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With regards to the Butte route - yes some people have hiked it - I
believe Jonathan did it. It has been improved over the last few years
with new CDT construction south and southeast of Butte. This past fall
another ~16 miles was completed, so it is now nonmotorized from Homestake
Pass south for ~28 miles until you return to the Highlands Road to cross
private property ~6 miles east of I15. The ATVs are concentrated north of
Homestake Pass, especially on weekends. If you hike through that area
during the week, there are hardly any ATVs out. Some SOBO hikers have
timed it so they hiked through the area on the July 4th weekend, which
especially bad with campers and ATVs everywhere. I suppose Labor Day
weekend for a NOBO hiker should be avoided, too. It will be another
couple of years before new CDT is completed north of Homestake Pass. Of
course overall you will see many more vehicles taking the
cutoff.<br><br>
I don't think you can call the Anaconda cutoff more scenic, but it is
definitely an easier resupply and shorter. Both SOBO routes into the
Anaconda-Pintler (AP) wilderness are scenic. The extra miles around Butte
just do not offer a lot of extra scenery, which is limited to hiking near
the Highlands south of Butte and over the Fleecers (SW of Butte).
<br><br>
With your short time frame, it makes sense to take the Anaconda cutoff. I
just wanted to let others know that the CDT around Butte is steadily
improving.<br><br>
Jeff<br><br>
At 07:55 PM 1/24/2008, Scott Polewach wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">For the Anaconda/Butte choice,
has anyone actually hiked the Butte Route? >From what I've heard, the
Anaconda route makes more sense in pretty much every way (shorter, easier
resupply, more scenic, less ATVs, etc.) Thanks, Hermes aka Scott Polewach
<br>
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