Through the Wilderness :Anaconda Alternate mike 26 to 52 CDT Mile 2603.3 to 2914

I stayed in Anaconda on the 22nd waiting out the rain. The 23rd I awoke in the Hiker Hut and prepared to leave. It was a little after 8 when I walked out the door and started the long walk out of town. It was still cloudy and a light mist of rain was falling but it wasn’t too bad. By the time I made it fully out of the city limits and turned left onto hwy 48 the rain had stopped and it looked like it was going to be a good day for a hike. I crossed under interstate 90 and the road turned to gravel as I ascended deeper in to the mountains. It was to be a long climb back up to the official trail from there. The road turned from gravel to dirt as it led on through the forest. There were loads of cows and they loved standing in the middle of the road and glaring at me before slowly ambling out of the way. I filtered water and filled up my bottles at a small stream just off the trail knowing it was a long way before I’d get to another water source. I stopped and ate under a huge old oak tree though it had been sadly stripped of many of its limbs for road maintenance I guess. Eventually I reached the CDT at mile 2603.8. It was still early and I was planning on hiking a few more miles but I found Stretch camped there with his new crew Hawaii, Javelin and Lieutenant Dan; so I set up camp and hung out. I ate and sat by the campfire catching up with Stretch and chatting with my fellow nobos before retiring to my tent for the night. It was a 26 mile day from Anacondna to CDT mile 2603.3.

I was up at 5 on the 24th and hiking by 530. The others weren’t stirring yet but I knew they’d still pass me before too long. I walked out into the trees following the CDT. The trail soon led out into the meadows and open fields. Cows were everywhere and with thousands upon thousands of acres to roam it seemed their favorite pastime was to stand on the trail. I stopped around mile 8 of the day to fill up my bottles at a cow trough, the only water available. While taking a break there Stretch and Hawaii showed up to get some water as well.

I hiked on and they soon caught up again and passed me by. Not long after Lieutenant Dan jogged through with a quick hello. I continued on hiking thru meadows and dodging cows. I climbed a couple of mountains and forded streams and rivers. It was a beautiful day in the woods. Eventually I got to where the trail went in several different directions there was the old CDT which was on my maps and there was the new trail where they had recently rerouted it. The new trail was not on the guthooks app I use but it was loosely mapped so I turned and followed it the best I could. It led down some old mining roads and I got lost a few times. I found a few abandoned mines and cabins along the way. I wa passing a large burned area late in the evening and was having a difficult time finding a place to camp but eventually found a wide spot on the side of the dirt road that was relatively flat and set up there. I wasn’t sure exactly how far I had made it since the new trail wasn’t marked on the map but I knew I had walked over 30 miles.

The 25th I was walking at sunup and mulling over whether I wanted to go into the big city of Helena ( the capital of Montana) or hitch into the tiny town of Elliston instead. I wasn’t really in the mood for a city day so I decided to hike out to the highway and head for Elliston since I didn’t need much in the way of supplies anyway. I got back on map at mile 2647.2 and hiked to Macdonald pass at mile 2653 where I hit the highway. As soon  as I crossed the road and stuck out my thumb a car stopped and picked me up. He dropped me off at the Spotted Dog saloon which was the towns only restaurant, conveniently located next to the tiny gas station that was the town’s only store. I dropped off my pack at the saloon and plugged in my electronics to charge before walking over to the store to resupply. It was a good thing I didn’t need much because the store barely had anything but I bought a bunch of candy bars and some chips. It was only a couple of days from there to Lincoln so I had enough dinners to make it already. I went back to the Spotted Dog and ordered cheese sticks and a cheeseburger. The food was good and I ate slowly waiting on my battery bank to charge up. A little after noon I paid my tab grabbed my stuff and walked out to the road. I got a hitch back to the trail almost immediately and was soon back to hiking. I wasn’t planning on a long day but I wanted to get over the next mountain and then set up camp early and relax. It was  about 3 miles up to the top where there were several different communications towers scattered around and then it was a nice hike through the forest down the other side. I made it to a road crossing a little after 3 and there was a nice road campsite so I went ahead and set up. I read a book on my kindle app and noticed my phone was almost dead so I plugged it into my battery bank and took a nap. I woke up and made dinner and then checked my phone and noticed it wasn’t charging. Not Good. I knew the bank was charged, as it had been less than half depleted that morning and I had charged it in town. But for some reason it had suddenly stopped working. I tried different cables and devices but it wouldn’t charge anything. Crap!, all my navigation is on my phone and it was dead. I had to come up with a plan. I reviewed my options :1 hike back and try to hitch into Helena where there was a Walmart and I could buy a new battery. This would mean packing up and hiking back over the mountain and trying to hitch in the dark (nobody picks up scary strangers in the dark) and then paying to stay in Helena and probably not getting back to the trail till late tomorrow to climb over the mountain a third time. Or 2 try to make it the two days to Lincoln without maps: this would be difficult, the CDT isn’t marked hardly at all and turns randomly and frequently without warning. or option 3 the communication towers up on top of the mountain might have an outlet. I could climb up there plug in my phone: let it charge: only turn it on when I really needed it for the next couple of days and while it was charging hopefully I could get enough signal to order a battery from amazon and have it mailed to Lincoln. Hah this was a plan! Maybe not the best, but a plan.

I left all my gear in my tent and hurried the 2 plus miles back up the mountain. The winds were roaring on the top and there wasn’t any way to get out of their path. I found an outlet on the front of a small concrete building at the base of one of the towers and plugged in. I managed to get signal and ordered a battery paying the ridiculous fee so that it would arrive in Lincoln on Tuesday ( it was currently Sunday) Then I laid down on the gravel as close to the wall as I could and tried to get out of the wind as much as possible while I waited on my phone to charge. The wind was relentless and I was freezing. For some reason my phone was charging super slow and an hour later as it started to drizzle rain and lightning began to flash it was still only at 40 percent. I watched the lightning and looked up at the giant metal tower I was sitting under and decided 40 percent would have to do. As darkness descended I grabbed my stuff and took off running down the mountain to my tent. I made it back down a little before ten and crawled into my tiny sanctuary quickly falling asleep and putting off my troubles till morning. CDT mile 2659.2 a 20ish mile day.

The 26th I was up and hiking early. I had my phone off with a plan to only turn it on when I really had to. About 20 mins later the trail led into a muddy field and vanished with no sign of where it came out so I had to turn on my phone. Sure enough it went in and then turned right and came out in some trees. Soon after that I came to a junction of 4 roads, 2 trails and a dirt path with no sign of which way the CDT went and I had to check my phone again. That’s the way of the CDT and with weird unmarked turns and random junctions all morning I realized my phone would be dead by lunch and it was still a long way to town. I sat down and studied a map of Montana I had downloaded and discovered there were some forest roads that sort of paralleled the trail and would be easier to follow. It didn’t appear to add too many extra miles and would hit the trail again right before the pass that crossed the mountains. I already knew I would have to walk  roads from the pass to Lincoln due to fire closures on the trail anyway. I decided this would be a more viable option than wandering around lost in the mountains so I tried to commit the new route to memory and turned off the road the trail was currently following and followed a different road down into a valley. It was more of a wide dirt path than a road but it was easy walking. It was actually a nice hike through the trees. I hiked on for a long time and a little after noon I came upon a small deserted cabin that I supposed someone used for vacations. It actually had electricity and there was an outlet on the porch so I plugged in my phone and took a long lunch. After about an hour I got going again and I started seeing the occasional bicyclist obviously traveling across country by the amount of gear they were carrying. I stopped to talk to a couple and realized I had stumbled on the Continental Divide Bicycle trail which travels close to the divide and the hiking trail from Mexico to Canada. I continued on and a little after 4 I found a small llama farm with some cabins and sheds and a welcome sign in the pasture. The sign on the gate said welcome bikers and there were a couple  there so I walked over to talk to them. They said it was a free place to stay for travelers biking the CDT and also that the road ahead was closed during the day as the fire crews were cleaning up logs from the burn. I walked up to the house nearby and met the owners and they happily told me I could stay in one of the small sheds they had fixed up as tiny cabins right next to the llama barn. They gave me a soda and a sandwich and told me to make myself at home. My tiny cabin was awesome with a small kitchen and a bunk. I hung out with the bikers and made pancakes and coffee. My cabin has power so I fully charged my phone. One of the bikers had lost his charger and no one else had an iPhone cord so he borrowed mine to charge his. I went to bed early with plans to get up and hike the 6 miles to the pass before the workers got there and closed the road. Another 30 plus mile day.

I was up at 3am on the 27th and made more pancakes and coffee before hiking out. It was a gorgeous moonlit night and a cold one. I made it across the 6 miles and reached Stemple Pass a little before 6 as the sky was starting to lighten. From there it was a long road walk down to Lincoln. The trail actually went north from there but was currently closed due to a recent forest fire. From my cabin it was about 24 miles to the Lincoln Post office and I arrived about 1130. My battery wasn’t there but my resupply box was so I grabbed it and walked to the city park where there were 5 dollar campsites. I set up and then tracked my package. It said it was running late and wouldn’t be there until the following afternoon. They were now sending it UPS. Due to the fire closure I was going to have to walk 19 miles on the highway to Rogers Pass to continue my trail and keep my continuous footpath in tact; so I decided I would slackbpack the next day while I waited on my package and then return to town.

A CDT thru hike means walking every step from Mexico to Canada. I can hitch into towns but then have to return to the same spot I hitched from to resume the trail. This way I have walked the entire way and am an official CDT thru hiker. Due to the fire closure this meant an extra 19 miles of road walk. I got a hold of a local trail angel in town named Gary that gave rides and he said he would pick me up in the park and take me to Rogers Pass and then I could just walk back to town and knock out the road walk. Then he would pick me up again the next day and take me back to the pass so I could head north. An awesome guy. I also met a couple called Bob and Rani. Bob was traveling the CDT bike trail in a horse drawn covered wagon and Rani his Waite was filling in a camper truck they were camped in the park as well. A 24 mile day to Lincoln Montana.

The 28th Gary picked me up at the park at 830 and drove me to Rogers Pass. He was awesome and loves helping hikers. He dropped me off and I started the long walk on the shoulder less Highway back to Lincoln. I had left most of my stuff in my tent so all Inwas carrying was my pack, some snacks, and a bottle of water. I made good time and was back in Lincoln around 2 in the afternoon. I ate some lunch and made it to the post office a little after 3. The UPS guy had just came by but he hadn’t left my package. I tracked it and it said it was supposed to be there. The post office guy called UPS and they said they had forgot to put it on the truck that morning and would deliver it the following afternoon. I was trapped in Lincoln. I called amazon and they told me it should have been there the day before which was very helpful. I got them to agree to refund the extra shipping costs I had paid and started walking back towards the park. I texted Gary and rescheduled my ride to the pass for Friday the 30th. I ran into Lieutenant Dan, Stretch, Hawaii, and Javelin who had just made it to town. I went to dinner with them and whiled away the evening  before returning to my tent for the night. They had gotten a room at one of the hotels. A 19 mile day.

The 29th I woke up and met the other hikers for breakfast at Lambkins a local restaurant. Then I did laundry and relaxed. A little before 3 I returned to the post office and my package had finally  arrived. I just had to charge the battery bank now, which takes about 6 hours. On my way back to the park I ran into Redfish, Lumber,  Hobo Max, and Fruit Salad who had just made it in. We joined the other hikers and all went to dinner together. Afterwards they went to the hotel and I returned to my tent in the park.

The 30th I was finally ready to leave Lincoln. Gary picked me up and dropped me off at the trailhead and off I went. It was going to be a 195 mile carry from there to East Glacier and my pack was super heavy with food. There was a lot of climbing up and down for the next 20 miles as the trail stayed on ridges following the divide but the views were spectacular. It wasn’t long before everyone else caught up with me and we hiked loosely in a group for a while stopping for water and just to stare at the mountains. A storm rolled by but we missed the rain and rainbows formed in the distance as the sun started to set. It was breathtaking. The others were in a hurry as they were to meet Fruitsalad’s parents at a campground the following day to pick up their resupply and eat so they walked late into the night. I stopped in a valley by a creek a little before 9 and set up camp. CDT mile 2745.9 a 23.6 mile day.

The 31st it was cold as I started hiking at 6. I walked the ridges at daybreak and it was gorgeous. The sun came up over the peaks and slowly warmed the world. Mid morning I descended down into the valleys and walked through forests for a while before a slow 10 mile climb back up. I walked all day and made it to a short trail that followed a creek and went slightly away from the main trail. I followed it and camped a little over a mile before it rejoined the main trail for a 28.2 mile day.

The 1st I slept late and didn’t start hiking till 7. My ankles and my left knee were not happy and were letting me know it. It was a day of huge rock formations and mountains. I was officially in the  Bob Marshall wilderness and hiking near a huge rock wall called the Chinese wall. It was amazing. I decided to camp early and stopped by a creek near the base of the wall a little after 5 and enjoyed the scenery and the solitude. Everyone else hiked by shortly after and continued on leaving me to the wilds. CDT mile 2807.7 a 28.9 mile day.

The 2nd I was up again before the sun and hiking by headlamp. I had decided to take the Spotted Bear alternate which cut off about 16. 5 miles making my food carry to East Glacier shorter and was also supposed to offer spectacular views as it climbed up and over Switch Back Pass. I reached the turn mid morning and for the first few miles it was a lovely hike through the forest, then the climb began and up I went. It took me most of the day to reach the top and it was worth it. The mountains  reached into the distance all around. Huge granite peaks abounded and I was again on top of the world. I sat up there for a while before slowly making my way down the other side enjoying the day, passing lakes and crossing creeks, hiking by ancient rocks and through fields of flowers. I reached a small ranger cabin near a creek a little after 8 and met Hobo Max and Fruitsalad, camped there along with a section hiker from New Zealand. I sat up camp nearby, made dinner and went to sleep. Spotted Bear Alternate mile 26.2 a 28 mike day.

The 3rd I woke to a tent covered in ice. It was cold and the dew had frozen. I shivered as I packed up and got to hiking before 6 hoping I would warm up as I started moving. The sun was barely peaking over the hills as I hit the official trail again at mile 2852.5. Eventually it warmed up and there wasn’t a lot of climbing so I made good time. There were loads of rivers and creeks and streams to cross and I practiced my amazing rock hopping and log walking skills  as I actually  managed to keep my feet dry all day. I hiked through the woods and fields until I reached another small cabin. It had a water pump out front and a big porch and I elected  to stay. Redfish came by and then hiked on in a hurry to reach town. The New Zealander set up camp nearby and Hobo Max and FruitSalad hiked by and continued on. CDT mile 2884.7 a 33.2 mile day.

The 4th it was time to hike to town. The morning was spent crossing a huge burn zone where fired had once raged. Occasionally I would cross an unburned section and enjoy the trees. I took a side trail out to highway 2 and walked it into East Glacier in the early afternoon. Everyone was in town Redfish, Lumber, Hobo Max, FruitSalad, Stretch, Hawaii, Javelin, Dosu, a guy called Mudslide; I even ran into Bobber who had actually finished the day before. We were now 100 miles from the border. East Glacier is just outside Glacier National Park on the Blackfeet Reservation. They all got a room at the hotel and I found a bunk behind the Mexican restaurant. We hung out and talked about the trail and our imminent finish. I decided I would take the next day off on the 5th and let my legs rest. Then I plan to enter the park on the 6th and hike to the rangers office to get my permits and figure out my finish date. The end is near.