Month: July 2021

47 2536.2 7/31/2021 sunny, hot, breeze, clouds. Packed up my new tent easily. On trail at 5:20 with headlamp. Listened to Outlander to help the miles go by. I had many many climbs today. They seemed unending. Water sources were sparse too. Got to one for lunch and one at end of day. I was hoping to camp at the end of day water source but there wasn’t a spot. So I climbed and found a spot among boulders 0.2 mile further. Tent set up well. I tried to nap but no sleep. I stayed in my tent for the rest of the day. I’m starting to organize my tent with my pack and most everything above my head. My shoes are at the other end. I’m filthy and need a shower and laundry but I’m pushing on tomorrow to get more miles done. I will meetup with Justin tomorrow. Chatted with Katie on text messages who did Mt. Charleston. So glad she got to do that – a real hike experience. 

46 2517.1 7/30/2021 sunny, very hot. Slept until 4:40 which is late for me. Had three 500’ climbs and then one 1000’ climb. They wear me out. Also I didn’t put up my umbrella and the sun was beating down on me. Got to Justin about 1:20 so I did well to complete 19 miles. I was dehydrated and drank soda after soda including a bottle of water. I switched tents. I now have a Big Agnes UL1 single person tent. It’s tiny and narrow but I’ll make do f0r the next 30 or less days. It reminds me of my Zpacks Hexamid BUT SMALLER. We set it up once, took it down together and then I did it by myself. I’m sleeping in it tonight. I have so many habits that now need to change. And a whole new tent to learn about. Justin got fresh trout and it was delightful with rice. Thanks sweetheart your meals and company mean a lot to me. I only have 440 miles to go. Also he was unable to get an advance permit so he must get a “walk-in” one. So our plans are going to be very fluid. Time for bed. Night night.

45 2498.5 7/29/2021 sunny, rain, thunder, clearing. Up at 4:30 and on trail at 5:20. Hiking along making my miles. Listening to Outlander. Got to a water spot (a marsh) and couldn’t find water except in cow hoof impressions. Lots of cow pies too. Decided to go on, because I had about 1 1/2 Liters in my Platypus and 0.7L in one bottle. Was going to stop at Guthooks marker named “Outlook”, but passed it by and continued hiking. It was only about 1:15 pm. I went a mile and a half and found a flat spot. I also noticed a broken down cabin. I wondered if this was the one mentioned in some water comments on the Guthooks app. Next I found white rocks farther down the slope and a stream. YIPPEE! I FOUND WATER! I guzzled one bottle and filled up everything: two 0.7L bottles and 1L dirty bottle. Set up my tent and napped. At 4:30 I heard rumbles and there was a rain shower / thunderstorm. It stopped by 5:15 and sun is now poking through. I got my tent doors up but the second zipper failed on my front door. Ugh! I finally got it closed but I think the new tent is now necessity. This is the one that Justin is buying today. Oh boy that is such good timing. Chili-Mac for dinner. Tomorrow I see Justin which is good.

44 2476.9 7/28/2021 sunny, hot, cloudy, rain. Got up even earlier and left camp with Justin at 5:07am. I immediately had a slow 2000’ climb. The end of which went up a stream bed without cairns or poles. Later there was another section where the only marking were in the bark of trees. I’m glad I know about the tree markings otherwise the trail was unmarked but for a few CDT ones. I listened to The Outlander and it’s OK but there were times when it got slow. I felt that even though I was slack packing I was not going very fast. I got to Justin at 1:15 after 20 miles for which I should be proud of doing. Justin said rain was coming so we put up the Jeep awning and cooked and ate under it. Sweet! However more rain is projected tonight so I’m in my tent and he is in his roof tent. IPod stopped by afterwards and Justin talked to him. He’s getting off trail shortly. The rain has cooled things down. We hope it helps reduce the fires and smoke in the air. Tomorrow’s plan is to do a 40 miles section in two days. Water is scarce. We shall see in tomorrow’s log as to how I do. Night night.

41 2416.0 7/25/2021 Smokey, sunny, hot, windy at lake. Woke before dawn and started packing up. Used my headlamp on red. Was on trail about 5:20 am. Still pretty dark so again used headlamp for 15-30 mins. The Advenza app and Pintler trail was easy to follow. It slowly rose as it approached the CDT. No problem making the connection. Did the first climb ok. Switched to the Guthooks map of Northern Montana- the last one! The second climb was miserable, but I did it. I decided to do the third climb to make tomorrow easier. I stopped at Warren Lake because it has a tent-site. I’m considering making the next meetup a stop-and-go to resupply and then continue for more miles. Dinner is a new one… Peak Refuel’s Sweet Pork Rice. 

40 ROADWALK #5 7/24/2921 chill in morning, sunny, very hot. I packed up my tent after 5 days at the Wisdom RV park and headed out. Letting Justin sleep-in for once. The weather was quite cool and chilly. I had my windbreaker and gloves on for the next two hours of hiking. The dirt road was east and the miles flew by. I got to Pintler Trailhead at 12:15 and there was Justin! We took it easy the rest of the afternoon. I did my prep by converting from slack pack to backpack. Food, water, and set up tent all took some time. A guy stopped by the trailhead and we chatted about 15 minutes. Otherwise it was quiet. Dinner was a steak celebration for completing the road walk. As we were eating we saw a puffy white cloud appear over the tree tops. Our antennae were alerted that this might be a forest fire. So we drove a few miles to learn that it was, but on the other side of the valley. Justin is going to Anaconda tomorrow and will investigate. I’ll keep my InReach on to get messages. If I encounter anything I’m returning to this trailhead. Tomorrow will be a very hard day for me with a full pack, bear canister and two big climbs.

39 ROADWALK #4 7/23/2021 cool, sunny, puffy white clouds. Today Justin drove me 20 miles to where I had ended yesterday just south of Jackson MT. I started hiking about 5:25 am which is even earlier. It was quite cool this morning so I wore my windbreaker. I listened to The Last Town and started on The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue. I found the latter slow so far. I met Gaia SOBO thru-hiker after Jackson. I finished in Wisdon around 12:15. Ate lunch and prepped for tomorrow. Then Justin and I took showers since we are paying for them. I’m uncertain what to do for a new air mattress. I’m going to try to make do with the super short one I have left. The rest of the afternoon we just chilled and chatted. Dinner was pork tacos, corn chips and bean dip. They were filling and good. The fire is dropping ash on us. I’m trying to get to bed earlier today. Tomorrow I’ll probably start hiking before light – a first on this section. I’ll be using Avenza app for the first time too to get to the Pintler Trailhead. Night night.