Daily Miles: 27.5, Total Miles: 2,247.8 A terrific thunder and lightning show directly overhead late last night. I know some of those strikes were very close. I quickly entered the Antler-Pintler Wilderness and passed scenic Surprise Lake. In and out of new and old burn areas all day and got great views of the rugged and rocky Pintlers from Pintler Pass. I dropped down to pretty Johnson Lake and then chugged back up to Rainbow Pass at over 9,000 ft…
Daily Miles: 26.9, Total Miles: 2,220.3 I stood right in front of the motel in Darby at 7:30am and had a ride to Lost Creek Pass within 10 minutes – I think the sign helped. Mike, who picked me up, is doing mortality studies on young elk in this area – interesting stuff. I had to walk up one mile to rejoin the CDT at Chief Joseph Pass. This is the point where the trail finally leaves the border with…
Daily Miles: 0, Total Miles: 2,193.4 Darby is a nice little town for a zero day despite the smoke haze. Seems to be normal this time of year. I enjoyed a huge breakfast at Montana Inn, hit the PO and strolled around town. Even bought $5 earphones at Family Dollar to replace those lost in sagebrush outside of Lima MT. I had a good IPA at Bandit Brewing, fish & chips at the Blue Joint and stayed at Montana Spirit…
Daily Miles: 15.8, Total Miles: 2.193.4 I seem to always wake up early on a town day – on the trail by 6am. With the smoky haze and shorter days, I even needed my headlamp for awhile. Lots of old burns and pointless ups and downs today. The trail religiously follows the Divide which is the ID/MT border, no doubt the original path of the survey crew that installed the border markers. Today, I cursed the trail in frustration several…
Daily Miles: 24.0, Total Miles: 2,177.6 A quick climb to Mountain Pass and great views of nearby lakes including Upper Slag-a-Melt. I stayed up high for a few miles on the side of a mountain of talus, then plunged down into the South Fork Sheep Creek drainage crossing creek several times. I climbed out of the drainage back to the Divide and Big Hole Pass at just over 7,000 ft elevation. Followed the ridgeline to a higher camp a few…
Daily Miles: 18.8, Total Miles: 2,153.6 My sons safely returned me back to Miner’s Lake – thanks again, boys, what a memorable fishing expedition! The fire closure has just been lifted for this section and I am really happy I didn’t have to skip it. I didn’t get started until noon but made good time. Today reminded me a lot of the Sierras with several pretty lakes, brilliant flowers, talus slopes and craggy peaks. A cool, partly cloudy day with…
Disappointed the boys weren’t able to join me on the CDT due to the fire closure. But they did come equipped for a fishing trip for a few days. We took Sourdough to Dillon MT for a quicker hitch for him to pick up his car in Dillon. We then headed back to Grasshopper Creek near Bannock State Park for a morning of fantastic flyfishing. After picking up supplies in Dillon, we headed east on a gravel road to Blacktail…
Daily Miles: 8.0, Total Miles: 2,135.6 I slept like a log the past few nights. Trying to read a book, but can’t get more than a few pages in before nodding off. One more climb this morning and down to a new section of trail to the Miner’s Lake Road. We walked four more miles and stopped just past the CG above Miner’s Lake. While sitting there waiting for a car to come by and take us the 14 miles…
Daily Miles: 20.3, Total Miles: 2,127.6 We had a good climb up the Divide this morning with nice views of mountain peaks and big talus slopes. Then mostly downhill and flat through pine forests and grassy meadows until the end of the day. Crossed several streams today so didn’t have to carry much water. Got some bad news from a SOBO hiker that a fire closure is now in effect between Lena Lake (past Miner’s Lake) and Joseph Pass, about…
Daily Miles: 24.6, Total Miles: 2,107.3 We had been hearing rumors on the trail grapevine about a documentary being made about a group of CDT SOBO hikers. Well, we ran into and met the whole gang before reaching Lemhi Pass this morning. Looks to be a small film crew and, at this point, 9 or 10 hikers, although the core may be smaller. The title is something along the lines of “3 MPH Along the CDT”. Going to be hard…
