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.