Chief mountain overnight

Day 1

I got up early and walked to the visitor center to wait for my shuttle. I met Van Gogh who is from Holland and decorated his white pack with sharpie tattoo art and Necktie who is from the UK. It was fun talking to other CDT hikers. They were hoping to get permits. 

Soon my ride came without me finding out the fate of my new friends and I was off to Chief Mountain. The customs check in and road was closed at the border. I walked up to it and found a pyramidal monument and got a photo. 

The trail began shaded, downhill and muddy. I took my time. Meadows opened up with sweeping views. By lunch I was at the junction to Cosley lake where my designated campsite was located. There was a side trail to powerful Gros Ventre falls. I recognized it from YouTube videos. The water was very high compared to what I had seen. I sat and watched the mist swirl. I was in no rush. 

Just before I arrived at camp I went over to the junction trail to see the dangerous river crossing the ranger warned about. There was no way I could cross. It’s also above the falls. Big nope!

I found a sheltered campsite and napped a bit. The lake was very cold otherwise a swim would have been nice. The winds created white horses, big rolling waves. I wasn’t sure where to get water so I got it from the lake, which was a turquoise color and a little cloudy. Waves crashed on my shoes. 

Later I heard voices and found a group on a guided trip sitting in the eating area. They played cribbage and then scanned the cliffs for mountain goats. We saw some and all took turns using the binoculars. We spent time around the dinner area and then I went back to my camp.

The guide in their group knew about Red Gap Pass and said it’s dry and there should be only small patches of snow. My scheduled route had higher passes so the official CDT Alt will be much better even though much longer. Early start time tomorrow hopefully!

In the middle of the night 

I woke up in the middle of the night from a dream about my parrot, Fergie.  She is 30 years old. She has an obesity problem and a tumor and she feels weak and soft like my other bird Squeaky felt before she died. I miss my parrots. I often wish I could be two or three people at once so that I could do all the things I want to do at the same time, without missing anything. One me could work and make money. One me could be home with my birds. One me could be with Tony. I miss Tony. 

I laid awake for a while listening to the wind roar across the lake. It was almost perfectly still in my camp. For some reason this felt foreboding, like the feeling of safety doing familiar things while a frightening thing looms in the future. I am scared to go to the Bob and leave the familiarity of Glacier Park. It is familiar and the Bob is wild and I’m an old lady who is weak and soft. 

Day 2

It is easy to wake up early here. The birds are chirping by 4:30am. I packed up and went to the eating area to have breakfast. Soon the guide arrived. He told me not to worry about Red Gap Pass, that he heard it was free of snow and only little patches on the way up. He also told me when I get to Many Glacier to ask a ranger for a place to stay. Many Glacier is closed to tents currently. 

It was sunny and clear. I felt great. I hiked along a nice canyon and saw waterfalls. So far I have seen a mountain lion print, bear prints and scat, moose and elk prints, I saw a moose running through a field, I saw goats through binoculars, I say a bunny with big white fuzzy feet, and I was almost run over by a bird. 

I passed a bunch of heavy truckers at Elizabeth Lake. The three guys I rode in with also stayed there but I didn’t see them. I hiked alone to the pass as clouds brewed. There was no one on the trail and no one else on the pass. As soon as I reached the summit I went over the other side because it was cold and windy. The clouds were descending. 

I found a sheltered spot and sat for five minutes to eat something. Then I continued on. Snowfields presented themselves. They were terrifying. Thank goodness I had crampons. Even so I kicked steps for what felt like eternities. I figured out ways to avoid some of the scariest ones. These were seriously deadly slopes. Then I lost the trail.

I saw a trail but it didn’t go anywhere. I wandered around lost. The Far Out app showed I was nowhere near the trail. So I went down the snow through the trees following the path of least resistance until I found the trail. It seemed like it took an hour. It was snowing while I was doing this. It snowed for hours as I descended and eventually turned to rain. 

The trail went on forever. It was much longer than I expected. I really wanted to connect my footsteps in Many Glacier with my footsteps when I hiked here with Shroomer to complete this section of trail. I also wanted to prove to the ranger who checked my permit that I could do it, meaning really just prove to myself. So much muddy trail! So many wet fords! So many ups and downs. So many flowers. Every time I thought I must be getting close I was still so far away. Would I make it to the restaurant by 7:00? 7:30 is still a reasonable time for dinner, surely they will still be open. I bet French Canadians eat at 8:00.

I saw the ranger’s office as I arrived. It was closed. I went to the campground and a nice lady used her radio to find out where they were putting CDT hikers. She led me to a recreation building with a kitchen and laundry. I can sleep on the linoleum and do laundry for free. Trail magic. 

I literally ran to the restaurant. I was so hungry for real food. With the 2 night train ride and the 5 days bumming around the park I had not eaten real food for a week. I made it in plenty of time and got a delicious cheeseburger and ice cold beer. Nothing ever tasted so good. 

I washed my hair in the sink and did my laundry. I guess a shower will have to wait.

I’m happy I remember how to thru hike. It’s too bad I’m so alone. Where have all the other hikers gone?

Next up: Southbound 

Glacier day hikes

Day 1

I hiked from East Glacier Park to Two Medicine on the CDT. It was a 10 mile hike that went over a mountain called Scenic Point. It was very scenic. I had to walk on a little snow and of course I fell down. I'm a Santa Barbara native. I know nothing much about walking in snow. I had to cross a small swift creek and almost fell but didn't. I saw lots of big horn sheep. I saw AWOL, a nice young lady who arrived on the same train as me, resting at the halfway point. She had hitched to Two Medicine to hike back to Luna's. I wanted the camping experience of staying at Two Medicine. Also it makes me feel like I am making progress. 

It was windy at Two Medicine but my big Gossamer Gear tarp is quiet so I slept well. There was a wedding down at the lake. The bride was wearing a traditional gown with a long train and hiking boots. Her bridesmaids wore sea green dresses to match her boots. 

Day 2

In the morning I went to the ranger station to ask if one of the trails was open to do a day hike. She said I could get a tent site and make it a two day trip. So I bought the permit. Now I will be able to at least tag the Canadian border and hike a small bit of the CDT. 

But I could not start this until the next day, so for this day I decided to try to go to St. Mary and do a day hike there. I walked 5 miles on the road halfheartedly and sporadically hitchhiking before I got tired of the lack of a shoulder. I made a sign, "St. Mary", and the first car stopped and took me to St. Mary. 

I did a small day hike called the Beaver Pond loop or something like that. The views were gorgeous. I walked through a meadow filled with wildflowers. Then I walked to the hiker/biker site at St. Mary. I wished I could do more but it's a lot of miles on roads just to get to trailheads and the inability to just go in one direction makes me feel lazy. Apple's step counter says I hiked almost 12 miles total so that's not too bad. I am enjoying the relaxation of not really caring about what I do or don't do. 

I have arranged a shuttle that will pick me up early and take me to the border to do my overnight. I may return to St. Mary's ranger station after I complete this little segment and see if there's any other one nighters I can get a permit for. Or maybe I will just go back to Luna's and get my box and start the real CDT. 

Arrived at East Glacier, ready to start the CDT. I quit!

After almost 48 hours on the train I arrived at Glacier National Park. Instantly I met hikers and led them to Luna's where there were dozens of hikers staying. It was raining and snowing.

I hitched over to Two Medicine and got a ride instantly from a Native American who pointed out the land he owns and told stories about his family and beaver dams and buffaloes. He even waited for me and took me and another hiker back to East Glacier. So nice!

The ranger told me there were no Belly River permits open for a few days so I mapped out three day hikes I can do while I wait. Part of the CDT is closed for several weeks. I have already hiked that part. So my plan is to do my day hikes, try to get the Belly River permit and once I've done as much as I can, I'll start the "real" CDT from East Glacier. I am not going to road walk any of Glacier.

I am not going to stress about perfection or direction or connection. Those are the values of the hyperactive hive mind, the mind of the tech worker. I am retired from servicing the student debt machine that services the capitalist machine that services the rich in their quest to destroy the planet with their insatiable hunger for money and power. I quit!

On my way to the CDT

I am on the train to Glacier. I will be on the train for three days. 

Many thoughts come to mind. 

I’m so lucky to have a partner who puts up with me being myself, living my life, doing crazy stuff like this big adventure. I love him for this. 

I’m going to miss my birds. Ariel laid her belly on my arm this morning like when she’s being a blankie bird. Fergie is 30 years old this year. I hope she doesn’t die while I’m gone. 

It has been 13 years since I last did something like this. I survived 11 years of work to buy, hopefully, 11 years of freedom.

I am reading a book about how to do nothing. It starts with a story of a useless tree, the last one left in a cut down forest. Of no use to the sawmill, it is free to live. To hike a long trail is sort of a radical act of similar uselessness. 

I am old and afraid I will fail at it. 

I tried to catch a glimpse of Storke tower on my way through town. I thought of the years I sat working in its shadow. I find it hard to believe I do not belong there anymore. I won’t be back in my chair. I won’t see my coworkers again. I may never know what becomes of the things I worked on. Those people, my coworkers, are sitting there right now. I tried to catch a glimpse but I did not see the tower. 

I saw Point Conception. And pelicans and other sea birds and llamas and a deer and Vandenberg and SpaceX. I saw sea otters and sea lions and seals. 

And I cried thinking of all these things and the great unknown unspooling  ahead of me. 

Pret-trip gear list for the CDT

I made a pre-trip gear list video of the gear I've selected to hike the CDT southbound. I'm attempting to hike from Glacier to the Wyoming/Colorado line, a bit beyond into Colorado. Either to Steamboat, which is the first town you get to in Colorado, or possibly to Leadville or Twin Lakes.

I have ultralight gear but I also have a lot of it so in the end I end up over the line to call myself an ultralight backpacker. That's because I have gear for a thru hike, not one of my smaller trips, so I'm bringing more things.

I have the gear list here: https://lighterpack.com/r/6ni364

CDT Shakedown

I did a shakedown hike this weekend. It wasn't a very good test for the CDT because some of the clothing and gear I would bring for the CDT isn't appropriate for our local backcountry and because it was over 100F degrees back there. Right now the weather report for Glacier has been highs in the 60s and lows in the 30s and 40s. I spent the first part of the night just laying without any covering until it cooled enough I could tolerate a 10 degree sleeping bag over my legs.

I hiked up the Franklin Trail and over the other side to Alder Creek. The last bit of the Franklin trail was pretty brushy, and going down the other side to Alder Camp was very brushy. There was water in the creek just beyond the camp. I continued beyond the camp to the sluice which is all busted. There was lots of water in the creek around the sluice and there was many fallen trees making the trail a little bit like the Buck Creek trail in some spots.

I decided I would not like to hike all the way back up and over to the Franklin trail so I pressed on to the Santa Ynez river and in the morning I hiked the Blue Canyon trail to Romero Trail. The Blue Canyon trail was nicely shaded, not too brushy and there was water in the upper part of the creek. I did not see any water at upper Blue Canyon camp, but it was nice there.

Hiking the CDT in June 2022

After 2 years locked in my pandemic bunker, seeing my wrinkly old-lady face on zoom next to everybody else's fresh young faces, I decided my career was over, my life nearly so and I need to go live life before everything is all gone. I'm going to hike the Continental Divide trail. I'm going to try to see if I can post to this blog again while I'm out there and somehow get the posts to show up on my personal website, Santa Barbara Hikes.