July 8, 2013

Meadow near divide to Halfway Park

~32 miles 

Whew, that was a long day. The day began as most do with some nice forested hiking. Four miles into the day was the first planned stop to descend 1/4 mile down a side trail to get water for the next 10 miles. Everything was going well, I had refilled my bottles and climbed back to the trail, but just as I was putting my pack on to start hiking again I realized my sunglasses weren't on my head or in my backpack. Crap. I dropped my backpack and ran the couple hundred vertical feet downhill to the place next to the creek where I had filled up with water and then slowly trudged back up the hill. Not a great way to start the day, but it could have been worse. At least I found them. 

In the middle of the day, a few ginormous dark clouds and rumbling thunder passed by and fortunately only dropped a spattering of rain on me. It was pretty cool to see and added a little excitement to an otherwise mundane road walk section of the day. 

Later on, as Sparrow and I were enjoying some delicious instant dark chocolate pudding as an after dinner treat, much to my surprise a hiker came up to us and started chatting. His name was Simon from England, probably in his 50's, and also thru-hiking the CDT southbound. We talked a little about the hike thus far and apparently he started a week after we did and had already caught up! Keep in mind that the past three days I hiked 25-30-32 miles and he STILL caught up. Sparrow and I were both impressed and pondered how it was that he was putting in such big miles. Up the trail a short distance we found out one way he was able to squeeze more hiking in to each day was to carry his cooked dinner with him while he hiked until it cooled off enough to eat! Pretty neat chap I must say. I hope to cross paths again with him tomorrow. 

Tomorrow it's a mere 25 miles (including a 16 mile road walk to start the day) to Hwy 2 and a hitch into Butte to cleanup and resupply. 

July 7, 2013

Shoulder of Bison Mtn to meadow near the divide

~30 miles 

The weather the past two days has been absolutely fantastic. Cool, not cold, in the morning slowly increasing in temperature to peak around 75 or 80. Every now and again a cool breeze passes through, seemingly just when it's desired while climbing or at the top of a hill. It gets just warm enough in the afternoon that a slight sweat builds on the forehead when hiking uphill, without a waterfall of sweat pouring into the eyes. 

There were also a number of miles of newly constructed trail today, including some that is currently in the midst of construction. These sections are particularly nice because they feature a gradual grade, both uphill and down, as well as boasting more CDT trail markers than the entirety of Glacier NP. It certainly is reassuring to see the markers, but it seems to me they would be better served in areas where the trail is less distinct rather than having a marker with an arrow indicating the trail continues straight ahead when there aren't any other trails in the immediate vicinity. Oh well, at least the trail is clear some places!

Tonight I am camped in a beautiful west facing meadow and enjoying the sunset sans tent. It is the kind of night you wish they could all be like. So I'm going to get back to enjoying it. 

July 6, 2013

MacDonald Pass to Shoulder of Bison Mtn

25.5 miles

After another wonderful night at the Smith's, watching TV, playing foosball, strumming the six string, and of course sleeping in a soft bed, Jon and Luanne's daughter Laura came over at 7 and made breakfast! After the delicious meal and some conversation, Laura gave Sparrow and me a ride up to the pass. 

We got started hiking around 8:45 and it felt good to be hiking again, especially through the shady forest where the trail wound its way south of the pass. It was a pretty easy day of hiking overall, the worst of it being a couple of road walk sections that were boring and hot. Nothing too extraordinary in regard to scenery, however the forested hiking at the end of the day was pretty cool. I believe it is a forest of closely spaced lodge pole pines, all about 4-8 inches in diameter, and no more than 40 feet tall. Beneath the pines the forest floor is covered with a blanket of the bright green mountain huckleberry plants. And to top things off, just as I was getting into my tent I could hear the distinct melodic sound of bugling elk in close proximity. It's good to be back home on the trail :)

July 5, 2013

Day 18 - Zero day in Helena
0 miles

Slept in even later today after a late night at the movies and eventually made it out the door to go to breakfast.  Sparrow and I went to a little place called the No Sweat Café that had AMAZING breakfast burritos.  Mmmm tasty.

Then it was on to a quick stop at the Base Camp outdoor store, the Post Office to mail my ice axe and Sparrow could pick up a package.  While at the PO we ran into State Machine, Train, and Huck, who were there picking up packages and mailing things off.  Apparently Bluefoot and Smiles stayed in Lincoln and may be bypassing Helena altogether. Hopefully we keep running into that group. 

After that trip, we headed to the grocery store so Sparrow could buy food and I could update my blog.  Then it was back to the house so Sparrow could repackage his food.  While back at the house the weather started to look threatening (rain) so we opted to stay one more night here in Helena, and it sounds like tomorrow we may get a ride back to the pass with John and Luanne's daughter Laura.  What a wonderful family!  Certainly some of the nicest people I have had the opportunity to meet.  Thank you for everything!

This town stop was definitely necessary for me to recharge both physically and mentally, and I am looking forward to getting back on the trail.  It's hard to believe I'm already over 300 miles into the trail (1/10th of the total distance).  If it keeps going like this I'll be in Mexico before I can believe it.  The next section is a mere 113 miles to Hwy 2 into Butte, so it should be a pretty quick four days.  The eleven days between East Glacier and Helena was a little long for me without a proper shower/laundry, and spending a fair amount of time hiking alone didn't exactly help either. 

July 4, 2013

Day 17 - Zero Day in Helena, MT
0 miles

Ahh, what a joy in was to sleep in a bed and be able to sleep in a little bit this morning.  I was up in time to see John and Luanne before they took off for the day, and then went about the business of getting my town chores taken care of.

I planned to find a little local breakfast place to eat in the morning, but believe it or not, the majority of places were closed!  I was able to track down a bagel place and eat a couple of bagel breakfast sandwiches and coffee to fuel me for the upcoming day.  I tried updating my blog on their wifi, but it just wasn't going smoothly.  Next, I went and bought a ton of food at the grocery store, then came back to the house and repackaged everything, while also eating copious amounts of food.  I may have gone a bit overboard on the resupply food, but I have no doubts that I will find a way to eat it before I get to Butte, MT.  I was feeling a bit lazy after that, so I sat on the couch for a while and channel surfed through all the glorious cable channels that were available.  It was a luxury for me because even while in Portland I don't have cable television. 

During that time I also got a call from Sparrow who was almost to the pass so I ended up driving up there to get him, brought him back to the house so he could do his laundry and take a shower.  We then headed out to get some pizza and beer at MacKenzie River Pizza Co., followed by some firework viewing, and then going to the theater to see World War Z... Wow was that intense.  Very cool. 

All in all not a bad 4th of July.  I think with the food, TV, internet, fireworks, and movie it was about as American as you could get.

July 3, 2013

July 3, 2013

Day 16 - all alone

Beautiful meadow on divide to MacDonald Pass

~36 miles

Unfortunately I did not get the best sleep last night because the wind started blowing and gusting pretty strongly in the wee morning hours. Regardless, I got going at the same time as usual, and it was actually quite refreshing to have the breeze keep me a little cooler throughout the day. 

The miles today were mostly uneventful, and I think there must have been about 20 miles of road waking today in addition to the 10 or so yesterday. I can now say that I strongly dislike road walks. They are just so BORING! Ugh, not my idea of hiking fun. 

I was only planning to hike 30 today and then do the last few in the morning to get into Helena, but the vortex/black-hole-like suction of town lured me in and I succumbed to the temptation of a shower, laundry, and ice cream. After 11 days without a proper shower I don't think it was so wrong of me to want, especially with the past few days being as dry and waterless as they were, with no creeks or lakes in which to rinse/bathe. There was also the fact that I hadn't seen another person in two days and hiking alone is, well, lonely. I think I may hangout in town until the rest of the group arrive so I can hike with them for a while. Stagg may take a siesta from hiking stag for a while. 

On a brighter note, my dad has a friend in Helena by the name of John Smith. As I was waiting at the pass for John, without even sticking out my thumb, I got an offer for a ride into Helena! Only took about 15 minutes for the offer, but I had to decline because John was already on his way. 

After getting picked up at the pass John bought me an ice cream cone (huckleberry of course) and took me on a quick driving tour of the downtown area. I am staying in a real bed in a real bedroom in the basement of his house and, while in Helena, John and his wife Luanne are graciously allowing me to use one of their vehicles to drive around and take care of my miscellaneous town chores. Amazing people. 

John is also quite a hiker an photographer and goes on a weeklong trip each year with some of his colleagues. He showed me pictures of his trips to the Bear-something wilderness and the Sawtooth Wilderness. Beautiful. I'll be adding those to my list of places to visit. 

And now it's time for a hot shower and bed. Yes!

July 2, 2013

July 2, 2013

Day 15 - more rockin' and rollin'

Rogers Pass to a beautiful meadow on the divide

30.6 miles

They say that the CDTis the wild child of the three major American long distance hikes; I think it is the bastard love child of the two. It's longer than the PCT, with some sections of trail that are graded at just the right pitch to make the ups and downs feel like you're getting somewhere without straining too hard or hurting yourself. On the other hand it has AT like qualities like the climbs along the divide that just go straight up the side of the hill instead of utilizing switchbacks. I shudder to think how much longer the trail would be if it were all PCT grade. 

That said, today was still mostly along the divide, but it was like a little kid version of yesterday. There was more shaded forest walking and more gradual climbs and descents, especially the section between Flesher Pass and Stemple Pass. 

Overall it was a great day of hiking, even with the heat, and I hope to have a similar experience tomorrow! Tonight I am camped in a beautiful meadow with views to the east and west. 

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