elias! Have a great trip.
–Sockeye
Hi! We are stoked to get out there!!! Funny you should mention permits, getting permits has been our first challenge starting in Glacier NP. I’m just along for the ride wherever it takes me. I love me some solitude, but good company can be just as rewarding.