John & Mareike from the Continental Divide Trail – Wanderwach & Kaffee
Recorded live from the Continental Divide Trail comes this special episode: not only is it in English, it is with an extraordinary guest, namely my boyfriend John, who hikes the CDT at the moment.
So, I am super stoked to have my wonderful partner as a guest in the newest episode.
The Continental Divide Trail is one of the big three long-distance trails in the US. It covers about 3000 miles from the border to Mexico along the continental divide to the Canadian border. This trail is probably the most remote and challenging of the three trails forming the „Triple Crown“ of US-American long-distance trails.
Initially, it was planned to hike the CDT together back in 2020, but the pandemic and a new job for me made it impossible. Now, John, aka „Longstride“ on the trail, started to hike the trail back in April. I made it happen and visited him on the trail, and I accompanied John for a few days along the trail in the Colorado Rockies.
In this episode, we talk about the Continental Divide Trail in general: Where is the trail? What is unique about it, and how does it compare from John’s perspective to the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail that John also hiked. But I also share my experiences from my days on the CDT. I will complain a bit about the brutality of the trail, but also getting not tired of mentioning how beautiful it is with its superb views, high alpine meadows, and beautiful wildflowers in bloom.
We talk about the influx of hikers on the big three trails, how to deal with logistics on the CDT, and Longstride will explain some of the specific trail vocabulary.
As he it not even halfway into his hike, I – of course – had to curiously ask what he is looking forward to the most in the next few weeks and how he motivates himself on bad days on the trail.
If you want to follow John, AKA „Longstride“ along, check out his incredibly detailed blog under
… and if you want to get to know more about the Continental Divide Trail, check out the association’s website under
Happy Trails,
Yours, Mareike
2 Comments
Wie wunderbar, Mareike! Danke, dass ihr beiden mich noch einmal virtuell nach Colorado mitgenommen habt. Meine Erinnerungen sind noch so frisch, dass ich gerade eine Gänsehaut bekommen habe beim Hören des Interviews. Auch wenn ich natürlich nicht so tief in die Natur dort eingetaucht bin wie ihr und besonders auch John. Der Yellowstone wird bestimmt ein ganz tolles Erlebnis werden. Ich hoffe und drücke die Daumen, dass dann auch der nördliche Teil des Parks, der ja im Juni durch die Unwetter schwer in Mitleidenschaft gezogen wurde, wieder zumindest teilweise zugänglich sein wird.
Liebe Elke, toll, es freut mich natürlich ungemein, dass unsere Episode an Deine Erinnerungen an das schöne Colorado andocken konnte. Es ist eine unglaublich schöne Gegend! Hoffentlich wird Yellowstone durchwanderbar sein … aber bis dahin liegen noch ein paar Meilen vor John. Aktuell ist er in der grandios schönen Wind River Range in Wyoming. Viele Grüße!