Month: July 2021

29 2155.2 7/13/2021 overcast, smokey. Justin and I woke at the AirBnB at 4:30 and dropped me off at 5:30 on trail. The first part was an 8 mile road walk. Just afterwards I met another hiker named “Uncle  Walter”. Then next were grassy hills. The climbs were very steep. And there were a lot of them. Around noon I got off trail and when I tried to get back on trail I goofed and started hiking SOBO. Oh no! I didn’t catch my error until I had gone 3 miles. So I had to hike back 3 more miles. This wasted over three hours. So instead of ending around 5:30 pm I ended at 8:30 pm. It was a very very long day and I’m exhausted, but I made it to my planned endpoint.

28 2133.7 7/12/2021 Smokey, sunny, hot hot. I got on trail a bit later at 5:40, the sun rise is taking longer and the smoke is making it darker. I immediately had a 1000’ climb which was straight up. Also I had my full backpack today having had my daypack the past few days. I started in forest but at the summit it was grassy with sage. I accidentally went the wrong way, but realized it after about 0.25 miles and turned around. Then it was a long road walk to Justin in the heat. I tried to conserve water and my lips and tongue were dry. Although it was only 11.6 miles today I was tired when I reached him. He plied me with a Squirt and off we drove to Lima MT. Justin got us an AirBnB with two beds. To wait while it was available we had a late breakfast at a Cafe. It was filling and good. After breakfast he told me that there is a 35 miles trail closure in about 200 miles. We have two options hike around it or skip it. Since it’s only 35 miles we’re thinking about skipping it. The AirBnB is especially important because it has a shower. It’s been 9 days since I had one and I stink. Now dear Justin is out doing laundry. He is such a sweetheart. While out doing laundry he met two CDT hikers and when he mentioned “Tartan” they remembered me from last year. He invited them over for hamburgers and brats. We had dinner and chatted with Grace and Mike and had a lovely time. Afterward I did my chores and went to bed. 

27 2122.1 7/11/2021 Smokey, sunny, some clouds. Woke early. Quite dark out. Smoke in the air. I left our campsite at the trailhead and started my day of climbs. I listened to my audio book, The Splendid and the Vile. Some climbs were easy, but others were long, steep and on gravel which cause my feet to slip. I even fell once. At lunch I stopped at a spring that poured water into a trough. Two horses were tied up nearby. There was a big old canvas tent there, but I saw no one around. Then after lunch I had a descent which was steep and it tired my legs just slowing down each step. Justin could not get the Jeep to the meetup point. So he carried my backpack and food and water 1.2 miles to the meetup. I arrived at 2 pm. I transferred water and other stuff from my daypack to my backpack. Justin left and I set up my tent and tried to nap, but couldn’t sleep. Tomorrow we meet at Interstate 15 in 11.6 miles. We’re going to Lima for showers, laundry and grub which I desperately need.

26 2103.3 7/10/2021 sunny, hot. An uneventful day of hiking. Started at 5:30 and got to Justin at 1:30. Started with a medium climb over 5 miles and then descended over 14 miles with some smaller hills on the way down. Sometimes the trail was confusing and I just used Guthooks to get back on trail. Had lunch when I arrived because the mosquitoes on the trail near the end were awful. Justin and I just relaxed under the awning for the afternoon at the trailhead. He chatted with various people who stopped by this trailhead. He is my very sociable son. Dinner was easy. Mac and cheese with some leftover BBQ  brisket. I also had tortilla soup to get more hydrated. My little tent is in the sun but it’ll be down soon enough. Tomorrow is about 20 miles and has some climbs. I’m getting to the point I want a shower and clean clothes. I stink and I’m filthy. 

25 2084.2 7/9/2021 sunny, breezy. On trail about 5:25 am. Doing it as a slack-pack. No big climbs but many smaller ones. After lunch I got off trail while listening to an audio book. Missed a turn. Must have gone over a mile off so walked it back. Probably lost over an hour. Made me get done around 3:30 pm. Gotta watch better for Trail junctions. Ugh! Justin made brats for dinner. Yum. We think a forest fire started on the other side of the hill where we are camping. Big white puffy clouds erupting there. Justin is going to keep an eye in it. I can smell the smoke.

24 2062.5 7/8/2021 sunny, clouds, smoke. Today was climbs and long. I was out on trail at 5:25. Both climbs were ok. The audio book helped me keep my mind off the climbs. By 11:00 I finished the second one to Targhee pass at 10,000 feet. Whew! I had lunch about 12:15 and met Cheeto, Blind squirrel, and Flip. They were flip-flopping around CDT waiting for the Colorado snow to dissipate. Then about 3 miles to the Jeep I crossed a stream and they are there cooling down AND SO IS JUSTIN. And he had cold sodas for me. Fantastic! Nevertheless the last 3 miles were hard. I was exhausted. Later at the Jeep Justin and I met a CDT section hiker named iPod. He’s doing southern Montana. We gave him a coke and chatted for a while. For dinner Justin cooked steaks. Yum!

23 2039.6 7/7/2021 sunny, clouds, sparse dark clouds, some sprinkles. Got up a few minutes early, packed up my backpack and put it in the Jeep. Headed out with my slack-pack after breakfast of a pop-tart and Mio-laced water. Bopping along on forest road I made great time and completed almost 6 miles in first two hours. Kept pushing and got 20 miles done and got to Justin by about 1 pm. Yippee! We went to West Yellowstone for great BBQ and then back to the trailhead. Set up my tent. Although dark clouds appeared and a few rain drops fell we had a light dinner. I had corn chowder. Now it’s time for bed. Tomorrow will be a tough day with two big climbs and 23 miles. I’m planning to slack-pack it. I hope that there are only a few blowdowns and I can make it all the way. I’ll tell you tomorrow in my daily log. Night night.

22 2019.8 7/6/2021. Sunny, hot,puffy white clouds. On trail at 5:30 am. My worries about crossing Summit Lake exit stream were nonexistent. No water ford was needed. Although I was loaded down with maximum water I hiked along quickly. For the first two hours I listened for animal noises. In that time I completed over 5 mile which was my plan. Then I had my first snack and sipped just a little water. I took off my windbreaker and started to listen to my audio book. In two more hours at 9:30 I completed 5 more miles. At 11:30 I found a culvert with a pool of water about six feet across and a foot deep. I stopped for lunch there. I guzzled a bottle of water and refilled. I continued on at 12:05 and at about 2 pm I had completed my 20 miles. Then I started to look for a campsite. I was walking down a forest road. I finally found one after a gate blocking the road and set up my tent at a pull-out and sent out my daily InReach message. That’s when I saw Justin had been to this gate the day before. So I sent him a message asking him to join me here. In about 30-45 minutes he was pulled-in with COLD SODAS! Over the next few hours I drank five sodas. I must have been dehydrated. He made pork tacos and they were delicious. Tomorrow I planning on slack packing 20 miles. Water will again be tight so I’m carrying 3 liters. We will meet again and have BBQ. I’m trying to boost my daily mileage after the very hard and very slow start due to the damn blowdown hell.

21 1998.0 7/5/2021 cloudy, rain, little sun. Justin and I packed up, ate breakfast and hiked out about 5:45 am. Justin had his backpack with both his and my stuff. I had my daypack and tent. We chatted on the way out which made the time fly by. Soon we were at the Jeep at the Howard Easton Trailhead and it started to rain. Hurriedly I unpack my daypack and Justin gave me my gear he was carrying. I organized my pack contents. My food was already prepared. At about 7 am I hiked out on my own. I walked by many steaming geothermal items and the morning was cool so they were especially steamy. About half way I had a steep climb that i pushed to complete. I was dripping sweat for the 1500’ elevation change. Once done I hiked quietly and arrived at my OE1 campsite. The clouds were threatening so I put up my tent. Got water, dug a cat hole and jumped into my tent just as a half hour rain storm arrived. It was cool, but every so often the sun broke through the clouds and warmed the tent. I did some chores such as stitch holes in my “not so new” shoes. It’s only been two weeks since I bought them in Pinedale! I read and enjoyed Justin’s blog entries.  Now I am doing my daily chores to prepare for tomorrow. It looks like the next section is much drier and I need to load up on water and refill at every water source I find on the way to the next meetup.

See “Yellowstone Backcountry Transit” for Justin’s description of the last few days.