What’s Your Trail Name? with Brandon Wert – G25110102
To register for this program, please call in only! Angela Valdez (505) 685-4881 or Prescilla Tafoya (505) 685-1019
A Ghost Ranch hiking experience for current and aspiring CDT hikers. We will camp together in the Ghost Ranch campground (an opportunity to shake down any new or untested gear before heading out on longer adventures). We’ll eat breakfast and dinner in the dining hall and take along sack lunches to eat on the trail each day. Participants are encouraged to bring their favorite trail food or new selections to test.
Each day we will hike between 8-15 miles in the sandstone canyons and ponderosa topped mesas that surround Ghost Ranch. Specifically, we will hike two sections of the PCT that connect to Ghost Ranch and which hikers who visit the ranch will miss on their through hike: Salazar Canyon / Mesa de Las Viejas / Rim Vista Trail to Ghost Ranch and Martinez Canyon FS roads / Upper Camp Trail to Ghost Ranch. We will also cover three popular standards on the ranch: Sunrise hike of Chimney Rock, day hike up Box Canyon and a sunset hike of Kitchen Mesa. We’ll round out the experience with a midweek trek to
Abiquiu lake crossing the Piedra Lumbe (via the world famous Haden Paleontology Quarry) and a Friday morning hike to the top of Cerro Pedernal, which CDT hikers can see for many miles of their CDT adventure, yet sadly, few ever get to climb.
Instructor
-
Brandon WertBrandon and his partner Jodi split their time between Durham NC and the small rural community of Cascabel AZ, just over the mountains to the East of Tucson AZ. Together they enjoy traveling back and forth to spend time with their two adult daughters, friends and family.
A throughline of Brandon’s work is facilitating group experiences in natural and wilderness settings, leading a variety of courses and programs for over 20 years.