CDT Day 147: Zero Day in East Glacier

ByPurple Haze Posted on

Daily Miles: 0, Total Miles: 2,627.3

A leisurely day in East Glacier and there’s nothing wrong with that.

I stayed at the motel, but the East Glacier Lodge looks nice

I was out of communication with the family while in the Scapegoat/the Bob for a week. Completely unaware that there had been real concern for my well-being. This was due to a missed SPOT transmission last Saturday, and, as of 8pm on Sunday, still no OK message.

I’ve been known to miss my daily SPOT message before due to user error or rarely just spacing it out. Two nights in a row combined with the remoteness and risks in this part of Montana prompted some family action. The schedule I left the family showed I would be in Benchmark on Sunday. Calls were made to the Benchmark Wilderness Ranch on Sunday but no answer. So my son headed out from Helena to Benchmark to see if I was there or had picked up my resupply box.

What the family didn’t know was that I was a day ahead of schedule and my botched SPOT transmission on Saturday was from Benchmark at the South Fork Sun River CG. Well, on Sunday night I didn’t roll into the Gooseberry Guard Station until after 9pm, took out my SPOT and sent the OK signal. By that time, my son had made it to Augusta. He got word that I was OK so he turned around and went home. Yes, you can be relieved and pissed off at the same time! Of course, I’m oblivious to all this and, at that time, just upset my NeoAir mattress has sprung a big leak on the porch of the cabin.

As much as I can argue that the SPOT is primarily an emergency device for me to activate if needed, I fully understand why these series of events raised alarm bells, appreciate the concern, and, after several years of trying, hope to master SPOT usage before I get too old to hike anymore. Or maybe I’ll just carry a satellite phone.

Serrano’s here in East Glacier has very good Mexican food.