Tuesday, July 30th

Tuesday, July 30th. Day 42

Today's miles = 18 Total CDT miles = 619.2

I woke up to rain on the tent. I did not get moving until it stopped. Eventually I got up and made my coffee and packed my things. While eating breakfast I broke my tooth. A quarter of my tooth (no exaggeration) broke off. I had to cut my breakfast short and all my snack breaks today were quite painful. The trail this morning was uphill but after a while it became more favorable. There was a spot today where I could see the car trail going STRAIGHT up a mountain. I started to get frusterated but accepted the fact that I had no choice but to climb it. Right as we came to the climb I saw a trail on the left side of the mountain. Could the CDT actually go around a mountain instead of up it?? Baboon spoke up and said that he "thinks this is the first time the CDT has actually been favorable". I throughly enjoyed going around the mountain today, especially on a town day.

The rest of the hike was kind of a blur. I went into a daydream to push out the last miles. I remember it being hot and sunny and desert like. I hiked the 18 miles and got to the pass around 2:15. Panama and Frankin Feet were still there trying to hitch a ride into town. The road to Leadore was a dirt road. There was NO traffic on the road. We were told that we could call the fiancée of the owner of the general store in Leadore and he would pick us up from the pass for 15 dollars a person!! Panama and Frankin Feet were going to call but no one had service. So, we had to wait. As with my luck I didn't have to wait long until a truck came down an even less traveled side road stocked to the brim with logs. Attached to his truck he had a open trailer with an ATV strapped in. There was about two feet of room between the ATV and the back rack of the trailer and that is where Panama, Frankin Feet, Baboon, two dogs, and I sat during the 15 miles dirt road hitch. It was a dusty ride.

Once we got to town we sat at a picnic table next to the general store. I ordered a pizza (Montana and Idaho have no idea what actual pizza is suppose to be like I have decided) and set up my tent in the grassy area next to the store. The owner of the store lets hikers camp from free in the grass because she knows she will make so much money off of us. There is nowhere else to spend money in Leadore. Its that small. There is the store, a post office, and a bar (which has no real hours and opens and closes whenever). The old brothel is now a private residence and was by the general store. Perhaps there would have been more entertainment in the town if it were still open. I got my entertainment by eating and watching the pups play in the grass. They were happy to be in town as well.

I didn't do much tonight besides eat..very slowly because of my bum tooth. The store closes at 6pm so for dinner we went to the bar. There was no one else there. There was no one in sight anywhere in town. There were no cars on the road. The town had completely shut down at 6pm. The bartender at the bar was, I'm assuming, the owners daughter and didn't think she needed to be at all friendly. It was an interesting evening. The town was so dead I felt I could have set my tent up right in the middle of the street and would not have been bothered until the morning.

Monday, July 29th

Monday, July 29th. Day 41

Today's miles = 20ish. Total CDT miles = 601.2

I woke up this morning at the lodge and had breakfast there as well. The breakfast was not very good and the waitress was horrible. After breakfast we went to hitch back to the trail. Baboon made a sign that read "Not rainbows. CDT hikers to trail". If you're familiar with Rainbows then this will be funny to you. The Rainbow gathering this year was in the town of Wisdom which is a few miles from Johnson. 10,000 drug addicted hippies strolled into Johnson a few weeks ago and left the locals with a bad impression. When we got to town they assumed we were Rainbows and it wasn't until we explained we were CDT hikers that anyone was willing to accommodate us. I was standing out there holding the "Not Rainbows" sign when a motorcycle drove by. It turned around in the parking lot and stooped right in front of us. I had no idea what the driver was doing until she took off her helmet and said my name. It was Pounce from the PCT. Pounce and I started the PCT the same day and hiked around each other for the beginning of the trail. She is currently on a bike tour and just happen to be driving down the same road we were hitching on. After a few minutes of catching up with her a car stopped and gave us a ride to the trail. The ride would have been a three part hitch but this kind couple out celebrating thier honeymoon went out of their way and took us right to the trail. I couldn't thank them enough. After hiking for a while we ran into Panama and Frankin Feet (formally known as Bethany). We camped around them tonight after climbing a car trail straight up a mountain.

Baboon and I were hitching on the side of the highway in Jackson and who do we run into? Pounce, a fellow PCT hiker from the beginning of the PCT is on a motorcycle tour across the country and just happen to see us on the side of the road with our thumbs in the air! what are the odds???

The first fire on the CDT is in my room at the hot springs lodge

Sunday, July 28th

Sunday, July 28th. Day 40

Today's miles = 12. Total CDT miles = 581.2

I woke up around 7:30 this morning ready to sit at the picnic table and drink my coffee. Picnic tables are taken for granted. Tables in general are taken for granted. Its so nice to have somewhere to set something that isn't in tall tick infested grass. It was a nice and relaxing morning. After a while of enjoying the picnic table I got my things together and began the hike down the car trail. It went by pretty fast and before I knew it I was in the back of a pick up truck headed to the hot springs! Today was the first hitch in the back of a pick up for me on the CDT. I feel like every other hitch on the AT was in the back of a truck. My first hitch flying down a curvy highway on the AT on a beautiful summer day knowing I was headed to food and a shower was the moment I first fell in love with long distance hiking. Every now and then you just need a ride in the back of a pick up.

The couple that picked us up dropped us of right in front of the lodge. My first thought was to walk across the street and eat at the cafe which was exponentially cheaper than eating at the lodge. There were no vegetarian options on the menu but the owner/cook was more than willing to accommodate me with a giant salad with just about every vegetable he had in his kitchen. After lunch (we got into "town"of around noon) we went back to the lodge where I booked a room with a fireplace in it for Monkeys very late birthday celebrations (he was in India for his birthday). It was worth it. The fire place was awesome and I only set off the fire alarm once!

We spent the day in and out of the hot springs pool and hanging around the bar listening to the live mountain band play. It was an awesome decision to go out of our way to Jackson. The town had the cafe and the lodge...that was it. But that was all I really needed. 

First hitch on the CDT in the back of a pick up. And it was on a car trail!

We have been riding the border of Montana and Idaho. Not really sure what state we're actually in most days.

Saturday, July 27th

Saturday, July 27th. Day 39

Today's miles = 21.5 Total CDT miles = 569.2

This morning was a standard morning on trail. Woke up, didn't want to get up, got up, didn't want to pack up, was grumpy, packed up, didn't want to hike. Drank coffee = life is better = hike. It was another beautiful day on trail. It was also another really hard hike. The mountains really make you work for the good stuff! The morning went slowly and lunch was only at 7 miles in. There was another afternoon sprinkle like yesterday but when it's so hot and exposed a little sprinkle actually feels really nice. There were lots of passes today and a lot of lakes. It's difficult for me to pass a beautiful picturesque lake with a backdrop of jagged mountainous snow covered peaks without stopping and staring off into the distance for a while, so it was overall a slow moving day.

15 miles in to the hike Baboon and I were stopped to get water when we discovered something on our maps. There was a 3 mile side trail (car trial) that led to a campground. From the campground there was a 12 mile car trail that led to the "town" of Jackson which is home to the hot springs saloon!!! What!?!?! A natural hot spring and a saloon combined into a mecca of trail goodness?? Never mind we have to hike 15 miles out of our way; how the hell could you pass that up? So, we took the car trail to the campground tonight and stealth camped in spot #6. Tomorrow we will take the car trail to Jackson and kick it in the hot spring, beer in hand. Love it.

Friday, July 26th

Friday, July 26th. Day 38

Today's miles = 18.5 Total CDT miles = 547.7

Today was ALL uphill. The first three miles today were supposed to be bumpy downhill and turns out it was bumpy up. Then we went up for 15 miles. Then we went "flat", aka, uphill the rest of the day. It was a hard hike today but I felt really well until the last few miles. There were a few passes that I went over today one of which was over 9,000 feet. We're starting to get back into the high mountains. Right as we were about to go over the pass we saw a storm coming in and it began to rain. Any sign on lightening and we were going to head back down to tree line but luckily it only sprinkled on us and we were able to make it over the pass no problem. The views today were some of the best views I've had since Glacier. The climbs are tough but the views are worth it.

Tonight I'm camped at a lake. I wasn't feeling well and had to cut the day short by a few miles. Whats a few miles?...

Thursday, July 25th

Thursday, July 25th. Day 37

Today's miles = 17.5 Total CDT miles = 529.2

Baboon and I left the motel at around 10:30. We got a hitch after about 30 minutes from a recovered drug addict who was recently divorced and traveling around Montana out of his car looking for work. He was also listening to Christian sermons on tape in the car. At first I didn't know what to make of him but after the 30 mile hitch my opinion of him was kind of high. He had the softest disposition and a very kind heart. He was just trying to stay clean and make money to send home to his kids.

By the time we got to the pass it was almost noon. We had to road walk on the highway for a while to get back to the trail. The trail followed a beat up old and narrow car trail for a while before turning into a trail again. Upon the trail resuming I saw a sign that read, "Closed, fire hazard". Next to it was another sign explaining the closure. It was dated for July of last year. It was either a typo or really from last year. I figured it couldn't be a typo as it said that date on two different spots on the paper and decided to just continue hiking. A few miles in I saw fire equipment on the side of the trail. This is when I began to think maybe the trail was really closed due to a fire. The closure was only for a ten mile section of trail and I was almost though it so I thought it best to continue on. I don't think the closure was for this year despite all the smoke I saw and smelled. The smoke seemed to be really far away and parts of the trail had looked like they had been burned already; perhaps last year.

I hiked later tonight than I normally do. I actually had to use my headlamp for the hike before I got to camp. I camped at a pass on the side of a car trail. It was a decent spot. There was a fire pit and wooded logs for seating. Also, there was a piped spring only 100 or so yards down the hill.

Wednesday, July 24th

Wednesday, July 24th. Day 36

Today's miles = Zero. Total CDT miles = 511.7

Today was my birthday and all I wanted to do was eat and watch trashy television. So that is what I did. Monkey and I switched from the Cabin to a motel on the other side of town. The motel was actually nicer. I bought a whole watermelon and then we got Pizza and ice cream for dinner. The day was spent watching TV and staying cool. It got to 95 in town today.

Last year I spent my birthday in South Lake Tahoe, CA. The year before that Pawling, NY. And this year Darby, MT. I've managed not to hike on my birthday all three trails and be in town! I'm not complaining.

Tuesday, July 23rd

Tuesday, July 23rd. Day 35

Today's miles = 4. Total CDT miles = 511.7

This morning I woke up almost early. I wanted to get into town. I made coffee, ate my Poptart, and headed down trail. There was only one climb between town and I so I got to the road rather quickly. It took over an hour to get a hitch the 30 miles to Darby. A young guy with two small children in car seats in the back picked us up. I sat between 4 year old Hunter and two year old Adie for the 30 minute drive. I got to talk to them about Goldfish and chocolate milk instead of making conversation with the driver which was much more pleasant for me. Once we got into town Monkey and I headed right to Debs Cafe for breakfast. I got a giant veggie omelet, hashbrowns, and toast. It was the best breakfast I've had on the CDT so far! After breakfast I did laundry at the laundromat across the street then walked down to the motel. The motel had one room available and it was a cabin. It had a kitchen with dishes, air-conditioning, and cable. I bunkered down there for a while cooling off and showering before walking to the grocery store to resupply. After the store Monkey and I walked down to "The Little Blue Joint" for dinner. At first we didn't know where we wanted to eat but Darby has four restaurants. Two are closed on Tuesday's, and one only does breakfast and lunch. So, The Little Blue Joint it was. I got Greek salad and split Greek pizza with Monkey. The rest of the night was spent in the cabin with the air-conditioning on full blast watching America's Got Talent. It was a successful day.

Monday, July 22nd

Monday, July 22nd. Day 34

Today's miles = 23.1 Total CDT miles = 507.7

There was a deer prancing around my tent last night that kept waking me up. I didn't mind at first because it sounded like it was having a lot of fun but after a few hours of it jumping over the branches behind my tent I got a little frustrated. But I guess I sent up my tent in it's home so I can't be mad at it. After the deer was done doing it's nighttime round of acrobatics I fell asleep and slept pretty well except for the headache I had. I woke up at 5am with my head pounding so instead of getting up I grunted, took some Ibprophin, and went back to sleep until 7am. I got up and ate my blueberry Poptart and happily sipped away my coffee. Hiking started at 8:40. I was under the impression that the lake was the last water for 15 miles. This particular lake wasn't the clearest. It was swarming with little brown microscope bugs. The water filter I have gets those out so I don't mind so much but it clogs up the filter in the process. About a mile into the hike this morning I came across a beautiful spring. The water was coming straight out of the mountain. So, I dumped my lake water and filled up with the spring water. There was no more water for another 7 miles. The hike today was actually nice minus the fact that it was a burn area. There were a few climbs but the trail was graded today.

The smoke from the wildfire died down in the afternoon so we couldn't really tell the direction of the fire. It's definitely far enough away from us not to be a concern. The smoke from wildfires can travel a lot farther than you would think. I took lunch at the 8 mile mark today. It was the only water for the next 12 miles and I wanted to cook mashed potatoes for lunch. So, I took an early lunch and grabbed 3 liters of water. Monkey only took two liters. He kept talking of water in 5 miles but I was doubtful. Sure enough there was no mystery water 5 miles later and poor Monkey was rather thirsty today. He also has some feet issues going on. I suggested he wrap his feet in gauze and medical tape. I guess it helped but he didn't have the best hike today I don't think.

We had to hike off trail to get to the water tonight where we stopped to have dinner around 7:30. Only 3 miles after dinner we called it a night. We are 4 miles from the road to town. The plan is to get up as early as we can (ha!), hike the 4 teeny tiny miles to Lost Trail Pass where we will hitch 30 miles and hopefully make it to Darby in time to find somewhere to eat breakfast.

Sunday, July 21st

Sunday, July 21st. Day 33

Today's miles = 22.5 Total CDT miles = 484.6

No sleep again last night. I was so congested all night and I couldn't get myself to stop coughing. After hours of trying to find a sleeping position that I could breathe in I fell asleep, just in time for the 5am alarm to go off. There was also a big animal that got about a foot from the tent wall last night. I'm guessing it was a moose or elk because I didn't hear it snort or sniff like a bear would. I made some noise and it moseyed away.

This morning was another coffee morning. I have a feeling that now that I have started I won't be able to stop. I was doing so well. On the PCT I had gotten myself to a point where I could not hike in the morning without my coffee. This makes sense as in the non-hiking world I can't do much of anything in the morning without coffee. But for this trail I cut myself off. I didn't even bring coffee out here and I chose not to drink much or any while in towns. And then it happened.... Starbucks Instant Via French Roast blend was on sale at the grocery store - 50% off!!! I relapsed and I don't care. I am an addict and thats just the way it's going to be.

Today's hike went well for me until the last 3 miles. I don't know if I was hungry or thirsty or just getting tired but I started to feel like I may fall over. So, I sat, ate, and drank before finishing out the day (there was nothing I could do about just being tired). The morning was cold (all made better by that first sip of glorious coffee) and the afternoon got up into the 90's. Right as it started to get hot today we entered a burn area. This is a bad combination because with the burn area there comes no shade. It was a sunbrella day.

We leapfrogged with Flyboxer for most of the day today. We saw him at water sources and also had lunch with him. He accidentally hiked three miles in the wrong direction this morning. The CDT has been kind of difficult to find lately. Turns out we are camped near him tonight as well. Monkey and I chose "Surprise Lake" as our camp destination tonight and when we got here there wasn't anywhere good and obvious to camp. So, we began to scout the area. We didn't want to push on because this lake is the last water for 15 miles. Just over a little hill by the lake we found Flyboxer set up.

Right before the last climb today Monkey and I realized that there was wildfire smoke in the distance. I have been smelling wildfire smoke for days. It has a very distinct smell. So, we climbed the mountain to try to get a better view of where the fire might be located. There was no view at the top. But the wind is blowing in the other direction and the fire seems to be far enough away at the moment. There is no ash falling from the sky where we are.

I'm looking forward to Darby on Tuesday. I'm placing all my anticipatory hope in the fact that the grocery store in town has a cheesecake for my birthday. I plan on eating the entire thing...well, maybe Monkey can have a piece; a small piece. I found out today that Flyboxer and I share birthdays. He wasn't planning on going into Darby but I have begun trying to convince him to have a co-birthday celebration. Hopefully he succumbs to the peer pressure.

Saturday, July 20th

Saturday, July 20th. Day 32.

Today's miles = 19. Total CDT miles = 462.1

I didn't sleep well last night. I was coughing most of the night and couldn't seem to get comfortable. Monkey had set the GPS alarm for 5am and let it ring for an hour without getting up. Grrrr! So my morning was a bit cranky. But then he got up and made me coffee. So, all was better in the world. I got hiking by 7:45.

There was a lot of incline today. I felt like I was climbing most of the day. The trail has been beautiful the past few days though. There have been a lot of beautiful blue lakes with a backdrop of rock walled mountains. Today we went up over three passes and down to three beautiful lakes. We took breaks at all the lakes and lunch at the second one. I washed my feet and legs off in the water. The wind was a bit too chilly to go swiming.

It got really hot after lunch and I was regretting not taking a swim. I try to drink a lot of water when its warm out because I don't drink enough water as it is and the second it starts to get hot I really feel the dehydration. It took a few liters to start feeling better.

I felt well today. My body wasn't sore and my feet didn't hurt. I could actually breathe while hiking most of the day. The only part of today that I didn't like was the last pass when my breathing became restricted again.

I'm camped tonight at lake number four. There are other people here as well. There must be a side trail somewhere that leads to a road. These people don't seem like the hiking sort.

Friday, July 19th

Friday, July 19th. Day 31

Today's miles = 26.7 Total CDT miles = 443.1

I woke up to the cascading and flowing sound of the polluted river. Yum! Baboon and I packed our things and walked through town to one of the grocery stores where we got breakfast sandwiches from the cafe there before heading out. The first 10 miles today were road walking on the side of a highway and the next 7 were road walking on car trails. 17 miles into the day there was a beautiful lake (Storm Lake) that we sat at and had lunch. After the lake the trail began again. I feel like its been a while since I've actually walked on real trail. I was excited for a moment until I started climbing up a pass and realized that trails are not graded for cars and therefor they are steep. *sad face*

All the sudden when I got to the top of Storm Pass I remembered I was in the mountains. The view opened up and I was just surrounded by beautiful mountains. I took a little break at the pass just so I could stare out into the distance - then I got a whiff of a skunk so I got up and started hiking again.

After Storm Pass and before the next pass I ran into Flyboxer who had left town yesterday. We all took another little break at the second pass which was even more spectacular than the first.

Baboon and I hiked until we found the camp spot we are at tonight. We were going to push it another two miles tonight but we came across a beautiful camp spot with flat ground and a fire pit. We didn't want to cook where we sleep so we stuffed some cheese wraps into our faces, hung our food, and set up camp. Its only 9:20pm and I'm already in my sleeping bag. Its still light out so thats throwing me off a bit. I'm hoping for a good nights sleep tonight so I can put away some miles again tomorrow.

Thursday, July 18th

Thursday, July 18th. Day 30
Today's miles = Zero. Total CDT miles = 416.4
I slept in later than anyone. Flyboxer was the first one up. He had his stuff packed up before anyone else even stirred in their tents. He got into town yesterday evening and set up at the RV park by Baboon, Panama, Bethany, and I. I heard everyone else get up but I only got a few hours of sleep last night due to my breathing issues so I was too tired this morning to move. The only thing that got me up was when the sun came out and shinned directly on my tent making it a hot box of humidity. I finally dragged my ass out of my tent and began to pack things up.
Baboon Panama, Bethany, the pups, and I all went to breakfast in the center of town. The Main Street area of Anaconda redeemed the town a little in my book. It's a very historic town with all the original buildings from the early 1900's. They have taken to maintaining the old buildings and keeping them in functioning order. The place we had breakfast this morning was an old bar that had been turned into a diner. The food was decent and cheep and the architecture was beautiful so it was definitely worth the walk to town center. Plus, the pups enjoyed sleeping under the table and the wait staff and owner didn't mind.
At breakfast we learned that Anaconda has an old theater that they show a movie at every night at 7pm. The new Superman movie was playing tonight in 3D for 6 dollars a ticket! The theater is like the Riviera Theater (for those of you familiar with that tiny NY theater) and has all the original decorations and designs. I also learned that Anaconda has a Dairy Queen. Ice cream, movie theater popcorn, and delicious eye candy superhero movies get me every time. So, I didn't hike today. Instead I posted up by the polluted river in the shade for the hottest part of the day (after having eaten my ice cream) and waited until 7pm for the movie. Panama and Beth also went to the movie and it almost felt like I was hanging out with friends off trail -  minus the smelliness and the absurd amount of popcorn eating.
I camped by the polluted lake tonight.  Today was a good day AND I got to dream about Superman when I feel asleep.

Car trails and sheep..

The elk that had been killed and eaten

Wednesday, July 17th.

Wednesday, July 17th. Day 29.

Today's miles = 22. Total CDT miles = 416.4

I woke up early today! I was hiking by 6am. The fact that it wasn't so cold this morning and the draw of town tonight got me up and moving despite the rain of last night. The whole day was on car trails. The first 12 miles were on dirt car trails and the last 10 were on a paved highway.

During the first 6 miles today I was walking along the car trail and a herd of sheep came around the corner followed by a herding dog. The sheep stopped upon seeing me and all looked up to stare at me. The dog in the rear came to the front to see what the delay was all about and turned around and began to lead the sheep away in the opposite direction. They all looked quite confused. Other than a plenty more sheep there wasn't much wildlife on trail today. It was too hot for anything to be out in the sun.

The hike was easy today. It was a gentle grade and on wide open car trails. It was pretty much my ideal hiking. But then again, it wasn't actually trail...

About 10 miles before town I came across a section that was being torn up by construction vehicles. There were cars lined up on the dirt roads and men in suits standing in the hot sun trying to look important while doing some sort of presentation. Baboon and I were joking that this spot was where the Target strip mall was going to go. Turns out that it was the Governor in the suit and he was talking about cleaning up the Superfund Site that we were walking through. The town of Anaconda up until 1980 was where all the copper that was mined up in Butte would be smelted. It polluted the area pretty badly and now the town is just a smoldering hell hole of bad water and sick people. There are more doctors in this town than anything else.

I rolled into town in the early afternoon and ran into Panama, Bethany, and the pups! It's been since Lincoln since I've seen them and the look like they are doing well. They decided to camp at the RV park as well so all of us set up our stuff  and braved a horrible wind, rain, and hail storm for about and hour. Then we went to "Suds and Pub" to do laundry and drink. Dinner followed shortly after. It rained more during the night. It was horrible to be in town paying for camping and getting rained on. I wish I had gotten a motel. Tomorrow night I'm not paying to stay in this town. I think I'll stealth camp down by the polluted river.

Tuesday, July 16th.

Tuesday, July 16th. Day 28.

Today's miles = 23.4. Total CDT miles = 394.4

I slept in today. I didn't get up until 7:15. I didn't get on trail until around 8:40. The morning was slow but there were not too many uphills. The trail today and yesterday has been more rolling hills rather than steep and jagged mountains. Its almost like hiking in Oregon again.

About 7 miles into the day we stumbled across an elk that had been somewhat freshly killed and eaten. Its one leg had been broken along with a few of its ribs and it's stomach had been ripped open. I didn't want to hang out there very long. The flies were horrendous. So, I just keep hiking hoping that whatever got that elk was nice and full. Yet again, water was hard to locate today. I've taken to carrying more than I think I will need because I usually end up needing it. A lot of the water sources have not been reliable. There was a spring (that was amongst cow shit) that I sat by around 10 miles in and had lunch.

The second half of the day today went by more quickly than the morning did. The trail today was on a lot of ATV roads and car trails so the miles generally go a little faster. There were a few nice views today that also reminded me of Oregon or Appalachian Trail hiking; lots of green and smooth rolling mountains.

22 miles from here is Anaconda, MT. The trail takes you walking right into town. I believe the miles are mostly on car trails.  There is a campground with showers somewhere in the tiny town that I'm looking forward to being my camp spot for tomorrow night.

Monday, July 15th.

Monday, July 15th. Day 27.

Today's miles = 24.5. Total CDT miles 371.

It was cold this morning! I woke up around 5 and it took until about 6 until I started to move. I was feeling better this morning and was able to push through the first part of the day. The trail wasn't too bad today. Dare I say, it was almost enjoyable. The second half of the day was harder on me and by the time we stopped for dinner we had already logged almost 24 miles. Too tired to write more. Must sleep.

Sunday, July 14th.

Sunday, July 14th. Day 26.

Today's miles = 12. Total CDT miles = 346.5

I woke up this morning in an air conditioned hotel room. I did not want to get up and pack my things. I was starting to feel a little better this morning from the past few mornings so I got my things together and left the hotel at 11am. Monkey and I went to Pizza Hut for lunch then a man that he had met earlier today gave us a ride back to MacDonald Pass. We didn't get hiking until 3:30pm.
My fever has gone down today and I've been starting to breathe a little better so today's 12 miles were the easiest 12 miles for me on the whole CDT so far. Outside of the medicine I'm taking making me extreamly thirsty, I'm glad that it's making me feel a little better. Hopefully I continue to feel better as the days pass.

Tonight I'm camped at an actual camp spot with a fire pit just off a car trail (dirt road). We didn't make a fire tonight. It's already 10:09pm and I'm trying to wake up at 5am tomorrow. There have been no fires on the CDT so far. The miles take too much of the day and by the time you're done you're too tired to make a fire unless you have to. I'm pleased with the 12 miles of today for not having left town until 3:30.

It's 81 miles from Helena to Anaconda. Looking to get there Wednesday night or early Thursday morning depending on how many miles I'm able to do.

Saturday, July 13th.

Saturday, July 13th. Day 25.

Today's miles = Zero. Total CDT miles = 334.5

I stayed in bed most of the day. The only time I got out of bed was to walk the almost mile to an outdoor store to buy a Spot. The Spot is a GPS satellite device that allows you to send predetermined messages to email addresses and to phones via text message. It works as a check in system for when you don't have phone reception. There is also a function on it where you can send a SOS message to rescue services to come get you in case of an emergency. I have always chosen not to carry a Spot but after my getting sick and being unable to breathe, I thought it best. It was a bit of an expense but it's a nice safety net to have.

I needed another day to let the medicine I was prescribed to start working. I still feel like I got hit by a truck but I'm hoping that a good night's sleep tonight will help a bit.

Friday, July 12th

Friday, July 12th. Day 24.

Today's miles = Zero. Total CDT miles 334.5 ish.

I woke up unable to breathe. I rolled over an grabbed that beautiful, oh so precious inhaler. I laid in bed feeling like crap until about 12:30pm. Then I was out if bed feeling like crap until about 5pm. During that time I walked to the gear store here and bought gaiters (things that wrap around your shoes to keep rocks and other things from getting in your shoes - I always get too much stuff in my shoes and have to stop to fish the rocks out), took a taxi 2 miles to the post office to pick up a package, took the same taxi to the grocery store to resupply, then walked back to the Inn. I've spent the rest of the night laying in bed feeling like crap eating left over pizza and microwave lasagna. I don't want to hike tomorrow. I don't want to get out of bed. I want to sleep and wake up only to have a sweet sweet romance with my inhaler. Ah well.

Thursday, July 11th

Thursday, July 11th. Day 23

Today's miles = 20 something. Total CDT miles = 334.5 ish.

Last night was a rough night for me. I've been coughing all night the past week or so which cuts down on my sleep. The past week I've known I was sick but I couldn't quite tell what was wrong. My symptoms are shortness of breath (like breathing through a straw), chest tightness, coughing, lightheaded, weak, and all over achy (different than trail achy). I've been complaining about not being able to breathe especially when climbing with 4 1/2 liters of water on my back. It's comes in waves. Some times are worse than others and when it has been really bad I've actually had to slow down to a crawl or stop to catch my breath. Sometimes I couldn't catch a breath and would have to stop, take off my pack, and sit until I could. I've been out of breath many times before because of the trail but never like this. There was clearly something wrong. I could tell my complaining about not being able to breathe was getting Monkey (and more importantly myself) frustrated, so I tried to push through it. When I'm feeling well I can push through almost anything. But this was different. I had NO energy and no air. I've spent the past two weeks like this.

With the lack of sleep last night due to the coughing and the not being able to breath,  today's hike was obviously difficult as well. It took everything I had to hike the miles. The morning was a lot of elevation but the afternoon mellowed out a bit. Water was also limited. About 8 miles into the hike today I came to my first water source for 15 miles. There were dead squirrels in it. So, I decided to push on to the next water. The next water was a scummy pond mixed well with cow shit. The second water source was a creek trampled by cows and overflowing with more cow shit. The third source was just off a forest service road. I decided to take the dirt road because Monkey and I were both out of water and the high trail didn't have any water for miles. We did find water. It was less polluted with cow excrement than the other sources but definitely still flowing from the badly polluted areas. I treated the water and drank up. By that time I was so thirsty.

The trail didn't have very many views today. It was mostly just in cow country. I did have a cow chase me down the dirt road, though. It had its babies with it and when Baboon and I walked along the road the cow let us pass but then came onto the road quite fast chasing us away from the babies. I had the bear mace out. I didn't really think the cow was going to make contact but anything big chasing you is somewhat intimidating. I was suspect of every cow I passed the rest of the day.

I got a ride into Helena by two electric company inspectors on the job. It was the end of their day and they were heading into Helena for the night. They dropped me off right outside the Budget Inn. I got a room for the night and took a shower then decided that I had better go to the doctor. If it had been pain or something that I knew what it was I would have ignored it but being up their on the Divide the past few weeks unable to breathe actually scared me a little. So, I looked into the Urgent Care Center here in town. It was 300 feet from the Inn and closed at 8pm. I had one hour to make it there. No one was there when I got there so I got taken care of right away. The doctor was extreamly nice and efficient. He listened to me and actually took care in what I was saying. My experience with doctors has been quite unpleasant, as a rule, so I was pleasantly surprised. After examining me and giving me some breathing tests he told me I had a respiratory infection, bronchitis, asthma, and a fever of 101. He prescribed antibiotics, steroids, and an inhaler. He sent the scrips right to the CVS a half a mile away and I walked right there to pick them up. I puffed on the inhaler immediately and it was literally a breath of fresh air. After two weeks of this bullshit I finally could breathe again, at least until the Albuterol stopped working about 45 minutes later. Luckily the inhaler has a lot of puffs on it! The doc said that I should start feeling better in 4 or 5 days. I only have a few more days of hiking to suffer through (from this at least).

By the time I got back to the hotel Monkey had acquired two large pizzas and cheesy bread sticks! It was after 9pm by this time and I realized I hadn't eaten since 12:30pm. I turned on the AC because I was so warm. I had no idea I had a fever. I was wondering why I've been so warm this week. I've been saying to Baboon that it's been hotter than the desert. He didn't seem to agree. I should have known right then and there; the day I'm warmer than he is.
I slept well tonight.

Wednesday, July 10th

Wednesday, July 10th. Day 22

Today's miles = 19 Total CDT miles = 314.5

Welp, Im glad today's hike is over.

The alarm went off at 4:40. I got up at 7:05. I don't think I was hiking until close to 8:30. I felt so dehydrated from yesterday with having not drank enough water due to the waterless stretch. It took me a while today to catch up on water, only in time to have more waterless stretches today. All the water lately has been off trail. Today's water was almost half a mile down a steep dirt road. Then when I got there there was no water. I followed the dry stream down quite a bit more until I ran into water. There was no choice but to find water there. It was 14 miles until the next water and I knew I would have to camp before it. So I grabbed 5 liters of water, drank one, and trudged back up to the trail.

Today was another sunny day. I made it about half the day before I had to cover my legs. I have the craziest sock line and compression short liner where sunburned meets pasty white. Other than the sun today the only real issue (outside of my shortness of breath - perhaps allergies or asthma) was the horse flies. They were horrible! They were everywhere biting me through my clothes. I would smack one and it would not die. These horse flies had immortal superpowers. Baboon got quite annoyed by the flies. The only other time I've seen him that annoyed was climbing up Pitamakan Pass in the absurd wind when he threw his ice axe in anger. I felt like today if he had still had his ice axe he would have tried to use it on the horse flies.

The trail was mostly on dirt roads today. It was nice that there was something wide to walk on but that also meant that there was no real tree cover. There was also a lot of incline today. A LOT! There is no easy trail on the Divide. There is no easy day on the Divide. There is nothing easy about the Continental Divide. I was saying today that if the bastard child of the AT and the PCT were to acquire all the miserable attributes of each you could confidently name it the Continental Divide Trail.

Tuesday, July 9th

Tuesday, July 9th. Day 21

Today's miles = 15 Total CDT miles = 295.5

I woke up around 7:30 this morning and got in one last shower before heading out for breakfast. I ate a banana and a Klondike bar before breakfast so I only ordered the two eggs, hashbrowns, and toast. After breakfast I headed back to the motel to meet up with Steve, a fellow thru hiker. He, Baboon, and I were all getting a ride back to the trail from the owner of the motel at 9:15. It was around 9:30 before we actually left, 10:00 before we got to trail, and 10:15 before we got hiking. I had a really bad morning as far as hiking and it took me a while to get up the first climb. Then the trail just kept going up. About a mile into the hike Monkey informed me that it looked like there were no water sources for another 12 miles. At this point all I had was a liter and a half and the trail was uphill, exposed, and sunny! And I hadn't drank much water in the morning before getting back on trail and already felt dehydrated. Its was a thirsty 12 miles. The trail today was all on the divide. You basically find the tallest mountain then figure your going up it the steepest way possible, then down it and up the next._ The water was 1/4th of a mile down a highway that the trail crossed at Flesher Pass. Once we got there Monkey volunteered to go get water if I watched and guarded his pack. He put all our water bottles and bags in a trash compactor bag and started walking down the highway. About 15 minutes later he came walking up the road hauling 10 liters of water in the bag thrown over his shoulder. We both cooked dinner right there on the side of the highway before doing the last few miles of the day. Its was a short day today but it was a really late start. I also didn't want to do too many miles today as it would screw up timing as far as getting into town on Friday.

I'm camped in a nice little spot tucked away in some dead trees. I tick checked myself before bed as I picked a lot of ticks off myself while hiking today. I hate ticks. Must sleep. Long day tomorrow.

Monday, July 8th

Monday, July 8th. Day 20

Today's miles = Zero. Total CDT miles = 280.5

I woke up this morning feeling like I'd been hit by a truck and I was scrambling around to get everything done. I still had to go to the hardware store for Tyvek (which they didn't have), I had to call Big Agnes because my tent zippers came off track and won't close, I had to get to the post office to send away the ice axe and also pick up my package. I knew I wouldn't have enough time to get everything done today so I decided to zero. It was a great decision. I got everything done, ate way too much food, and have been able to relax.

Tomorrow is back to the trail at 9am. Heading out for a 3 1/2 day stretch to Helena.

Sunday, July 7th

Sunday, July 7th. Day 19

Today's miles 17. Total CDT miles = 280.5

I woke up this morning at 4:30am. I got up at almost 5. I cooked my mac and cheese dinner (that I didn't eat last night) for breakfast. It was too much food for breakfast even without having eaten dinner the night before. I was hiking by 6:20 this morning.

A few miles into the hike I realized that there was plenty of camping along the divide. You never know what the trail ahead is going to be like. I made the judgement call last night to camp somewhere safe where I knew there was good camping instead of risking getting on the spine of the divide and it being windy and without camping. I didn't want to risk having to night hike along steep trail in the dark in Grizzly country. Had I known there was camping I would have eaten dinner where I camped then continued on a few miles.

There was a lot of elevation change today just like yesterday. It makes for a rough morning when you also are low on food. I was a little worried about the hitch into town but there just happened to be a very kind couple out for a day hike that was parked down the mountain that gave me a ride in. They dropped me off right at the office of the motel I was planning on staying at.

I hand washed my clothes in a 5 gallon bucket at the motel and hung them up on a line to dry. Then I showered and waited for the sun to dry my clothes. I had to keep a close eye on my clothes because there is a resident doe that has been meandering around the parking lot of the motel here in Lincoln Montana.

I couldn't wait for my clothes to dry completely so I put them on wet and walked down to the grocery store to resupply. Monkey and I ordered a pizza and headed back to the room to lay in bed and eat. It was marvelous! I was so tired.

Saturday, July 6th

Saturday, July 6th Day 18

Today's miles = 17.7 Total CDT miles = 263.5

I slept well last night. I only woke up 4 or 5 times. (I normally wake up more then 10 times a night even when not on trail). What I'm glad I didn't wake up to was the noise of the animal by the tents. Baboon said that he woke up in the night hearing a noise but stopped worrying once he heard it gallop. He concluded that it was a deer and went to sleep. I wake up when a mouse walks by so I must have been really tired to sleep through a deer.

I didn't get packed up and moving until 8:30am. The first 4 miles were mellow but the rest of the day was pretty much all uphill. The sun came out the trail became exposed and I spent most of the day trudging up mountains, which I suppose is what I came out here to do. It never seems as hard when your sitting on a couch thinking about it. The trail was beautiful today, though, making it all worth it. There were plenty of open views.

Water was scarce today. The trail went up along the actual continental divide so there was no real water sources. The first water source I came to was a little lake that had some good camping. I decided to cook dinner there with the ample water and I went to filter some by the lake which is when I heard the rustle across the water. I pointed it out to Monkey and after a minute he heard it as well. Then we heard more noises behind us and to the side of us. So, instead of eating dinner we grabbed our things and booked out of there with bear mace and ice axe in hand. The trail from this point went STRAIGHT up! It was probably the steepest part of the CDT that I have come across yet. Needless to say, we were not moving anywhere fast. After a few minutes of hiking we found a note on a trail from a fellow thru hiker saying that a momma bear and two cubs lived down by the lake. So, it was a good decision not to cook there. Unfortunately we ended up not eating dinner at all tonight. After the lake we hiked for a few miles before realizing that the trail went up along the spine of the mountains and that camping would be scarce. So, Monkey and I decided to set up camp. It is also cold out tonight so I was worried about the wind if we pushed on a few miles. Monkey hung the food and I set up our sleeping gear (we only set up his tent because we were tired and wanting to just get to sleep). I am glad we did because I was so cold tonight and needed to steal heat from him.

The plan is to wake up early and get to town tomorrow after a 17 mile hike. Water is scarce tomorrow as well and I have to hike off trail .5 miles one way just to get water. Not looking forward to tomorrow's hike but definitely looking forward to town. Its been almost 10 days since I've showered. Yikes!

Friday, July 5th

Friday, July 5th Day 17

Today's miles = 19.2 Total CDT miles 245.8

This morning I got to make my oatmeal on the picnic table before heading out on the trail. The first 6 miles of trail flew by. My feet felt good in the morning. I couldn't really feel my blisters. The hike was in the woods this morning. There were trees that were alive! Lately I feel like all we've been hiking through is burn area. The green things didn't last long and after about 6 or 7 miles I was back in a burn area and a new burn area at that. The dirt was still charcoaled. Black soot got on everything.

I took lunch today sprawled out on the burned ground. After lunch I started to feel my feet. I hobbled up a pass just in time for the storm clouds to roll in. Monkey and I pretty much ran down the pass to a guard station (which was locked) where we ate dinner. I didn't really want to hike on past the porch of the little cabin but I knew I needed to get more miles in. We hiked 3 or 4 more miles when it started to rain so Monkey and I decided to set up our tents. We were only .8 of a mile from where we wanted to end up so I didn't feel too badly about cutting the day a little short. I didn't enjoy setting up camp while it was raining but I got most of my stuff ready before the heavy rain started. All in all today was a pretty nice day. I had good energy and the hike wasn't too tough.

Thursday, July 4th

Thursday, July 4th. Day 16

Today's miles = 12 Total CDT miles = 226.6

There were no animal issues during the night last night which was a change. I didn't get a good night sleep though. I got sunburn on my shoulders and arms yesterday and it was rather painful during the night. I couldn't lay on my back or sides because of it. I woke up this morning when I heard Panama and Beth rustling around. It was nice to be able to cook my oatmeal on the porch of the locked shelter. Usually there is nowhere good to sit while eating in the morning. The grass is usually really tall and tick infested and the logs have been muddy and wet. So, I've been standing while I eat most mornings. Usually I would eat breakfast in my tent but there is no doing that in the land of the Grizzly. Smells can linger in the tent.

I got hiking around 8 this morning. The hike was easy but my energy was low. The sun has been strong this week and has really been zapping my energy. Baboon and I got to the dirt road leading to Benchmark around 2pm. We got a ride from a couple in a pick up who stopped without us hitching. They took us right to the main cabin where we had sent our resupply boxes. Benchmark is not a town. It is far from a town. There is no electricity, no running water, no food storage boxes, no restaurants, and no camp store. There are a few cabins that people stay in over the summer. One of those families allow hikers to send boxes to an address in a neighboring town where they drive quite a distance to pick up and bring back to Benchmark. There is a 25 dollar fee for this for the gas to make the long trip. They then allow you to loiter on their front lawn where there are picnic tables to sort through your things. A mile and a half down the road is a camp ground with NO amenities except well water. You still have to hang your food as you are still in the back country. The husband of the couple that gets the boxes for hikers passed away sometime in the last two weeks since I spoke to him so his mother, sister, and niece were looking over his cabin for him. His wife was not around. The family who was looking over the cabin drove us to the campground where we sat around the picnic table talking and eating. It was the first real time I felt like I was camping out here at all. These past few weeks have just been wake up, hike, hike, hike, get to camp just before dark, set up, and sleep. We all have been so worn out these few weeks. Beth has really bad issues with her feet so she and Panama decided to spend the night here at the campground (if you can even call it that). Baboon and I realized that by hiking out tonight we would not have gained many more miles because it was already 6:30 by the time we were ready to leave. So, we set up our tents as well and called it a day. It was a nice half day. I think we all needed an easy day. Its 53 miles to the town of Lincoln. We are all dreaming of town food and showers.

Wednesday, July 3rd.

Wednesday, July 3rd. Day 15

Today's miles = 21.3 Total CDT miles = 214.6

I meant to wake up at 5 this morning. I got up at 6:30. My being weak in the mornings is really starting to get me down. I spent the first half of the day not having any energy. After about 6 miles this morning I came across the Chinese Wall. The Wall is an uplifted piece of earth's crust that towers over everything and lasts almost 6 miles long. It is named after what it looks like; The Great Wall of China. I walked along the base of the wall for almost its entire distance. The top of the Chinese Wall (for today's section) is the actual Continental Divide.

Today was another hot day. The trail didnt offer much shade today and the wind was pretty strong by the Wall so I didn't get to use my umbrella as much as I would have liked. I got sunburned on my shoulders and arms. After the Wall I descended to a valley where I finished off the hike for today. The hiking wasn't the hardest I've had so far on the trail but the day in general was difficult to push through. Panama, Beth, Baboon, and I all felt it today; the roughness of the trail. We have been hiking 20s since we have gotten out of Glacier and for the beginning of the trail to be busting through a 9 day stretch doings 20 or so miles a day is rough and we all really felt it today. And the fact that we all are so low on food didn't help our energy levels or moods. My feet are pretty chewed up from my shoes still. I popped some of the blisters. A few are turning into calluses but the others have just become blisters again. With the condition of my feet today I wasn't sure I was going to make it to Indian Point Horse Camp which is where I am tented tonight. Two nights in a row I've been able to camp on flat ground outside of a locked shelter. Panama, Beth, and the pups are camped just on the other side of the shelter tonight. It's nice having met up with them because it's so easy to hike this trail and see almost no one.

Tuesday, July 2nd.

Tuesday, July 2nd. Day 14

Today's miles = 21 Total CDT miles = 193.3

Last night I woke up at midnight to a rustle by my tent. It took me a moment to realize that the sound was not in my dream. Once I did, I listened for it again. Sure enough it was there. The rustle was loud and definitely being made by a large animal. I called for Monkey to wake up. It took him a minute but he did. We both started making noise and after about 5 or so minutes the animal went away. Naturally I was scared...again. So, Monkey invited me to have a sleep over in his tent. At 2:30 after a few hours of being awake we both started to let ourselves fall asleep. Right as we were about to one of the pups barked. Panama and Beth were camped about 30 feet away and their two dogs were in their little doggy tents not too far from them. One of them barked waking Panama. He immediately began making bare calls. His dogs do not bark unless they are protecting so he knew something was around his tent. Baboon and I also began to make noise even thought we hadn't heard anything quite yet. Eventually the animal came closer to us and we were able to hear it. It seemed to just be hanging around our tents. It stayed close to our tents for quite a while. Everyone had their hands on the bear mace making noise in the tents. After a long bit the noises began to go away and we all fell asleep for a few hours before daylight.

Once it was time to wake up no one moved. I listened and Panama and Beth were were still in their tent. None of us had gotten very much sleep. Eventually we all realized that we had to get up and Monkey went to get the food that he had hung the night before. Apparently a bear had dug at the base of the tree overnight.. so I think its rather safe to say that the animal that had been by our tents was most likely a bear.

The morning hike was awful for me. We were in the exposed sun pretty much all morning. My already sunburned legs couldn't take anymore and I had to cover them despite that it was so hot out. The only pants I have are my rain pants, my fleece pants and my thermals. None of these sounded like good options so I tried to rig bandanas around my legs in an attempt to shield them from the sun. That worked for about 10 steps. Then I tried to wrap my rain jacket around my waist so that it would hang down to the back of my legs. That helped a little. Finally, I gave in and smothered my legs with aloe and put on my thermal leggings. Luckily we came across water not too long after and I was able to dunk myself in it too get the pants wet. It definitely helped in keeping me cooler. If I had known that I would have been hiking through desert like conditions this early in the trail I would have brought sun pants.

It wasn't until later in the day that I got any energy for the day. I ended up speeding through the last 7.5 miles of the hike today in record time (so far on the CDT.)

My camp spot for tonight is the rocky ground in the front of a locked shelter next to a waterfall. I believe it is guard station and naturally it is alll locked up. Panama and Beth are camped just 15 feet away and the pups are in their little tents on the porch of the shelter. All I want for tonight is to have an animal free night of sleep.

Monday, July 1st.

Monday, July 1st. Day 13.

Today's miles = 19.3 Total CDT miles = 173.3

I woke up this morning because I heard Panama and Beth packing their things. I didn't mind of course. I suppose it was time to get up anyway. Today was one of the first days ever that I was done packing and standing there with my pack on before Baboon. It's just me hating trail mornings that usually delays my packing up. I think its because I can't hear my automatic coffee maker click on or smell my dark roast espresso blend as it begins to brew. I have been coffee-less this whole stretch from East Glacier Park and I will admit it has made me rather grumpy in the mornings.

About 3 minutes into the hike this morning I came across a river that I had to ford. I had spent all day yesterday drying my socks on my pack while hiking as was so excited to have dry socks to put on for one of the first times this trail that I didn't want to ford with them on. So, I took off my shoes and socks and crossed the river barefoot. It was some AT style crossing. On the AT the fords are so infrequent that it is beneficial to stop and take the time to get your shoes off. But out here I am crossing water at least every hour if not a lot sooner and the crossings are a lot more difficult. Luckily the fords today didn't have too fast of currents. The fords in Glacier last week were horrendous. My dry socks lasted about an hour until I came to the next crossing. The second crossing looked like the rocks were a lot sharper than the first so I thought it best to leave my shoes on. I would have crossed in my camp shoes but as they are currently in transit to Lincoln Montana I obviously could not. I don't usually carry camp shoes but I broke down and sent for them this trail. My feet have been wet pretty much the entire time I have been hiking, seriously! I need to be able to take my wet shoes off and have something else to put on. I don't like carrying the weight of camp shoes but I have a feeling they may end up saving my feet. My feet are already pretty rough. I think it's my Keens. I never had one blister on the AT or the PCT until Oregon on the PCT when I got a pair of Keens. I now have big blisters on both of my pinky toes, both of my heals, and both sides of my feet. They hurt badly enough without them being in wet shoes for 14 hours a day.

Most of the hike today was through the burn area from last night. Because it was a burn area there were no leaves or anything on the trees to shade the sun. So, I ended up using my umbrella most of the day. It worked great for the areas from my waist up but my legs got too much sun and I now have painful sun rashes all over my legs.

About 9 miles into the day I forded a stream and on the other side was a small campsite on the edge of a meadow and it was shaded by trees! Live trees! I thought I must be getting close to getting out of the burn area. It was so inviting that I took lunch there, cooked a hot meal, and took off my shoes to dry my feet. It was a great lunch. If only that spot had been 12 miles up trail and I could have camped there. After lunch I hiked through the marshy meadow to the edge of a beautiful pine forest. I ended up hiking in that almost the rest of the day. The spider webs were out in full force today. Just about every third step got you a spider web, a spider, or both, to the face. Between the spiders and the mosquitoes I ended up throwing on my bug net and using the umbrella to block the spider web contact. By the end of the hike I had a bunch of spiders making webs in my umbrella.

The last 7 miles of the day were uphill with just a few breaks of downhill. We hiked along The North Wall which literally looked like it was a wall separating one area from the next and it was made out of jagged mountain. Once we descended a bit after the wall we came to an area that was decently flat with tall grass and plants. We decided to bunker down there for the night. Panama, Beth, and the pups were just a bit behind us and chose to camp here as well. There is a waterfall just down the way on trail. I'm excited to fall asleep to the sound of that rather than mosquito swarms just outside my tent.

Sunday, June 30th.

Sunday, June 30th. Day 12.

Today's miles = 20.5 Total CDT miles = 154

This morning was hard to get out of bed. It was just a bit chilly outside and there was condensation on my tent. I would sleep the whole morning away in my tent then hike all night (I hike the strongest after 4pm). But Monkey is really good about getting moving in the morning. He is a strong morning hiker and I am beyond opposite of that. I am so weak and have low energy until around 3 or 4pm. Once I hit that time I am good to hike until the sun comes up again whereas that is the time Baboon starts to slow down. It's quite inconvenient really. So, I drag my ass off my sleeping pad anyway and suffer through the morning hours of the hike trying to keep pace with Baboon. One of my favorite times of day is when I get my surge of energy and it becomes the opposite. Unfortunately by that time there is only a few hours of hiking left for the day. I almost never want to stop for the night when we do. I would rather hike a few hours longer then sleep in a few hours later the next day.

So, as usual, Baboon had to badger me to get me out of tent and once I did the morning was horrible and difficult for me to trudge through. It felt all uphill (whether is was or not). The trail was decently mellow today though. There were a few climbs in the morning but after lunch it smoothed out a bit and I was able to make up some miles from having moved so slowly in the morning. The trail stayed pretty close to Strawberry creek all day after lunch. Before lunch was when the day was a little interesting. We came to an open meadow with Beaver Lake to the right of us. The trail went straight. We went left. There were notes on the map that you could potentially bushwhack straight up the side of the mountain instead of taking the trail the whole way and switchbacking up it. I had no energy with it being morning and all and I HATE bushwhacking but I didn't want to be a poor sport so we went straight up the side of the thing! It was perfectly safe except for the countless scratches (on sunburned skin) and spiders I acquired all over my body.

To be honest I didn't spend much time looking around today. I was pretty focused on looking at my feet and the daydream I was having. I did notice, however, when we entered The Bob Marshall Wilderness (aka - The Bob). I noticed because The Bob has some trail crews and I was having to climb over less blow downs. The Bob also appears to have suffered a bad burn. Most of the day after lunch was hiking through a burn area. We are also camped in a burn area tonight. It's not my favorite environment to sleep in. At least Panama, Beth, and the pups are camped out just along the way. As I said before, we all feel safer camping in numbers.

Saturday, June 29th.

Saturday, June 29th. Day 11.

Today's miles 20.5 Total CDT miles = 133.5

The one thing about the CDT is that you don't really know how far your walking. On the AT and the PCT it was well enough marked and it was one continuous trail. Out here I am constantly switching from one small local trail to another; from a jeep road to no trail at all. And there are so many routes that you can take and almost no signs indicating one path from another. You have to rely on your maps. Throughout one day you have to make a handful of decisions about which way you want to go. For example, today I took a jeep road for five miles instead of hiking seven miles uphill. I also took a path along a ridge to avoid overgrown, tick infested-bear habit-lowland trail. The decisions for the trail today were easy but some days it has been a bit more difficult. Especially when snow is involved in the decision.

The beginning part of the hike today was uphill. It may not have been uphill for the first 12 miles but I had low energy today and it sure as hell felt like it. At the 12 mile mark we came across a cabin that we had been told about the night before from the host of the small campground at Maria's Pass. He told us that it was state property and that we were allowed to camp out front of it if we desired. We didn't camp there but we did seek the comfort and shade of the porch for lunch. I decided to cook my dinner for lunch to prevent having to stop somewhere not as nice to cook. I'd figured I'd eat my cheese wrap for dinner before settling down for the night. Panama and Beth thought cooking was a good idea as well so we were all sprawled out on the front porch of this cabin in the middle of nowhere boiling our noodles as the pups slept under the porch in the shade.

After the cabin Monkey and I decided to hike another 8.3 or so miles to 'Lost Horse Camp'. The first 5 miles of that were more jeep roads. Within about 10 minutes of leaving the cabin is when I met Chuck; bear number three. It was a change because Chuck was scared of us! We we walking along as normal making occasional noise to make the bears aware of us and Chuck heard us and got really scared. He ran down the mountain away from us. We still had the bear mace out, of course, but Chuck didn't want any trouble.

We didn't make it to the lost horse camp tonight. Beth, panama, and pups were camped just under a mile or so from the horse camp. They had decided to set up camp before the horse camp because it started to hail. Baboon and I decided to walk just a bit farther than them to set up camp, as we all feel safer in numbers.

Another horrible mosquito day. Another hot one as well...except for when it hailed.