Day 0 – Day 9

Bob Marshal and Scapegoat Wilderness in Northern Montana

Day 0 – July 7th

It’s official! We’re doing it!

Ryan and I arrived in Kalispell Montana after driving through gorgeous mountainous terrain and couldn’t help but notice the GIGANTIC mountain range ahead of us as we pulled into town. We dropped off our cute little Mini Cooper at the Enterprise Rent A Car and asked if they had a shuttle that could drop us off down the road on our way, turns out no shuttle, but this Enterprise had something even better… Jackie!

She saw our backpacks and asked where we were going, her shift was just ending and she offered us a lift to the trailhead. WHAT?! We were picturing hours of walking beside a windy mountain road before being picked up by a strange stranger in a truck who would transport us to the trailhead. How could we be so lucky?! Thank you SO much Jackie for starting our trip on the highest note possible.

Not only was Jackie generous with her time, but she also entertained us for an hour drive with great personal stories. She played college basketball and rugby then found her way into a career with Enterprise which she enjoys. She told us about her boyfriend Chris (he’s a lucky guy to be her boyfriend 😊) who works with lasers and her grandma who immigrated to Montana at 17. We’re so happy to be meeting such cool people already!

After a nice send off, we started down the trail… the wrong trail, and quickly noticed on our GPS that we needed a slightly further walk down to the road to get going. Our trailhead was just inside the Summit Campground where the camp host pointed us in the right direction.

So far the trail is nicely groomed and very muddy. There are LOTS of mosquitos but it’s still manageable if you keep covered up.

We also already met our first through hiker today! His trail name is Trout, and he is only a couple hundred miles away from finishing the triple crown. Hiking all three of the great American trails, the PCT, AT, and now the CDT. Amazing!! He also commented on the size of our packs and bet us “his cash and credit card that we won’t have all that on us when we reach the end.” We ate a big meal tonight to help cut down on weight haha!

So far, we have hiked two or so miles today and are off the trail again, about a half mile in the wrong direction camped by the Two Medicine River Fork. Tomorrow, we backtrack and then forward track as far as we can in the generous 15 hours of daylight we’ve got!

Day 1 – July 8

Today we met James and Mike, two hikers about our age who are also heading southbound on the CDT. We enjoyed picking their brains about hiking a through trail since they completed the Appalachian Trail a few years ago and have much wisdom to share. We now know to get special insoles for hikers, replace our waterproof boots for quick drying, light trail runners, and download the app they use which is much more geared towards CDT hikers.

The mountains here are very bare… very rocky. Hello Rocky Mountains! We are hiking just below them on an ungroomed trail through lots of living and dead pine trees. The ground is covered in small green plants which have lots of beautiful blooming wildflowers to entertain our eyes 👀. It’s also quite muddy and the trail often disappears for a foot or two under a layer of water.

Speaking of water, we have crossed over 10 rivers and streams today, almost always having to remove our shoes to wade across and save our feet from slogging along the rest of the day. I’ve learned my lesson after miss stepping at the end of the day and filling both of my shoes with water. Turns our waterproof is great for keeping water out of, and inside of your shoes. Sorry my now pruney weird looking feet!

Lots of water means lots of mud means lots of tracks. We are not alone out here! There are many big animals in these woods including grizzly bears, black bears, moose, elk, deer, wolves, mountain lions, and many smaller critters too.

Our mileage was much lower than we hoped today, we estimate around 15 miles covered, due to lots of downed trees, water crossings, muddy trails, and super heavy packs (we brought too much food… whoops!). Despite all this our spirits remain very high! Day two was a good one, and we are now a little bit closer to Mexico than we were this morning.

Day 2 – July 9

We walked a lot today. 9:30am-8pm, breaking only to eat or fill water (which takes a surprisingly long time). Despite our efforts and without tracking turned on the whole day to conserve precious battery, it appears we haven’t walked very far at all. Hmmmm.

Our goal is to do around 20 miles a day, and based on map estimates we are at MAYBE 18. Based on our effort and past experiences with walking however it feels more like a 22 mile day. Hopefully our intuition is correct!

The scenery today was GORGEOUS with lots of wildflowers. We also met some friendly north bound hikers who all started a few hundred miles south of us. One group was a family with kids! I can’t help but wonder how daring and brave they will be as grown ups already being on such adventures!

Our feet and shoulders are officially tired. It’s fun to be making progress and we’re hopeful for the days ahead!

Tonight we camped at a nice spot by a creek. There was some firewood already set up for us so we made a little fire to dry our wet shoes and socks. The mosquitos were bad but they seemed to leave us alone once the fire got going.

Day 3 – July 10

Soreness is real! Blisters! Ow! So strange how easy it is to keep yourself going, but as soon as you take a break to sit for a moment, every step to get back in the swing of things is grueling.

We hiked all day again today, definitely no slacking here, and endured a rainy night and very wet morning which meant damp feet all day long, many many mosquitos that like to bite your face, miles of climbing over fallen trees one after the other, bodies as stiff as a board, foot blisters forming under calluses that get sore and angry, and foot odor to make you turn your face away in disgust and shame.

We also enjoyed encountering some of the most gorgeous views we have ever seen, crips clear mountain vistas covered in wildflowers and sunshine, a few horses along the way in make shift stables grazing in open fields, a much needed rinse in a mountain creek which cleaned me and invigorated more than anything else today, a huge meal of double the usual ramen next to a gorgeous stream, cute chirping squirrels and chipmunks, a healthy friendly deer who trusted us and just watched as we crossed its path, and a sense of accomplishment throughout the day as we watched our environment change around us as we walked and walked and walked.

Day 3 has been both pleasant and torturous. We are ready for day 4!

Day 4 – July 11

Today was the hardest day yet, by far. My body is officially angry with me and I don’t know how to make it happy!

At least we ran into some very cool people, way, way up in the mountains where only cool people go because you can’t get up here with much of a bad attitude. It just won’t happen.

Our day began with Christian and Nate, two Forrest Rangers out cutting fallen trees from the trail. Thank you! What a job. They have to do it all by hand, no chainsaws, no motors, just the good ol’ saw. “It looks romantic, but it isn’t. It’s really just hard work.”

They said the forest we were in had burned in 2007 and again in 2017. Nate said he thinks the burns are just fine for the forest and can even be good.

We took the CDT about 7 miles to the west and along a huge ridge for most of the day. We climbed A LOT and I’m having pain in my right calf, Ryan in his back. The view was worth it though and we are planning a short cut starting tomorrow to help make up some time. Whew!

We are camped at the base of the mountains next to some local Montanans out here with horses and a tee-pee! They are pretty cool. Once again, haven’t met anyone who isn’t yet out here!

Day 5 – July 12

We descended the North Wall after a leisurely morning next to the friendly Montanan folks who went on their way to fish at “stock lake.”

Our mileage went fast since we were going down nearly the whole morning. After a couple short breaks with nearly NO mosquitos!!!… we took a turn off the main trail to access a big short cut.

The terrain became very grassy and much drier which was nice! Our trail was faint and COVERED in wildflowers including clover fields thats smelled amazing.

In the mid afternoon our luck took a turn for the worse as we entered mosquitogedon. I wouldn’t wish it on my own worst enemy. The mosquitos were so thick that we had to cover in clothes head to toe and nearly run, all the while sweating profusely and swallowing mosquitos with our labored breathing. HORRIBLE. Horrible. We are planning to acquire some mosquito nets.

After about two or three miles of this, the mosquitos subsided and we covered good ground. We had a new appreciation as we ate our dinner (we splurged tonight and had the Mountain House Beef Stoganof from my sister, Michaela. So good!! Thank you Michaela!) for the normal amount of swatting and buzzing that usually felt like such a nuisance while we tried to enjoy some rest and a meal.

As the evening approached, we set lofty goals for the rest of the hike and headed out in search of a good stream to camp by after a few more miles. Nearly all of the water sources on our map were dry as we passed one blue line after the other. We began to worry about finding water at all before the night and just as we were about to reach the most promising spot on the map, we stopped dead in our tracks.

About 100 yards away from us were three bears, three grizzly bears with humped shoulders and fur the color of milk chocolate. They looked like babies which set off alarms in my mind of angry mother bears. They watched us, we watched them, I armed the bear spray, Ryan armed his gun, and the bears ran off up the hill away from us. We quickly crossed the path they had been in hoping desperately for the water we needed and were rewarded! After a quick filter, bear spray at the ready, we kept on marching. We kept the conversation nice and loud and sang as we covered enough distance to feel safe before the sun set.

Our camp tonight is on the ridge of a grassy hill with a 360 degree view of beautiful rocky jagged mountains. We hung our food a good distance away tonight.

Today we covered a lot of ground and are ready for what lies ahead! Woo!

Day 6 – July 13

Today was the day of long distances and river crossings. With nice flat terrain for the majority of the day and very groomed trails after we connected back up with the CDT, Ryan and I made great time today.

This was all despite the huge amounts of time we put into crossing rivers. We had several today and nearly all were challenging. One was downright scary and Ryan had to take his pack across, come back for mine, and cross AGAIN. He said after the first time accross he dreaded coming back, but if I were to go, with my height, my pack would definitely have been submerged and the extra drag in the water probably would have taken me down.

I had my feet pulled out from under me a couple times going across even with my trekking poles for support as the water was above my hips and really moving. Talk about adrenaline. After reaching the other side I felt like I needed to cry, but the feeling subsided and we made great progress again after collecting ourselves.

Today we also ran into a popular camping destination near the town of Augusta, MT. It was fun to see signs of society like a gorgeous bridge, day hikers, and casual fishermen. Ahhhh.

The rest of our day was spent moving at a fast pace and we dealt with another river crossing that was a little deeper than our liking. We are camped in what feels like an enchanted forest for reasons neither of us can put a finger on. Our tent is on the banks of the South Fork of the Sun River.

Goodnight!

Day 7 – July 14

Today felt almost routine! We had to really push ourselves in the afternoon to reach our goal though due to a nice late start, sleeping in until 9am.

My legs and feet have a deep ache to them, but my mind feels light and happy that we reached our goal for the day!

No mosquitos to bother us and a fairly flat, straight march south on trails that were rarely overgrown (although sometimes had too many rocks for my taste) allowed for a quick pace.

We did have one hiccup today, loosing the trail, and spent a long time trying a different route that didn’t pan out. What a bummer! Some bushwhacking towards the route on our GPS thankfully our us right back on the trail.

While searching for the trail we came across a cool empty cabin, outhouse, and shed that serve as a ranger station. It was straight out of an old western! Minus the solar panels. Ryan and I have a dream of building a cabin like it someday and are now more inspired than ever.

Day 8 – July 15

Today we CLIMBED. So. Much. Climbing.

At first it sounded like, and felt like a huge chore, but we both admitted by the end of the day that it was well worth it.

We had a late start this morning and had to recross two rivers when I realized I’d left my sunglasses at our campsite. I also had a run in with a stinging caterpillar that left welts on my leg even through my pants!

After that bumpy start the trail went up, up, and up. Our mileage wasn’t so good today, but we feel proud of our accomplishment nonetheless.

Today we walked on top of multiple mountains, from peak to peak. We climbed up higher than we have yet on the CDT.

We ate dinner beside a gorgeous mountain lake, two ramens each! The lake was full of strange little red shrimp creatures and water bugs that were fun watch swim around.

We were able to call our parents! It’s funny how the service is so good in the middle of nowhere when there’s nothing around to block it, just wide open sky for as far as you can see.

We plan to take a short cut into Helena in a couple of days. Delicious food and a real bed… here we come!

Day 9 – July 16

After two full days of not encountering another soul, we suddenly ran into tons of other hikers.

The first duo we met was only a mile or so after setting off for the day. Introducing Thor and Drive By! They are finishing up the section of the CDT that they had to skip back in 2017 due to fires and smoke. Both of them have already hiked the AT and PCT. They said their packs only weigh 8 pounds before food and water. What?!? Mine is closer to 20. No wonder they looked so energetic still after such a climb in the morning.

We soon ran into some day hikers, some horse back riders, and then this very fun group of local weekly hikers who were such a pleasure to chat with. They get together once a week to hit the trails and enjoy good company. We ran into them just after they finished a long ascent and then a delicious piece of rhubarb cake at the top. We like their style. They also gave us a water bottle after hearing we were running low. THANK YOU!!

Just after meeting them we passed the spot Lewis and Clark crossed over the Rockies. How they did it with the technology and gear they were carrying, and NO TRAILS…. I have no idea.

The entire morning was spent pushing to the road waiting below us where we planned to hitch a ride into Helena, about 60 miles away. We were very ready for some tasty hot food and a bed and after 11 days… a SHOWER!

Pushing was hard due to more elevation changes. We went up incredibly steep mountainsides to clamber right over the top and down the other side. Some climbs were up and down 1000ft. Whew! All the while we were walking with some of the strongest side winds I’ve ever felt.

On our very last climb up one of the steepest mountains yet, we ran into another through hiker named Nobody who turned down a picture. What a cool guy! He was hiking alone and carrying a big gun. There was no air of intimidation though, since he had a trendy haircut, gorgeous beard, and shorts that were short enough to show off his Mandala thigh tattoo. Oh and since he was very nice and well traveled. That helped too.

We hiked a hundred feet or so further and met a local trail runner who offered us a ride after she finished. She said she would go another half mile and turn around so we set off as fast as we could for the final 2.4 miles to the road.

It felt awesome to arrive at Roger’s pass, completing our first leg of the journey.

Thank you so much Robin, our trail running friend for giving us a lift to the junction for Helena.

We were picked up right away again by Veronica, a really cool hairdresser/ hiker/ artist/ popsicle lover/ hiker helper who drove us 48 miles into Helena with great conversation and then showed us around town in the car before dropping us off at Suds Hut for dinner. We had been craving fried chicken and they delivered. So good. It felt great to sit in a booth and enjoy some delicious food.

Time to rest. Signing off until the 18th at the Budget Inn 👍🏼

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