Day 8 - Down and Out of Glacier

June 26th 

10 Miles

Brownies Hostel, East Glacier Park

The one fortunate thing about strong wind is its ability to dry things out really quickly. I awoke to a dry tent much to my surprise but still very windy conditions at Two Medicine Campground. My tent was fine all night in the wind thankfully and we took off with a ten mile stroll into East Glacier Park on the southeastern corner of Glacier National Park. I resupplied my food for the day at the campground store yesterday which consists of a can of Pringles and three packets of Grandmas Cookies(yay limited food selection!). I figured that'd last me ten miles worth of hiking. 

The hike in the morning was three miles up over 2000' to Scenic Point and then down seven miles out of the park to East Glacier. On the way up we saw two mangy mountain goats which was exciting and they ran down the hill gracefully away from us. The wind kicked our butts again as we went up though. More of the same wind trying to blow us off a cliff type scenario. It drizzled then rained then cleared up with a rainbow but the wind did not let up until we crossed over and descended into a rocky mountain lion-esc type environment which reminded me of part of the southern Californian desert on the PCT. Walking at the end of the park and seeing the sharp drop off of the mountains to the hills ahead of me was a awesome transitional geologic environment. From there we hooked onto jeep roads and followed them down into town where we popped out right next to the hostel where we stayed before we started our hike. I get my prescription sunglasses at the post office in town today(thanks mom!) and am so excited to see the world around me more sharply and polarized! Well time to stuff my face with food and beer. I will definitely be taking the day off tomorrow to take care of town chores and reflect on all the craziness of the past week. Up next on the CDT is the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

Day 7 - Getting Blown Off Mountains

June 25th

15.1 Miles

Two Medicine Campground

The Atlantic Creek campground was full of hikers, a couple out for a few days, Panama Beth and the dogs, and Steve who has done the CDT before who lives about 40 minutes from where I grew up. It was quite reassuring to have so many people there after the bear thing, safety in numbers. It rained almost all night but I stayed dry and slept like a baby. We anticipated leaving early but with the rain we ended up leaving around 7:30ish because the rain stopped at 7ish letting us pack up dry. 

The start of the day was blustery with intermittent showers and I had a nice likely graded ridge walk for the first few miles. I went in and out of grassy meadows and up to morning star lake where others were camping. The rain started to pick up and so did the uphill. Some really small patchy snow fields appeared after a while which were easy to cross. Then snow took over everywhere in the trees as the wind began to howl faster and louder. Navigating on the snowfield was alright because we used the maps and also followed footprints.

Up at Pitamakan Lake at the base of Pitamakin Pass we saw snow chunks blowing around freely in the lake from the increasing winds. The wind made conditions really cold. The rain had stopped at this point as we made our way up the snow out of the trees towards the pass. After breaking free from the snow into dry trail is when it started to get really difficult. The wind really picked up and gusts were hitting us so strong that it literally pushed us back and over and close to the edge of some of the ridges. It got to such a strong point that Spins and I had to hold onto each other and walk with our feet wide to stabilize ourselves while climbing the switchbacks. The wind made it bitterly cold and I was getting frustrated. After walking through this strong craptastic wind I was really angry so much so that when we went to take a break a threw my ice axe ahead and slammed my pack off me. I hardly ever lose my cool especially when hiking; I'm more prone to laughing off miserableness but after all the stuff this week I hit my breaking point. I cooled off quick (thanks to the wind) and we hunkered down behind a boulder looking at the next ridiculous challenge uphill ahead, a seemingly steep snow field up towards the top of the pass. We both thought, how the hell are we going to walk across slippery snow with winds like these when we can't even keep our footing on land? We decided to figure it out when we got up there and thankfully when approaching the snow field we realized it wasn't very steep and footsteps were already made in it. Additionally the ice axe added extra stability when walking across so it looked worse than it was. 

Coming over the pass and heading down the ridge we ran into a few smaller snowfields and some steep bushwhacking down to the trail. I accidentally glissaded (sliding down snowfields on your feet or butt, in this instance my butt) down a small snow field and almost slid past the trail onto the edge of the hill which was momentarily frightening but funny as well. The snow broke as we lost elevation and we hustled down to Two Medicine Campground which is similar to Many Glacier in that is has a campstore with tasty microwaveable food and beer. We got in at 5 and it started to rain right as we were setting up. We get no breaks on this trail and it is really testing my patience haha. But after setting up we walked over to the campstore in the rain and I ate superhuman amounts of food until I could fit in no more (except another 14oz of huckleberry ice cream). We went to sleep with the wind howling still and intermittent rain yet again. The campsite was really rocky so instead of staking my tent in I had to weight the side down with big rocks, I hope it holds for the night.

Day 6 - Bearinoid

June 24th

10.7 Miles

Atlantic Creek Campground

So as a prewarning, Mom and Dad you may or may not want to read the following paragraph. You may just want to skip to the next one. Seriously.

So at Red Eagle Campground last night Spins and I had everything set and done for the night and our tents were facing each other with our flys open so there was just mesh. My tent was probably two feet from Spins and at around 9pm Spins had just fallen asleep and I was working on doing so as well. A heard a brief ruffling and out of nowhere a HUGE grizzly was at our tent site literally two feet from the side of Spins tent and three or four feet from my face on the other side of the mesh in my tent. Mind you 9pm here is still daylight so I saw it way clearer than I would ever wish to. I grabbed the bear mace and had the safety off pointed at it. I talked in a low voice to Spins and told her there is a grizzly right next to your tent be calm and I lowly spoke to make the bear aware we were there. It didn't care and grunted then walked off into the brush grunting again and then went into the water. At first I thought I was dreaming but it was more than definitely real a goddamn grizzly that was feet away from my face and didn't give two shits about me or my noise. When it left we started to make noise and then Spins and I both crammed into my tent because we only have one can of bear mace and threw our gear in her tent. This started the Bearinoia. We were going to wake up super early but we got close to no sleep. An hour or so after the incident we heard something loud in the water and turned on our headlamps because it was dark now and made noise to let the grizzly know we were still awake and aware it was there. So we laid in my tent scared absolutely shitless listening for noise. I  kept my fly up just in case I needed to use the bear mace. We eventually dosed in and out of sleep kind of taking turns sleeping and luckily the grizzly didn't show back up but it definitely left us shaken. Also getting out in the middle of the night to pee was terrifying as well but the bear spray is comforting insurance because it is said to be more effective than a gun at deterring bears. The morning came slowly and as light returned we felt a tad more comfortable but were still edgy and now exhausted. We packed up and headed over to the food hang area expecting the worst and as we approached all we could see was my food bag and not Spins. Luckily her smaller food bag was just hidden behind mine so the bear didn't get out food either. As we left the campsite we saw traces that the bear had searched all over the campsite. 

The close to eleven miles up over Triple Divide Pass we knew were going to be a bit rough. The first seven or so miles were uphill, about a 2700 foot gain. When we headed out of camp it began to drizzle, wonderful and there were mosquitoes everywhere...today was just going to be a pain in the ass. The drizzle turned to rain right when we approached a downed suspension bridge which meant we had to ford a split river (crossed twice) and the current was ripping and it was freezing. Sometimes on trails you get so miserable all you can do is laugh and that's about all that could be done. This trail has thrown so much crazy crap at me in the first week that its impossible to know what is going to happen tomorrow or what will go wrong or right in the next few hours. With the heavier rain came out the umbrellas. I love my umbrella. It keeps me so dry and thus warm in the rain that it it one of my top three things I am carrying with me on this trip. 

Miles of wet hiking up the valley in and around the trees were done a bit drowsily and slowly. Then the snow began. We came to our first major snow field with the trail across a steep section. I glanced at my map and then at what I thought were cut footholds strait up the steep snow field. By steep I mean towards the top it was easily a 70 if not 80 degree angle, it was close to vertical towards the top. So I figured to go strait up by cutting huge footholds instead of crossing the steep snow field that dropped really far down. While we started we tried and practiced self arresting with our ice axes which is basically jamming the sharp part of the axe into the snow as you slide down because you fell. It was rather easy and we got the hang of it so it reassured us a bit. Then I started cutting footholds strait up. Neither of us looked down and after about an hour we made it to the top only to realize the snow was drifted from ground and we just climbed this sketchy snow face for nothing. We went backed down carefully and did some more self arresting so it was beneficial to practice but really frustrating. Sometimes I get to carried away with finding shortcuts and then they don't work and it screws time and energy especially after not sleeping very well. Luckily while we were doing this the sun had peaked out and it had stopped raining.  Two thruhikers, Panama and Beth and their service dogs caught up to us just as we finished crossing the field we should have in the first place (but felt more confident in doing now that we had self arrested a bunch). They took the lead to the pass and made steps on the rest of the fields which was nice to follow and less work for our tired asses. The clouds thickened back up a bit and drizzle/rain was intermittent as we headed up the pass. 

At the top of the pass it was an awesome sight. The Triple Divide Pass splits into three drainages one heading to the Pacific Ocean, one to the Atlantic Ocean, and one into Canada. On top of that the sky had parted and the sun shone through the clouds and the rain stopped the panorama is of both sides of the pass. It was three miles down the ridge to the campsite and besides one small snowfield, it looked like clear dry land all the way down. Looks can be deceiving...a few of the stream depressions in the ridge were still snow covered which proved to be multiple different obstacle courses as we decended. There were snow caves, thin snow sheets we had to avoid by butt sliding down loose rock and climbing back around, your run on the mill snow fields were present as well, and there was one where we literally chopped off a section of the snow with our trekking poles to create a way down. All while doing this, the matching blisters I have around the balls of my middle toes on the bottom of my foot were throbbing something fierce but blisters are of the slightest worry out here compared to all the other stuff going on. Soon after we made it to camp and were absolutely sure to take the strictest bear precautions and that pretty much wraps up another crazy awesome ridiculous day on the CDT. A sleep-filled night is in due order another pass and long day to to tomorrow. 

Day 5 - Bear Shit Trail

June 23rd

15.2 miles

Red Eagle HD Campground

Waking up this morning was rough. My body was pissed. Around midnight last night two other thru-hikers and their service dogs rolled into camp. I camped with them the previous night at Many Glacier and they must have had a hell of a time coming up and around Piegan Pass as well. When we had breakfast we swapped when each of us got hit with nasty weather and the usual trail talk. They were lucky they were able to use the steps I made on the steep snowy parts on the south side of the pass. 

This morning we strolled on a fantastically wide and touristy trail which followed waterfalls and all those type of nice things to take pictures of near the road. Day hikers were out enjoying the beautiful weather and taking in the sweet views and areas around the St. Mary River which is at the base of the popular St. Mary Lake. And with nice things there always comes the opposite on this trail. The route for the day took us on the ridge of  the south side of the lake for a couple of miles. The trail was complexity overgrown with chest high weeds and sharp stinging plants galore! Ontop of that, this section of trail had the highest density of bear shit that I have seen, ever.  We are talking around 15-20 bear shits per HALF MILE. I eagerly anticipated the possibility of running into a bear walking on this cliff side trail upwind of me so my bear spray would be pretty much useless unless I wanted to make myself peppered before a bear attacked. We didn't see any bears at all but were constantly noisy to lessen the chance of seeing one. 

After walking past 3/4's of St Mary Lake we hooked a right uphill into a burn section in the hot early afternoons sun. I was baking especially after being exposed on snow yesterday on the way up to the pass. While sizzling away in the burn section I remembered that I have a umbrella which I brought just for this EXACT situation. DUH. So I was in the comfort of my shade until we started downhill along a cliff which brought crazy amounts of wind  so the umbrella went away and I fried some more. Between my visor and a bandana I rigged a system to keep the sun off me for a bit before the clouds rolled in. All the while dealing with this we were trudging through intermittent thorns and overgrowth but at least the bear crap had gone away! Around six we arrived at camp on at the head of Red Eagle Lake and got everything done early so we can wake up earlier than usual to have time to go over Triple Divide Pass. 

Day 4 - Crazy Epicness

June 22nd

15.2 miles

Reynolds Creek Campground

Today was one of those crazy hiking days where even when things go wrong everything lines up and you make it out alive but that was mostly the second half of the day, the first half was perfect.

We got out around quarter to eight at the Grinnel Glacier trailhead heading towards our big feat of the day, Piegan Pass. The weather was clear, beautiful and crisp in the morning as we headed around Josephine Lake. Fresh grizzly tracks were on the trail ahead so we made sure (even more than normal) that we were loud and noticed by anything nearby. After walking a couple miles we reached the valley at the base if the pass which was COVERED THICK with snow everywhere. The trail was pretty non existent besides the footprints of a few who came through yesterday or the day before. After fording a glacial blue stream that was numbingly cold Spins and I started to snow-wack where we thought the quick way to the switchbacks were. After meandering around for a bit it was time to break out the GPS, I mean I'm carrying it for a reason, to use it! We were right next to the trail. We jumped on trail and slowly made our way up the snowy traverse when we came across a steep sketchy treeless snow slope with a death drop a few hundreds yards down. Being that neither of us have any real snow experience much less ice axe experience we opted to make up our own route, strait up the side of the steep ridge instead of going across. After a while we came to a treed in area and bushwhacked up until we hit the switchbacks again. It was slow moving, very slow. But it was scenic and beautiful out so I can't complain. At the top of the switchbacks we ended up crossing the steep snow slope we went up earlier only higher (and thankfully flatter) where we crossed and continued on over to a small dry snowless patch of trail which we hadn't seen for miles! The dry trail led up to the base of the where we would go around Cataract Mountain. We switchbacked up and traversed some steep slow fields which we started to become more comfortable doing. As we climbed up the top of the point around the mountain some dark clouds began to form on the mountains behind us. That about ended the perfect part of the day.

We knew we had to get down the ridge as quick as possible before the rain or worse yet lightning came because we were exposed and above treeline. The biggest challenge facing us in getting down quick were five large steep snow fields which required kicking out each step you took. Paired ontop of that it was getting later in the afternoon so the snow was soft and could potentially be less stable. Then it began to drizzle and be really cold. After the first two fields of kicking out over a hundred steps I was completely spent but the rain kept falling now steadily and stopping would put us in hypothermic range. Lucikily kicking out all those steps had me warm as hell. On the third snow field we got to land or what seemed to be land only to now notice that it was steep loose rock bed that was wet and super slippery, the snow was much safer. Spins and I had to slowly scoot down a steep ass loose rock slope onto soft snow and start making steps again. It was pretty sketchy well really sketchy but it worked out. After the last of the fields we were both spent; my legs were rubbery and toes numbed and bruised from kicking out hundreds of steps and Spins' knee was giving her trouble. The steepness ceased and the rain lightened up as we traversed down the ridge which was completely covered in snow. We followed footprints mostly and checked the maps to make sure we were still headed the right way. It was getting really late and the race to finish before sunset and cold temperatures was on. As we descended the rain mostly stopped and the snow cleared up after around four miles down in the lower valley. We crossed Going to the Sun road still pretty soaked as tourists flew by in their cars without even a second glance. It was all good though because the lower elevation provided way warmer temperatures then we expected and the clouds broke and the sun shone for just a brief period. We hustled down to camp getting in around 9pm but luckily it stays light out until around 9:30-45 so we had just barely enough time to set up, eat, hang our food and crash before dark. It was one hell of day the good, the bad, and the miserable and it was awesome. (Side note: all the pictures were before the storm I stashed my phone when it started to pour)

Day 3 - Cold but Beautiful Day

June 21st

7.9 Miles

Many Glacier

Yay it didn't rain last night!!! But damn it is cold this morning. With all the stream crossings at the end of yesterday, putting on my wet socks left my feet numb right off the bat this morning. It didn't matter though because the sun was rising and the clouds were minimal and friendly looking. 

The morning was a slight uphill in the woods which went by rather quickly and we took a nice rest at a lake. The suns warmth was more than welcomed for the first time in a few days. It was still really chilly out but was manageable when hiking. The rest of the day was mostly a decent into Many Glacier, a small corner of the park with a number of trailheads, a small restaurant and campstore, and the large historic Many Glacier Hotel. On the way down the ridge I saw my first grizzly from a comfortable distance. I was soo excited to have the opportunity to see it. I personally would have liked to see the grizz a little closer but it was awesome to be able to just see it roam around in its habitat grazing for food. The grizzly is the small brown dot in the picture I attached. 

Arriving at Many Glacier in the early afternoon Spins and I set up our site at a car camping campsite and b-lined it to the Italian restaurant for a large cheese pizza. We then did our resupply for the next stretch where I bought entirely too much food and them showered and did laundry. The day is winding down nicely and it ended with a nice small campfire and an early nights sleep. Tomorrow has a good bit of elevation, Piegan Pass to go up and around, and most likely a good bit of snow to traverse to a good nights sleep is in order.

Day 2 - Miserably Awesome Snowyness

June 20th

10.4 Miles 

Poia Lake

After the intense shitstorm of last night, I woke up relatively early to the sound of light  rain only to fall back asleep for another few hours until the rain mostly stopped. It was cold out and everything was damp which does not make for a good start to the morning. On top of that the wind was pretty fierce which made it even colder but did help in drying out some of my gear. After a hot breakfast we took off for the day to tackle Red Gap Pass.

The uphill started immediately and my lack of conditioning sure shone brightly huffing and puffing the cold air as I slowly made it uphill. The rain picked up again to a steady beat and as I rose in elevation the rain turned to an ice/sleet/snow mixture and then strait snow. The forcast predictions I got when I received my permit came true...near white out conditions as I headed up to the pass. Small snow fields became more prevalent and the wind was howling the snow around as I made it up to the top of the pass. The way down proved to be less windy thankfully. 

After switch backing down and crossing a few lengthy snow fields, Spins and I came to the tree line which was completely snow covered. I proceeded to follow the footsteps in front of me instead of consulting my maps and sure enough after headed strait down the snow I heard someone holler "the trails not down here!!" A group of three out for a couple days who were hiking ahead of us must have ran into the same fate and were now misplaced. Before heading down I checked out the maps and realized as long as I headed across and down the ridge I would be able to hit a stream the trail intersects which I could then find the trail from. So we hiked down to the other three and all agreed on heading that way and after 20 minutes of bushwhacking we found the trail. 

Soon after finding the trail something miraculous happened...the sun came out !!! Granted it was still drizzling but it was a sign of better weather which was exciting. After making it down the ridge we had a number of limb numbingly cold water crossings until we reached camp for the afternoon. The clouds are still in the mountains and the wind is blowing this direction, hopefully the rain stays up there. Tomorrows weather is supposed to be promising.

Day 1 - Umbrellas are awesome

June 19th

10ish Miles

Elizabeth Lake Campground

 

Well today I started the CDT. I am currently sitting in my tent at quarter to 7pm with a river of water flowing underneath my tent and lightning shooting off everywhere around me. Sounds fun right?? 

This morning started off well with Spins myself and two other thruhikers Sky and Tim from Maine getting a ride up to the border from a wonderful woman named Beth who has lived up here for the past 20+ years. She drove us up to St. Mary's visitor center so we could pick up our permits and then onto the border where it was cloudy and fixin to rain. After a couple miles of hiking, the rain started and Spins and myself figured out a way to rig out umbrellas to our packs and we stayed dry the whole rest of the day....until we hit camp. During hiking though the umbrella situation is AWESOME!!!! I stay dry and warm and its oh so wonderful, if only I thought of that system for the AT.

It was raining when we got here to Elizabeth Lake so set-up was a bit messy and Sky and Tim already set up their tents at the site leaving us with two less then ideal sites for our tents but first come first serve. The lake would be quite beautiful on a clear day bur even in the clouds you can see te huge mountain and rock face to the right of the lake, caging in the water. I also past by (something) falls and it was raging from all the rainwater from the past two days.

 We both made dinner at thedesignated  cooking/food storage area and came back to our tents in puddles and it began to really come down something serious so we're now bunkered down wrapped in dry warm clothes while sitting in puddles. When the storm breaks (soon it's already slowing down) I can get out and reevaluate the situation and unpack everything else and hopefully get a good night sleep. Tomorrows forecast: rain, thunder, lightning, strong wind, hail and potentially snow over 6000' (aka the gap we have to go over). But luckily the weather is supposed to break the next day and I'll be able to dry everything out...hopefully. 

Pre-Hike Traveling (Buffalo to East Glacier)

So I am sitting here in East Glacier Park, Montana for the next day and a half to start hiking the Continental Divide Trail starting just below the Canadian Border at Chief Mountain. Both Spins and myself applied and reserved our permits for camping through Glacier National Park today and because there are limited sites and most CDT hikers are starting this week, the first few campsites were reserved until the 19th so we wait.

Traveling to here was a tiring adventure in itself so a few extra days of R&R are more than welcomed! I took a 12 hour train ride from Buffalo to Philly to visit my family and see my youngest brothers high school graduation then jumped on an early flight Sunday morning to Kalispell, Montana which is 87 miles southwest of East Glacier. We arrived at the Kalispell airport around lunchtime and started surveying our options on how to get to East Glacier because we flew in without any plans on how to get there (the usual). The only rental car company that provides service to East Glacier informed me that they would not sell me a rental because they had low inventory at the airport. Apparently they didn't want my money....the taxi service was a steep $140 to East Glacier that I wasn't willing to pay. We mulled around and then came up with two options, taxi to the town of Whitefish and then amtrack to East Glacier or hitchhike strait to Glacier from the airport. I got my thumbs stretched out and ready to go!!

After twenty or thirty minutes a wonderful couple from Columbia Falls (about 20 minutes north of the airport) picked us up and we asked for the shorter ride to West Glacier (only 30 miles from the airport) and would reevaluate our situation from there. They were out scenically driving around because the weather here is GORGEOUS a dry sunny 75 degrees! After talking for a while they offered to drive us the whole way to East Glacier and we also got to stop at Goat Lick crossing where I saw a mountain goat up in the hills. I'm fairly certain it won't be the last I see either when in the park. I just would like to give a super huge THANK YOU shout out for the ride to East Glacier it made life so much easier. So now I sit eating as much as possible, anticipating the trail ahead.