Evan Ortega of White Rock heads back out on the trail following a quick resupply stop and visit with his grandparents Chris and Helen Ortega at Lake City, Colo., during his hike along the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. Photo by Helen Ortega 

Evan Ortega of White Rock recounts his 3,000 mile hike along the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail during a recent interview at the Los Alamos Daily Post. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

By CAROL A. CLARK
Los Alamos Daily Post
caclark@ladailypost.com

So, how’d you spend your summer … visiting relatives, Disneyland, the Grand Tetons?

Evan Ortega, 21, of White Rock took off in April and completed a 3,000 mile hike … alone. The 2019 Los Alamos High School graduate returned from that summer adventure in August some 30 lbs. lighter and filled with a bunch of really cool stories to share with friends and family.

So why did he do it?

“I joked with other hikers I met along the trip that I didn’t really have an answer. I guess it seemed like an interesting thing to do, and there is nothing really like it so I decided to do it,” Ortega explained during a recent interview at the Los Alamos Daily Post.

The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail is a United States National Scenic Trail with a length measured by the Continental Divide Trail Coalition of 3,028 miles between the U.S. border with Chihuahua, Mexico and the border with Alberta, Canada. Its highest peak is Grays Peak, Colo., at 14,278 feet.

Did he ever think of giving up?

“Yes – and more than once,” Ortega said. “The first two times I was hiking in Colorado in the snow. It took 35 days to get across Colorado. The last time I thought about giving up I had just gotten into Montana and then I thought since it was the last leg of the hike I would just keep going.”

While traversing the San Juan Mountains, Ortega slid some 1,000 feet. A couple other times he slid 200-300 feet. He also experienced hypothermia in August in Montana.

“The trail was so overgrown that it was over my head and wet and covered me with water,” Ortega said. “It was 40 or 50 degrees and I suddenly found myself lying in a ball shivering with blue lips waiting for the sun to come out.”

Ortega explained that there are hikers completely unfit, who know nothing about trails and have bad gear, yet they complete the 3,000 mile hike. On the other hand there are hikers who are fit, skilled and have good gear who quit along the way.

“I talked to a lot of people along the way and determined a lot of it is willpower and perseverance,” he said.

Ortega’s average hiking day was 10 to 12 hours, and most of it was away from the trail, he said. Most of his 4-month-long hike also was above 8,000 feet where the temperature was below freezing at night and in the 40s at the start of each day. Near the end of his trip in August the mornings were typically in the 50s and highs reached 80 degrees or so.

“Being exposed to the elements like that takes a toll on you … more than I would have thought when first starting the trip,” he said. “Also the trails often weren’t tails but were walking along a mountain ridgeline. Other times the trails were completely overgrown.”

Ortega described a particularly bad day when he reached the southern Colorado border in late May or early June.

“That night I set up my tent and the wind was 50 to 70 miles per hour and I was on an exposed ridgeline,” he said. “I woke up the next morning covered in a thin layer of snow at about 12,000 elevation.

Brother and Uncle weigh in

Ortega’s brother Alexi Ortega, 25, lives in a suburb of Denver, and met up with Ortega on a stretch of trail in Colorado.

“Evan’s always had a willpower that’s incredibly strong, stronger than any I’ve seen when he puts his mind to something. He gave me a couple boxes to get to him during his stretch in Colorado, and more shocking than his journey is what fueled that trek,” Alexi said. “A diet of powdered potatoes, canned tuna, and cereal somehow sustained him for 30 miles and 10,000 feet of elevation a day. I gave him a box of those sorts of provisions in Breckenridge and by that point, a little past a third of the way, he had worn through a heavy pair of alpine boots. That was only partway through Colorado, I can only imagine the tatters that remained of his equipment by the time he made it to Canada. Despite that I had no doubt he would make it, and make it in incredible time. He’s the sort of person that when he sets out to do something, he’ll do it, no matter what he has to endure to get there.”

Ortega’s uncle Michael Ortega, 41, lives in Golden, Colo. He met up with his nephew near the halfway point.

Along the way

Sometimes Ortega would run into other hikers along the trail and walk a ways with them before breaking of at a resupply point. He would hitchhike into a town and replenish his food and other essentials.

“I would see hikers of various ages but just one person my age,” Ortega said. “The average age was 30-35 but there were others in their 40s and 50s.”

During his long hike, Ortega saw bear, marmot, elk, deer, fawns and moose.

About Ortega

Ortega was born in Denver and moved to Los Alamos when he was 4 years old. He is the son of Mark and Kimberly Ortega of White Rock and brother to Isaac, 19, Nathaniel, 23, and Alexi, 25

His grandparents are former Los Alamos County Utilities Manager Chris Ortega and Helen Ortega, formerly of White Rock and now living in Montrose, Colo.

What’s next?

“My initial plans are to finish up my schooling in either nursing or engineering,” he said. “I’ve also looked into the 2,190-mile Appalachian and 2,650-mile Pacific Crest trails, which together with the 3,100-mile Continental Divide trail make up the Triple Crown achievement in long distance hiking…”

Stay tuned!

Evan Ortega, right, of White Rock chats with his grandfather Chris Ortega during a quick visit in Lake City, Colo., before resuming his hike this summer along the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. Photo by Helen Ortega

A moose stands up in Glacier National Park in Montana in June and watches as hiker Evan Ortega of White Rock walks past. Photo by Evan Ortega

A marmot rests on rocks in Holy Cross Wilderness in Colorado. Photo by Evan Ortega

A fawn naps in the sunshine west of Cochetopa Pass in south-central Colorado. Photo by Evan Ortega