100 miles. A roller coaster. A can of Coke. It’s really hot and dry! Am I nearly in Wyoming?
Continue reading Bannock Pass to 1-15 (Leadore, Idaho to Lima, Montana)
Category Archives: Montana
Montanaho! (Chief Joseph Pass to Bannock Pass)
130 miles along the Montana-Idaho border in the Beaverhead (Montana) and Salmon (Idaho) mountains. Incredible vistas. Victory over thunderstoms. Body ailments continue. Passed my 600 mile mark. Rest in small town Idaho.
Continue reading Montanaho! (Chief Joseph Pass to Bannock Pass)
Anaconda Pintler Wilderness (Anaconda to Darby)
A cross between Little Cottonwood Canyon and the Uintas, the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness is totally incredible! 20,000ft of ascent and descent. 90 mountain miles. Wildflowers galore. The Idaho border! Trip odometer just shy of 500 miles. Great stretch, except the return of the blisters.
Continue reading Anaconda Pintler Wilderness (Anaconda to Darby)
McDonald Pass to Four Corners (Helena to Anaconda)
50 miles in the Helena and Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forests. Big Sky Country. Amazing trail magic. A remorseless confession. 400 miles down!
Continue reading McDonald Pass to Four Corners (Helena to Anaconda)
Rogers Pass to McDonald Pass (Lincoln to Helena)
65 miles. My first CDT cows! Remote road walking. Longer water carries. Private property to navigate through and around. My feet are now too big for my shoes.
Continue reading Rogers Pass to McDonald Pass (Lincoln to Helena)
Scapegoat Wilderness (Benchmark Ranch to Rogers Pass)
An action packed 60 miles in the Scapegoat Wilderness. Incredibly scenic ridgeline walking. A grueling 18 hour, 33 miles day out-walking the arrival of a big storm. Navigating in dark. Give me back the bears, lightning is a thousand times more terrifying!
Continue reading Scapegoat Wilderness (Benchmark Ranch to Rogers Pass)
The Bob Marshall Wilderness (Marias Pass to Benchmark Ranch)
115 miles of total remoteness, the Chinese Wall, blister hell, blow-downs, thousands of stream crossings and a resupply at Benchmark Ranch.
Continue reading The Bob Marshall Wilderness (Marias Pass to Benchmark Ranch)
Many Glacier to East Glacier
Well, I’ve hiked the length of Glacier National Park! The 70 miles from Many Glacier to East Glacier were certainly adventure packed: mountain passes with dramatic views, two super scary Grizzly encounters, getting stuck in a rain/wind storm on Triple Divide Pass and crossing snow on Pitamakan Pass. Continue reading Many Glacier to East Glacier
Canada to Many Glacier
Wow. Probably all I need to say. Glacier National Park is simply stunning. The first 30 miles of the CDT was filled with fields of wild flowers, huge alpine lakes, massive jagged mountains and great trail. The adventure has finally began!
The Hike Before the Hike
East Glacier Park to Marias Pass
16 miles
While I haven’t officially started the CDT yet, today I did hike a 16 mile section of trail from East Glacier up to Marias Pass, the pass I crossed coming in on the train yesterday. There’s a few reasons for doing this pre-hike: there’s a brutal cold snap sitting over Montana for a couple more days making the high country a tad unappealing; there’s still quite a bit of snow up high on the passes with some fresh falling yesterday; but mostly it’s so that when I do the 135 mile segment south of East Glacier in a couple of weeks it’ll only be 120 miles as I’ll skip ahead to Marias Pass and start from there. Details aside, I started my CDT hike today, although i’ll reserve the celebration for when I start hiking south from the Canadian border later in the week.
The Adventure Begins!
It’s finally time, time to start my journey on the Continental Divide Trail. I’m writing from East Glacier Park, Montana, the kind of town where kids ride their bike down the middle of the street with an unleashed dog happily prancing along and cars stop to let them pass, huckleberry everything is sold at the few shops and restaurants there are and the world’s largest purple spoon is on display as you enter the town, that’s right, largest purple spoon.