Day 10 – Day 14

Mid Montana with Kilt and Crash

Day 10 – July 18

After a nice stay in Helena at the Budget Inn downtown, Ryan and I headed out down the road with our packs back on our back.

Just outside of town, we were picked up by Ashley and Cliff. These two locals were so kind and shared our love of the outdoors. Ashley is a fourth grade teacher in town who planned to hike the Oregon section of the PCT this year. She’s going to try again next summer when things are hopefully opened back up. Cliff is a rafting guide who gets PAID to be adventurous. So cool!

They dropped us off at MacDonald pass and we set off once again. The start of our day, around noon, was full of friendly day hikers from Helena who we chatted with as we met on the trail. We heard tale of two other CDT through hikers ahead of us, one wearing a kilt and carrying a guitar!

The guthook app we downloaded in Helena, a fantastic guide for through hiking at $39.99 told us we had to go about 16 miles before hitting water! Luckily the trail was mostly on a dirt road which meant no slow stepping around rocks, fallen trees, plants, etc. and we made fantastic time.
Funny enough the water source described was not our cup of tea and we passed up multiples others on the way waiting for the “spring” that meant the app showed where we wouldn’t have to spend time filtering water. Oh well. We heard tale of more water just over a mile up the trail and found it along with a gorgeous campsite marked on the map.

We set up late, around 9:30pm and I cooked ramen nearby while ryan made us a nice little fire. We’re planning to look for the comet tonight so a late evening is just fine!
We hiked over 23 miles today all after 12pm. Woo!

Day 11 – July 19

We had a nice long sleep in after a late night stargazing and checking out the comet, barely visible, but definitely there underneath the Big Dipper.

I went to filter water for our morning while Ryan took down the tent and we were back on the trail around 10:30am. At our first break, we ran back into The Wandering Kiltsman and Crash Bandicock who we met yesterday afternoon. They were so thoughtful last night and came up with trail names for us! We have been officially dubbed Retro Blaze AKA Ryan, and Speed Racer AKA Morgan.

We are both very pleased. Thank you Kiltsman and Crash!

The rest of our day we stuck together and enjoyed great conversation that helped the day pass while we did some big elevation changes in pretty forest.
Turns out that Crash lives in Fort Walton Beach, the same town as Ryan’s parents and invited us to go fishing with him next time we are down there. The Kiltsman is a director from Los Angeles and has been wearing a kilt since 2016. No turning back.

They met hiking the AT and have completed part of the Florida trail. Now they are well on their way their the CDT. Kiltsman is very good at documenting the journey, you can find his story online at thewanderingkiltsman.com.

We had a great time hanging out and made a big campfire between our three tents. The stars were amazing, the Kiltsman played his guitar which he carries strapped to his backpack, and we shared good conversation.

What a fun day!

Day 12 – July 20

Well, today we woke up, we took down camp and then ate and walked a little bit… then we sat and ate and filtered water and walked a little bit…. then we took an alternate route where we walked a ways, then we sat and ate and filtered water and walked some more…. then we got back on the main trail and we walked some more! After all that we set up camp and socialized and watched an episode of Community and ate Nutella and then we slept!

On our way to town where PIZZA and SHOWERS await. Boo yah.

Day 13 – July 21

We got up and on our way with Kiltsman and Crash after a pleasant sleep on the side of a mountain. Kiltsman played the Lord of the Rings soundtrack as we marched along.

We had a lot of blow downs to walk over and under so progress before lunch was slow until we stepped onto dirt side roads to bypass the untamed trail. The roads also gave us a little boost in our mileage and we adopted the mindset “work smarter not harder.” It was a good day for conversation walking side by side with wide paths and I had a lot of fun getting to know more about Crash and Kiltsman’s hobbies, pasts, futures, and especially their adventures before this trail. What fun travel companions!

I can’t help notice the lighter vibes they carry with them everywhere we go. It’s lower stress than when just Ryan (Retro) and I are walking. They take longer breaks, but they still get there! I think I would like a mix of our two dispositions and plan to adopt a little of their laid back attitude. The fact that they have already completed one great American trail gives a lot of credibility to their approach.
My legs are tired, but I’ve noticed getting up in the morning and after breaks is a lot easier than it was last week.

Water was scarce today and we made a fast two mile sprint into the sunset at to find a place to camp near a spring up a 1,000ft climb. Whew! It was a fun way to end the day, pushing hard and listening to good music courtesy of Kiltsman as we plowed up the mountain. We set up in the dark in a great spot found by Ryan and carefully rationed our dinner. We were so low on food that we barely ate at all! Town was coming though, and we were expecting a pizza feast in a day or two, let’s go!

Day 14 – July 22

A lazy late rise set us on trail around 11am and we hit it hard. Our descent from the mountain we camped on was gorgeous and the landscape had evolved from dense, wet forest to dry desert with brush, pines, and boulders. It was beautiful!

Our trail today diverged from the official CDT as we started our alternate route, the super butte cutoff. This option will get us a 200 mile boost which is good since Ryan and I started late in the season. We need to reach the San Juans BEFORE snow hits them. It’s funny to be planning for snow on a very hot July day.

Once again water was low and we raced into town on a gradual downhill for most of the day in the hot sun. It’s in the 90s right now and we are feeling the heat. That also means water is more important than ever as we sweat out what we drink in what feels like a matter of minutes.

Our goal for the day was an RV Park waiting about 7 miles out from Whitehall where we would resupply the next day. We couldn’t get ahold of the park, but we did get ahold of the local pizza place, Stageline Pizza, who delivers! We are eating like kings tonight!

The sun turned to clouds and we pushed ahead down more dirt roads towards town and interstate 90. At the bottom of the hill…. NO RV PARK!! Turns out it closed down a few years ago, no sign of it whatsoever. We kept our hopes high though and started to walk into town, thumbs out. We figured hitching a ride tonight was worth it and turns out we were right!

We got picked up by two very kind Montanans, Paul and Shannon, who let us ride in the bed of their truck right to the pizza place. They ALSO gave us money for the food after we got out! So nice!!! Thank you thank you thank you!

Ryan and I split a 20in fully loaded pizza, cheesy bread, and two 2 liter bottle of 7up. The pizza place had amazing employees who made us feel extra cool and asked great questions about our trip. Most importantly, they made AMAZING pizza. Thank you Stageline Pizza! By the morning we ate all but one slice. Full at last.

Our camp was set up under a park gazebo and it was HOT. We barely slept, but we stayed dry with a little rain. Tomorrow, laundry, showers, and resupply!