Continental Divide Trail--Glenn Dunmire Route

Dunmire, an avid climber and naturalist, will hike the length of the Continental Divide, from the Chihuahuan desert in New Mexico to Canada. Though there is a Continental Divide trail, it deviates largely from the true crest of the divide for most of its length. Glenn hopes to cover as much of the journey in 2007, before winter snows close the highest passes in the Rockies. Sierra Designs will be outfitting Glenn with gear and apparel and will be following him along his journey, documenting his experiences and reactions to the products and technologies.

The Real Continental Divide:
In 2007-2008 I will walk solo along the 3100 mile U. S. section of the actual or Real Continental Divide. My goal for the trip is to stay exactly on the true geological crest that divides U.S. watersheds, east toward the Atlantic Ocean and west toward the Pacific Ocean. Almost the entire route is cross country, with rarely a few miles of trail or road. The Wind River Mountains will be the primary technical difficulty with many miles of technical climbing over granite towers and ridges. For safety and speed I will have a partner join me for technical climbing sections. The logistics of a year’s worth of food, equipment, supply drops, communications, and arranging climbing partners has been almost overwhelming as I prepare for the trip.
This trip is my rehab from a potentially career ending hand injury which left me with limited mobility and minus three carpal bones. Paired with my crippled left knee with no ACL or medial or lateral meniscus, friends ask how will I be able to do a trip like this? My response is" There are a lot of people out there with worse injuries than mine who get up every day and get after it. I’ve got no excuses!"
I will begin my journey in April 2007 on the New Mexico/Colorado border and head north. Avalanche conditions will probably stop progress November 2007 to April 2008. During that time I will hike along the Continental Divide through the desert terrain of New Mexico. In 2008 my sojourn will end in the alpine zone at Glacier National Park on the Canadian border.
Why the Continental Divide? I grew up in the Rocky Mountains and was first introduced to the Continental Divide as a seven-year-old in Yellowstone National Park where my dad was the chief park naturalist. During our first week in Yellowstone we crossed the Continental Divide, backpacked in to Heart Lake, and climbed Mt. Sheridan. From Mt. Sheridan we looked out onto the divide where it contours around Yellowstone Lake. My parents explained what the divide was and it was of course "cool" as was everything else in the sixties. Four years later we moved to Rocky Mountain National Park where the Continental Divide touches many of the trails and peaks that would become my playground until I left for college. I returned to work for many years along the divide as a climbing ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park. The Continental Divide shapes and defines our country as it shapes and defines me. I had to return to explore the entire Real Continental Divide, a combination of geography and personal history, much more than a line on the map to me.
I first tied into a rope when I was nine, fired by my father’s stories as a climber on the 1954 California Himalayan Expedition to climb Makalu. One of my first expeditions was homegrown when my brother Pete and I climbed all 54 of Colorado’s 14,000 foot peaks in 54 days pedaling bikes between them, crossing the Continental Divide eight times. Since then I have been on numerous first ascents in Alaska, Nepal, Patagonia and elsewhere. I have also participated in rafting first descents, extensive mountain treks, and backcountry science research in Alaska. Despite many successes abroad, walking and climbing along the Real Continental Divide, a feat no one has yet completed, will be one of my greatest challenges. http://www.therealcontinentaldivide.com