Day 116 - Continental Divide Trail - Miner Creek to Big Lake Creek

Day: 116

Date: Friday, 30 August 2024

Start:  Miner Creek

Finish:  Big Lake Creek

Daily Kilometres:  35.5

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  3378.6

Weather:  Cool early then mild to warm and sunny with a smoke haze.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts 

  Lunch:  Snacks/Trail mix 

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals 

Aches:  Dave - very tired and the usual niggles; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  We spent much of the day surrounded by magnificent steep rocky mountains, reminiscent of the Wind River Range, complete with pristine alpine lakes and gnarly pine forest in the valleys.

Lowlight:  Thick smoke haze from some big wildfires in central Idaho marred the views and irritated Dave's eyes.  The radio news tells us that many local sporting and other outdoor events have been cancelled or postponed this long weekend, including the opening of the high school football season, because of the health dangers posed by the smoke.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Dave forgot to set the alarm and we didn't wake until after 6am but, with a big effort, were hiking by 7am on a smoky cool morning.

Initially, we had a long descent, 1000’, from the 8300’ where we had been camped, but then it was a day of mountains and mountain passes as the CDT, which had strayed well into Montana, made its way back to the Continental Divide and the Idaho-Montana border.

It seemed like we were always climbing, mostly on good trail and often switch-backing, and we did ascend nearly 5000’ over the day, but there was nearly as much descending.  Progress was slow, but the scenery was brilliant, and a big change from yesterday's “green tunnel”.

Apart from the hikers who camped near us last night and said goodbye as they left, we saw one other young northbound CDT thruhiker early on, then nobody else for the rest of the day.

We kept hiking until 8pm to make up for our slow progress and late start and found a tent site just off the trail on a saddle beneath a towering rocky mountain.  It had been a tough but good day.