Here’s a cool group project — a mini-army of dedicated volunteers have come together to create a definitive map of the Continental Divide Trail that runs from Canada to Mexico through the Rocky Mountains, Great Basin Divide and New Mexico desert. There are, of course, maps in existence already, but a number of discrepancies exist and none of them have been declared authoritative.
So, back in February, Backpacker Magazine editor-in-chief Jonathan Dorn called on hikers to help the Continental Divide Trail Alliance and federal agencies tackle a massive undertaking–to give this King of Trails an official map. Over 3,000 willing folks applied to help, and 300 volunteers where chosen.
There’s a blog where you can follow along with their progress. At this point, almost 300 miles of the 3,100 mile trail have been reviewed. There are 52 teams assigned to different lengths of the trail, some have been at it since April, and the work will continue through September. They’ll be snapping photos, producing video and plotting points of interest for the entire length of the trail.