Friday, June 28th

Friday, June 28th. Day 10.

Today's miles = 19  Total CDT miles = 113

I got out of town today around 9am. I was planning on a 7am start but I guess I'm lucky I got out as early as I did. After the egg and veggie scramble for breakfast I felt ready to start this 9 day stretch to Lincoln. I'm carrying 7 days of food (which is heavy) and will be stopping in at a resort called Benchmark which I will not be staying at because it's quite expensive. I did send myself a box of food there for two days to take me into Lincoln.

The first little bit of the hike today was through the Blackfoot Indian Reservation. It quickly turned back into Glacier National Park and finally into The Louis and Clark Wilderness which is where I posted up for the night. The beginning of the morning was hiking on unmarked jeep roads. There were many roads leading in many different directions and no indication as to which one was what. Monkey and I didn't spend too much time looking at maps but rather just kind of winged it. It worked out. By the time we entered Glacier again we knew we were on the right track. The terrain was rather mellow today. There were no extended ups or downs but rolling hills covered in mud. It was the first day on the trail that we haven't gotten any rain. It was in the mid 80s and sunny all day today (a bit warm for my taste). I'm not one for extreme temperatures one way or the other. I was not complaining though because I would rather have the weather today than the weather of this past week.

Now that we are out of Glacier there are no longer any designated camp spots or a permit to follow as far as mileage. So I can camp anywhere and do as many or as few miles each day as I want to. It's nice having that freedom (which both the AT and PCT had) but at the same time it can sometimes be more difficult. Tonight is a good example of that. Around 5:30 pm I arrived at Maria's Pass. At the pass (not a traditional pass) there was a highway and a small camping section with picnic tables and potable water. When Monkey and I got there Panama, Beth, their two service dogs, and Simon (a British Sobo CDT hiker) were there finishing up dinner. It's  smart to cook and eat before you set up camp then continue hiking for a few miles as to leave the food smells behind. It would have been a nice place to camp for the night but it was only 15 miles into the day and now that we are out of Glacier it's time to start bringing up the mileage. So Monkey and I also cooked dinner there while the other three continued to hike. After dinner I got packed up again and set off on the trail. For the first few miles after dinner there was plenty of nice camping but we decided to hike more. By the time we wanted to post up for the night there was no place to set up tents whatsoever. We ended up walking a while longer before we met up with Panama, Beth, Simon, and the pups who had bunkered down on slanted, holey, sharp earth due to the lack of a better spot. Monkey and I decided to set up only his tent as suitable tent space was scarce. We hung our food on a limb that looks like it may not want to hold 7 days worth of food for two hikers and then piled into his tent attempting to find relief from the swarms of mosquitoes! Swarms! I've never seen this many mosquitoes outside of a tent before. Now I will fall asleep to the sweet hum of blood sucking insects.

Thursday, June 27th

Thursday, June 27th. Day 9.

Today's miles = zero. Total CDT miles = 94

I was so excited to sleep in today. I made it until 7:30 before the rest of the hostel was up and about. The walls are thin and prevented me from falling back asleep. I wasn't quite sure I wanted to fall back asleep after I had woken up from a terrible nightmare. (Monkey and I were being chased by a super zombie that wouldn't die despite every method of zombie killing I knew of). So, I got up for the day and made Baboon and I an egg and veggie breakfast scramble with bagels in the hostel kitchen. I laid around for the rest of the morning, did all my town chores in the afternoon (shop, mail fuel for cooking ahead to Lincoln, made calls, etc), then made a greasy but yummy thru hiker dinner. I'm glad this hostel has a kitchen. I'd much rather cook something then spend money on a restaurant. Looking forward to a hearty homemade breakfast tomorrow to start me off right for the 9 day stretch to the next town of Lincoln, Montana.

Wednesday, June 26th

Wednesday,  June 26th. Day 8.

Today's miles = 10 Total CDT miles = 94

Today I hiked 10 tiny miles to the Town of East Glacier Park. The first 3 miles were uphill in the horrible wind again. It was a pretty hike up and I even got to see two extreamly mangy mountain goats! It was right before the top of the mountain that I got a serge of energy (must have been the king size Snickers and oat meal I had for breakfast). It was either my breakfast or my frustration at the wind but I took off on a mission to get to the top and then get down again. It's unfortunate that my motivation for getting to the top of mountains is so that I can start on my way back down again but the weather has been so awful this week that I get almost no enjoyment from being up there. It was also raining by the time I reached the top today. I hiked faster today than any other day on the CDT so far. I might have just been excited to have a relief from the weather. I knew there was a hostel with a warm shower waiting for me.

I got to town around 1pm and got cleaned up, did laundry, then ordered a pizza. I spent the rest of the night doing almost nothing. It was glorious.

Tuesday, June 25th.

Tuesday, June 25th. Day 7.

Today's miles = 15.1 Total CDT miles = 84

I camped at Atlantic Creek Campsite last night. There were a few other people camped nearby so I was less nervous about grizzlys. Maybe I should have been more worried with the fact that there was extra food smells but I felt safer in numbers. It rained most of the night and into the morning. The alarms went off at 5am but but I did not move. It was still raining at that point and packing up in the rain is my second least favorite thing to do...second only to setting up in the rain. So, I laid there until 7 when the rain finally let up.

Because of all the snow that has been out here so far, in the morning when I realize that another bear has not visited camp my worry shifts to the passes and how much steep snow I'm going to have to cross that day. Luckily today there was not too much steep snow but there was a whole bunch of snow. It was 7 miles to the top of Pitamakan pass today and about 4 of those miles were uphill in the snow fields. We guessed where the trail was for most of the snow miles and eventually got to dry trail! Thats when it got windy! WINDY! There were gusts of about 60mph which definitely blew me around a bit. I didn't mind until I was at the last few switchbacks before the pass and was on a steep ridge. The thought of being blown off a mountain wasn't exactly pleasant. Monkey and I actually locked arms at one point to prevent ourselves from losing too much balance. We both got a bit of wind burn. I was very pleased when I started to cross the last snow field before the top of the pass and realized that it looked a lot more intimidating than it was. The snow was soft and grippy and the wind let up a little bit right as I went to cross it. I lucked out. After making it to the top of the pass I did not linger long. The wind was still brutal and all I wanted to do was get the hell off of that pass. My efforts of descending quickly were interrupted by more snow and steep ridges. I ended up making my own trail and butt sliding down sharp grassy sections of the mountain to avoid the snow. I ripped the butt of my rain pants in the process. Once I got down to the valley the weather lighted up, the sun came out, and it actually (for the first time all week) got warm. I finished out the rest of the day strongly and made it to Two Medicine just in time for the rain to start.

 Two Med is a campground that really did not have much to offer. They had a bathroom with running water (only cold) so that was nice. They also had a camp store with almost NO veg options. Baboon, Panama, and Beth all microwaved different deli dinners for themselves but there were no meat free options for me. I ate chips and cheese for dinner. I was more than disappointed. I had just set up camp in the rain, walked almost a mile from the camp spot to the camp store in the rain and then watched everyone else eat hot microwave food (doesn't sound very appetizing). Meh, I've had worse dinners on trail than corn chips and caned processed cheese and I'm sure I'll have worse again at some point. It's just part of thru hiking.

It was nice to have a bear box to store my food in tonight. Bear boxes are just large bear proof metal containers that are around the campground. I know it's just a campground that I'm staying at tonight but even a wilderness campground feels like town. I'm not afraid of bears tonight. I'm more worried about how dehydrated I am. Better drink up.

Monday, June 24th

Monday, June 24th. Day 6.

Today's miles = 10.7 Total CDT miles 68.9

Yesterday was overall a pretty mellow day. I hiked, I hurt, I ate, and then I went to sleep. I wasn't asleep for long when I heard a loud grunt-sniff followed by Monkey saying, "Spins there is a bear right next to your tent. Spins there is a Grizzly 2 feet from your head. SPINS BEAR! Spins there is a bear right next to your tent." Apparently very shortly after we bunkered down for the night a Grizzly (I named him Scar) decided to come strolling down to our camp site to check us out. It got literally two feet from my head and four feet from Monkey's. He said that he had heard a rustle far away and was laying in his tent with the fly up allowing him to be able to see through the mesh. He said he had hoped it was a deer or elk when he looked out his tent and all he could see was the giant head of the Grizzly right next to my tent. Thats when he grunted. I was still in a daze from having just been woken up and didn't quite process the information until I heard the grizzly grunt again. Thats when Monkey started making noise like you're suppose to in order to let the bear know youre there and also to get it to go away. Baboon said that the grizzly didn't seem to care that he was making noise but deemed us not food (thankfully) and slowly walked off into the brush and down to the lake for a swim. By the time I was fully awake and aware of the situation Monkey had opened his tent and had the safety off the bear mace. We were both afraid that it would come back. I was shaking because I had just heard a grizzly grunt two feet from my face and Monkey was shaking because he saw a grizzly so close. As of now we only have the one can of bear mace (I'm going to buy a second tomorrow at Two Medicine) and it lucky was in Monkeys tent as he was the one seeing the grizzly. Because we only have the one can I didn't feel comfortable being in my tent without it. So I snuggled into Monkeys tent and he and I spent most of the night wide awake anticipating the bear to return. We were listening so intently to hear if it was coming around again. Every noise made me shake. Every splash in the lake let me know that he was still near. I truly was scared. Once you see one of those animals and understand just how big and powerful they are it gives you a new perspective. Our only real defense against it is the bear mace so Monkey kept it in his hand pretty much the entire night. Seeing a grizzly is rare. Seeing two in a matter of a few days and having one of those be feet away from you is extremely rare. I knew yesterday went too smoothly; it was too mellow. I can only imagine what would have happened had we had food in our tent. I, of course, hang my food when in grizzly country but two nights ago Baboon woke up laughing because he had accidentally left a Snickers wrapper in his pocket. What if that had been last night instead of the night before? What if we had messed up and innocently forgotten to hang something? I learned last night that there IS no messing up while out here. You hang everything that smells like food, any toiletries, and anything with a scent other than hiker stank. You life depends on the bear not smelling food in you tent.

On a lighter note. Today went pretty well except when we scaled up the side of a 70 degree ice wall with ice axes that we didn't have to and eventually had to also come down from. We were hiking up a pass and the trail disappeared underneath a giant blanket of snow again. We decided to go straight up it. Turns out that an hour and fifteen minutes later when we got to the top it just ended. The ice wall ended and led to an icy, watery death drop... so we went back down. It was quite the tactical climb and by the time we had gotten back down I was so spent and was still just at the start of the pass. Another 4 hours later and many more ice and snow sheets, I reached the pass. I shoveled a Twix bar into my mouth and started the descent. This pass (Triple Divide Pass) wasn't as bad as the last and I was able to get down a lot more quickly than the other day. The sun even came out and made it a very pleasant hike down. There were a few snow issues going down and some rock climbing I had to do to get around an ice sheet and a stream, and also the part where I had to squeeze underneath a melting ice block to get to the other side but other than that it was a pretty basic hike down a pass (steep, jagged, exposed).I

Tonight I am camped with Baboon. Panama and Bethany who are fellow CDT hikers are camped over just a ways. My only complaint tonight is the sun poisoning on my hands and my fear of another grizzly encounter.

Sunday, June 23rd.

Sunday, June 23rd. Day 5.
Today's miles 15.2 Total CDT miles = 58.2
I woke up this morning tired and not wanting to get out of bed but I knew that today was going to have to be easier than yesterday. The trail was mellow today but COVERED in bear shit and quite overrun with plants. It felt more like bushwhacking than anything else. My knee was really bad today. I held off until lunch to take any pain meds. The mosquitoes were out in full force today as well as the sun. I am now covered in scratches from plants, bites from mosquitoes, and sunburn.
I'm a little nervous about tomorrow's hike because I have to go over another pass that looks similar to the one from yesterday. But I guess that's tomorrow's problem. And right now I have to sleep.

Saturday, June 22nd.

Saturday, June 22nd. Day 4.

Today's miles = 15.2 Total CDT miles = 43

WARNING: A lot happened today and this is a long entry. Mom and Monkey mom don't read if you don't wanna know. :-)

Today was one hell of a day. I know it's only day four of the CDT but when I look back at the entire trip today is one of the days that will stick out.

I woke up at Many Glacier this morning and got packed and back on trail by 7:45. The first few miles of the day were beautiful and followed around two lakes. After those easy miles the day began to take a turn. The trail goes up and around Piegan Pass and shortly after starting the ascend Monkey and I realized that there was a lot of snow. The trail disappeared underneath the snow almost immediately. We were forced to find our way despite not being able to see any of the trail. There were a few fast current rivers we had to ford this morning before the real climbing began. We ended up scaling the snow covered side of the mountain off trail heading toward a waterfall we could see in the distance. We knew we gad to get to that waterfall. Turns out that by going that route we skipped some switchbacks and found a patch of trail that was not snow covered. After following that for a short minute we came to a giant STEEP snow chute. We both looked up at it horrified because we knew we had to climb it. But how? It was terribly steep and beneath is was a thousand feet of more snow and a straight shot down to jagged rocks and water. We had to climb it but we had to absolutely not fall! We hung to the edge near the tress hoping that in any bad situation we may be able to grab onto the trees. After climbing about a few hundred feet this way we decided to bushwack through some thick pines straight up the side of the mountain. It was slow going and extremely arduous and we climbed about 500 feet in elevation this way. Eventually once we climbed as much as we could we knew that we had to cross the snow chute because the trail was on the other side. By this time we both had our ice axes out and were using them for all the other steep slopes we were on. But this one was different. There were no trees. There was nothing to stop a fall of a thousand feet except an ice axe and our own skill in using it. That first real crossing of that snow patch was equally terrifying and exhilarating. Once we crossed it the trail became solid ground again. It remained that way for most of the rest of the way up. About 300 feet before the top of the mountain there was a huge patch of snow that started at a top switchback and ended at the one we were on so instead of following the trail we decided to climb straight up the snow and ice to the trail. After that point we had only small patches of snow until we reached the top. By the time we got to the top we thought most of our snow traversing was over and we were glad of it because it was late afternoon and the snow at this point is at it's weakest and most likely to give way. We took a seat at the top of the pass, grabbed some candy, and then both looked up at the looming storm clouds coming our way, and fast! We threw on our packs, ate the snickers on the run and started to tear ass down the mountain. This is when the day got really exciting....

It started to rain. The winds were picking up and we were exposed on the side of the ridge. I had one hand trying to navigate two trekking poles, the other trying to fasten the trash compactor bag I use as a pack cover around my pack and a snickers bar hanging out of my mouth as Monkey and I were bustling full speed down the mountain. We were making good time then my knee (which started bothering me yesterday) gave out. I think I overextended part of my knee and the more I've been hiking the worse its been getting. I popped some Ibprophin and bit down harder on the snickers in my mouth and keep trucking along to get below tree line before the sky opened up. That didn't happen. Not even close. We were exposed on that ridge in the wind and rain for many more hours. After only ten or so minutes we came across a giant pack of snow in the way of the trail. Most of the snow was at about a 55 to 60 degree angle with some parts much steeper than that. We looked at each other, said some words I won't repeat here, grabbed our ice axes and stepped onto the snow. Baboon was in the lead kicking steps. This takes a lot longer than you would think especially if you want to make good steps for the person behind you. Each step is literally on the side of the snow. Two to three inches away (some times less) is a icy fall down thousands of feet. Monkey was making very nice steps. I appreciate him for it. He put a lot of effort and sweat into pounding out the ice and snow so that we could make it across safely. No matter how good your steps are there is always a chance that the snow will give way and take you with it. In this event you have to be able to self arrest with your ice axe. The whole time we were on the snow I kept more focused and on point than I have ever been before on any trail. I knew we were doing everything we could to be as safe as possible but I also knew that my accuracy was the difference between making it across and not. Once we had crossed that particular patch of snow we ended up doing it four more times on the way down. In some cases a patch was taking 30-45 minutes to cross because of how large they were. Standing in the center of it not able to back up and not able to more forward just yet and looking down at the slope your standing on and where it leads was one of the most trying moments I've had on trail. During all of the step making, snow pounding, ice chute traversing it was also sleeting and windy. Not the best situation. I was so focused. I knew I was beyond freezing from having my feet in snow for hours and being rained on and blown around but I couldn't feel it when I was on the ice. I didn't remember that my knee hurt or that it was way past dinner and I was hungry. All I could think about was where my feet were, where my ice axe was, where Monkey's feet were, and where his ice axe was. We made it through! Yet again we thought the snow would end after we reached tree line. Quite the opposite. We were hiking on snow (flat and perfectly safe yet annoying snow) for another 5 miles. I was so cold. I was already thinking of my exact plan for reaching camp to retain the most about of body heat I could. It was already almost 9pm amd Monkey and I were both talking about our strategy for avoiding the impending hypothermia. And then it happened; the rain stopped, the sun came out, and the trail cleared of snow. The temperature obviously rose the lower we got in elevation and by the time the day was over and we were at camp we were both warm (ish) and beginning to dry.

I set up my tent, made dinner quickly, hung my food away from bears and promptly fell asleep. My last thoughts were...it was one hell of a day.

Friday, June 21st.

Friday, June 21st. Day 3.

Today's miles = 7.9 Total CDT miles = 27.8

I woke up this morning feeling horribly dehydrated. I felt like I was completely hung over. My head was pounding. My eyes were sensitive to light. My whole body was weak. I was dizzy and nauseous. I realized that with the rain and cold temperatures I hadn't really felt the need to drink much over the past few days. I was paying for it this morning! I spent the first part of the hike today miserable and drinking as much water as my stomach could handle. A few miles into the hike I began to feel a little better and actually started to enjoy the giant patch of wildflowers I was hiking through. After the initial climb this morning I descended down a bit and thats when the trail became completely laden with wildflowers. Monkey and I were looking up and off into the distance above us when we saw it; the first Grizzly of the CDT! I named him Theodore and we watched him graze for food up on the mountain. He was far enough away to still feel comfortable but close enough to watch him and see him well. It could have been a lady Grizzly but with the name Theodore I would rather continue assuming it was a boy grizzly. I'm not exactly sure how you can tell the sex of a grizzly while still maintaining a safe distance. Hmm...something to look into.

After taking a short break to watch Theodore we pretty much just put our heads down and hiked the rest of the way into Many Glacier, our camp spot for the night. Many Glacier is a tourist haven. They have car and RV camp spots, cabins, showers and laundry (which I used), a camp store, and an Italian restaurant which we got pizza at for lunch. Because we were only hiking 7.9 miles we got to the restaurant in time to beat the lunch rush. I don't mind doing small days. It's still so early in the trail and the country is so beautiful I don't want to rush through it. Today the sky cleared and it was the first time I could really see the views here. It was spectacular. Hopefully the weather will stay nice and there won't be too much snow going over the passes the next few days. I'd like to avoid having to actually self arrest with an ice axe.

Thursday, June 20th.

Thursday, June 20th. Day 2.

Today's miles = 10.2 Total CDT miles = 19.9

The storm continued for most of the night. Monkey ended up getting up at some point in the night to build trenches around his tent in attempt to stop the river flowing beneath his tent because when I got up in the morning we had a waterway system flowing through our camp. I had given up on stopping the rain and just made sure not to let my down sleeping bag stray off of my sleeping pad. There are a few spots where my sleeping bag got wet but I did do a rather impressive job at keeping it dry despite every corner of my tent being soaked through.

I could tell this morning that no one wanted to get up. There was a break in the rain for a little while around 6:45 this morning so Tim, Sky, Monkey, and I took the opportunity to get out of our tents. I wanted to get hiking early today because the storms here seem to begin shortly after dinner. I wanted to be at the next camp spot tonight and be all set up before the rain started again. It was a few moments after we all got out of our tents that it started to sprinkle again. At that point I couldn't care. I just stood there looking at all my gear getting rained on. Everything except for a few items of my most preciously warm clothing was soaked, and covered in mud and earthworms. I didn't want to pack my things, I didn't want to strap on my pack, and I didn't want to climb up and over a snowy pass. But of course, I did. At some point climbing up the pass the rain turned into snow and the wind became fierce. We were hiking over snow fields while being snowed on and beaten with wind. And then all signs of trail disappeared. We ended up bushwacking down a somewhat steep snow field through the thick pine trees looking for the trail. The maps gave us the direction to walk in and it wasn't more than 10 minutes until we came out of the brush right onto a snow free trail!

From that point on it was mostly downhill for the rest of the day and the sky cleared up a little. It was still raining a little but compared to yesterday and this morning it felt like nothing. The sun even dared to come out for about 15 minutes. There were a few swift rivers we had to ford and even a butt deep flood in the valley that we had no choice but to trudge through. But at that point I could see Poia Lake in the distance which I knew was my camp spot for tonight. I made it here before the heavy rain and got to set up camp relatively dry. Oh, what a difference that makes!

My cold came back full force due to the wet and cold conditions of last night. But I'm dry-ish in my tent surrounded by many down feathers. And tomorrow I get to eat Italian food at Many Glacier!! Two days of trail food and I've already had enough.

Tim and Sky hiked on and got a hotel room for the night at Many Glacier (I'm guessing. They left us a note on trail saying they were hiking on and theres no point of hiking on unless your going to get dry or eat somewhere). They will have to take a zero there tomorrow because their permit for the next camp is not until the following day. I have a feeling they didn't care; they just wanted to be dry after all the snow and water crossings today.

I should roll into Many Glacier tomorrow around noon hopefully. Many Glacier is a camp store and there is also an Italian restaurant and a motel there. Other than that there is nothing. Monkey and I are going to camp there, as per our permit.

Tonight I'm camped with Baboon. Just down the way are three kids who are just out here for a few days. I could smell them making camp popcorn earlier. Popcorn!! Maybe I can buy a bag at Many Glacier and hope they will let me use their microwave. :-)

Wednesday, June 19th.

Wednesday, June 19th. Day 1

Today's miles = 9.7 - Total CDT miles = 9.7

I was told the CDT was going to humble me but what I was not told was that it was going to be on the first day. I only hiked 9.7 miles today because that is what the ranger station gave me as far as camping. I didn't mind so much with it being the first day out, not being in hiking shape, and still having a bit of a cold. The miles are not what is difficult about today; the weather is. Lets back up a little...

When Baboon and I first got into East Glacier we met two guys by the names of Tim and Sky. They looked like CDT hikers so we began conversation immediately. They were stuck in town waiting on some packages containing their essential gear; ice axes, bear canisters, bear mace, and so forth. With all this waiting in town they could no longer use the permits they were issued to hike through Glacier as the permits are date specific. When their packages finally arrived there was no longer any permits being issued for the first 4 nights of the hike. I suggested that they jump in our permit for those days. The only real meaning of this is that they now have to camp with us for these first few days of trail. Yesterday, Baboon and I were curious as to exactly how we were going to make it to the trail this morning, then in traditional trail fashion we found that Tim and Sky had left us a note on the hostel bulliton board saying that they had a lead on a ride. The lady giving us the lift was to meet us outside the bakery at 8:30am. All was well that night until I heard the thunder of a storm rolling in over the mountains. Now, I know its Glacier and anyone familiar with Glacier is familiar with storms. Lets just say that I was very glad to still be in the hostel last night when the hail began to fall. My hopeful thought process was that the sky would rain out all it had and today, the first day of the CDT, would be beautiful and dry. Ha!

The rain held out for the first few miles of the hike. The rain from yesterday, however, made everything a sloppy, soupy mudslide...mixed well with copious amounts of horse shit. About 10 yards into the hike I was covered to my calves (and in some places a bit higher) with mud and shit. Yum! Now, I've been sitting on my ass at a desk for the last 6 months and had conveniently forgotten what that feels likes. It only took a few moments for me to get back into the swing of it. Mud, shit, sloppy trail, big mountains...yeah, I'm actually ok with that, mostly. The next few miles it began to mist, then sprinkle, rain, pour, pour harder, then whatever adjective indicates harder than pouring, and thats about when heaven decided to fall from the sky and land directly on Glacier National Park. Luckily for me I was only hiking 9.7 miles today and it took me a whopping few hours to get to camp. I set up in the rain, ate in the rain, got and filtered water in the rain, went to the bathroom in the rain, and then opened my tent to discover that it had apparently decided to rain in there as well. Lets be fair, Tim and Sky got to camp first and chose their spots. As with hiking courtesy, whoever arrives first picks spots first; fair, right? Well, I was hiking with my umbrella so I wasn't in much of a hurry to get to camp and got stuck with the spot in the puddle; unfortunate on any other trail, detrimental on the CDT. The amount of rain that has fallen in the last 3 hours is..well, I have no idea how to describe that much rain. The thunder is screeching and right above my head. The lightening illuminates a daytime sky. Am I being dramatic? I hope so! Because this storm is being dramatic also.

I have a blow up sleeping pad which doubles unintentionally as a floatation device. To say that I was floating in my tent on top of my sleeping pad would be quite the overstatement, although, if the rain continues all night it most certainly won't be.

I made Ramon for dinner. I was too cold to eat or do much of anything after setting up my tent. I've eaten 1,100 calories today. I still have a cold and don't generally get hiker hunger for about 200-300 miles out but with the temperature what it is tonight I should have really been smarter and eaten more. It's too late now. I'm in my wet tent in my (kind of) dry sleep clothes and my food is 200 yards away; protecting me from an unwanted encounter with a grizzly. There is no way I'm getting out of my tent again tonight in this storm unless I have to pee...and even that's pushing it.

Camped with Baboon, Tim, and Sky.

Monday, June 17th

Monday, June 17th

I made it to Montana yesterday on a flight from Philly to Glacier Park Airport which is just outside of Kalispell MT. Baboon and I arrived around 12:30pm and I have to say that I was happier to get off that plane than any other plane I have ever been on. A few days back I started to feel like I was getting a cold; unfortunate for starting the trail but no big deal. Once I got on the first plane to Chicago, however, I realized that the cold was affecting more than the hike. My nose and ears were so plugged up that the air pressure from the plane made me go deaf. The first flight wasn't too bad but the flight from Chicago to Kalispell was awful. By the time I got off the plane I was completely deaf in my left ear. It took until 5pm today (29 hours) for me to regain my hearing. After bumming around the airport for a while a man walked up to us and offered us a ride to East Glacier...for 140 dollars! We politely declined and began looking into rental cars to make the 87 miles to East Glacier. The one rental car service wouldn't give us a car because East Glacier is somewhat remote and they didn't want to have to drive out to pick it up and the other rental car service wanted 170 dollars. So, we threw up our thumbs and got a hitch within 15 minutes. The couple that picked us up were from Columbia Falls and despite the fact that they were not driving to East Glacier, offered to drive us there anyway; refusing to accept gas money. I wish I would have had my hearing at that time to join in the conversation in the car but unfortunately I missed out on that bit. Getting my first hitch from that kind couple was a great start to the CDT! We got dropped off right on the small main strip of East Glacier and walked the .6 miles to a hostel/bakery. Baboon and I got a private room (shared bathrooms) for the night and I went to sleep right after an early Mexican dinner which I didn't end up eating due to nausea. My fever started last night but let up a little this morning. It's starting to rise again now unfortunately.

With the cold and fever I was a little nervous to start the trail tomorrow. I know the miles are going to be hard with the snow and with being out of hiking shape and under the weather I wasn't overly excited to head out. I told myself to suck it up so Baboon made the call to the ranger station to set up the permits and camp spots for the 100ish miles of Glacier. Normally we don't need many permits and normally there are NO designated camp spots on the CDT, however, hiking through Glacier is a different story. We were told upon calling that there were no spots open for tomorrow night so we have to start on Wednesday instead which I am extreamly happy about as it gives me another day to rest away this cold.

Wednesday, June 12th

Wednesday, June 12th.

This morning I left Buffalo on an Amtrak headed to Philly. I Know I'm not starting the trail until the 17th or 18th but leaving home makes it feel like the process has already begun. Two days ago I was at work and right now I'm thinking about the task ahead; hiking thousands of miles through the continental divide. I have four days to prepare my mind before I'm standing in Montana (at the Canadian border) at the start of the trail. This feeling is remarkably familiar; a combination of excitement and nervousness. Last year I hiked the 2,660.1 miles of the Pacific Crest trail. The year before that, the 2,181 miles that make up the Appalachian Trail. And here I am again, but this time preparing for the most difficult and demanding of the three United States long distance trails. I've been asked if I'm ready for this again. The answer is no. There is no amount of preparation that is truly going to make you ready for a thru-hike; even having already hiked two long distance hikes. I'm familiar with the lifestyle of the trail and the general pattern that goes along with it, however, outside of waking up, eating, hiking, eating, hiking, eating, hiking, eating, and sleeping, you never really know what your going to end up doing in the 5 months your out there. Everything is up in the air. You don't know where your going to sleep. You don't know who your going to meet or where your going to end up from day to day. I once had a man walk out of a bar in Southern California and offer to give me a ride in his beach-mobile to his private guest house where he allowed Baboon and I to stay, shower, eat, drink, and relax...all for free. I have had more random and strange experiences come my way while on the trail than in the rest of my life combined. So sure, I could say that I'm ready to hike from Canada to Mexico but I can't possibly know what I'm really in for.