June 26, 2013

June 26, 2013

Day 9 - The Bob

Just before Beaver Lake to Lake Levane

~31 miles 

Last night I camped alone for the first time on the CDT. Sparrow and I were supposed to meet up somewhere between Blue Lake and Beaver Lake, but never reconnected. As a result, I woke leisurely and didn't get hiking until 7:30am. A little late, I know, but after yesterday it was worth it. 

As a result of camping alone, I also hiked alone all day. I must admit it is nice to hike alone sometimes so I can go at my own pace and not worry about going too fast or too slow. I'd rather meet up at breaks to converse than try to have a conversation while hiking because one person is always facing away from the other and it can be hard to hear. 

Early on in the day I entered the Bob Marshall Wilderness, affectionately known as 'The Bob'. The first half of the day was pretty cruisy. Just following one creek down, than another creek up, without anything too steep. I did run into two trail maintenance workers out there clearing downed logs on the trail. I thanked them for doing trail work and they thanked me for hiking so that their work was worth it. To them I say, it's my pleasure. 

As for wildlife, I had a brief staring contest with a deer, and then a few hours later accidentally got a little too close (for my liking) to a grizzly. I was just hiking along minding my own business while looking at the trail and figuring out how I was going to cross a little stream without getting my feet More wet, when I looked up to see a grizzly bear munching on something not 20 yards away. As soon as I saw her an, "oh, shit!", slipped out under my breath and I began to scramble slowly backward, while also thinking, "should I grab my camera or the bear spray?" Fortunately (I guess), I didn't have time to grab either before the grizzly caught a wiff of my 50-mile funk and took off running the other direction. As you can imagine for the next few miles I was yelling out a lot of, "hey, bear!", and clanging my trekking poles together  in hopes of avoiding another close encounter.

After calming down a bit and having a chance to think about it, seeing the grizzly was a pretty cool thing. 

The day ended with a pretty big climb and I am happy to be safe and warm in my sleeping bag. 

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