Continental Divide Trail (US) - 2024: September 2024

Day 147 - Continental Divide Trail - Many Glacier Campground to CDT Northern Terminus at Chief Mountain

Day: 147

Date: Monday, 30 September 2024

Start: Many Glacier Campground

Finish: Continental Divide Trail Northern Terminus at Chief Mountain.

Daily Kilometres: 33.7

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

Total Kilometres: 4211.0 (=2617 Miles)

Weather: Very cold to cool and mostly sunny.

Accommodation: Motel

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Protein bars/Trail mix

Dinner: Patty melt & fries/Meatloaf & fries, ice cream.

Aches: Dave - the usual niggles; Julie - right knee still painful.

Highlight: Completing our 4200 kilometre (2600 mile) journey along the Continental Divide Trail. We had very mixed feelings - a sense of accomplishment, sadness that the adventure is over, gladness that the hardships and deprivations are done, thankfulness that the journey was completed without major mishap, wonder at the sights we have seen, people we have met, and experiences we have had, and anticipation of what comes next (tbd).

Dave is now unofficially a Triple Crowner, having completed the three iconic US long-distance trails - Appalachian Trail (1986 & 2023), Pacific Crest Trail (2017), Continental Divide Trail (2024). Julie just has the PCT to complete.

Lowlight: It was very cold around dawn, probably the coldest we have been on the entire hike.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke at 3am and were hiking by 4am, thankful that it was dry and the wind of yesterday had largely abated.

The first three hours were spent climbing steadily to the Ptarmigan Tunnel (7200’) in the predawn darkness by headlamp. When we reached the tunnel entrance, we took our breakfast break and watched the magnificent mountain scenery to the south of us, jagged peaks and some snow patches, be gradually illuminated by the rising sun. It was very cold and we were glad to get moving around 7:30am by passing through the 200 metre rough rock-hewn foot tunnel to the north side of the Ptarmigan Wall.

There, a whole new fantastic mountain vista awaited us. A platform had been cut into the sheer rock wall as had a walkway along the cliff face. We began our descent, being careful where we put our feet in a few places where there had been rockfalls. It was a long way straight down if there was a slip. Despite this, we moved as quickly as we could to try and warm up, occasionally stopping for photographs of the awesome scenery with shaking fingers.

It took a long time to descend into the treeline where it was a little warmer, though we were very unhappy to find that the National Park had removed a footbridge for the winter and we had to wade across the icy cold Belly River at Elizabeth Lake. We were even more unhappy when we had to wade across the same river an hour later because a second bridge had been removed.

Apart from the river crossings, however, it was a beautiful day for our our last day of hiking on the CDT. The sun shone, the jagged and sheer mountains towered above us, the autumn colours were everywhere, Including a yellow-leaf-carpeted trail in many places, and there was little wind.

Our last miles for the day were uphill, but the forest was so beautifully peaceful and the trail so good, we barely noticed.

At 2:50pm, we reached the trailhead and walked the very short distance down to the US border post where the friendly Customs and Border Patrol officer was happy for us, including Rob who had been waiting patiently for us at the trailhead, to cross to the obelisks marking the border between the US and Canada to take some celebratory photographs. This happened to be the last day this border crossing is open for the year.

We were very happy to finish, but relished the experiences we had had on our trek.

Rob then drove us to Kalispell, a large town to the west of Glacier National Park, where we all had a motel booked and we later had a celebratory dinner at a nearby bar. Tomorrow morning, Rob will drive us to the local airport where we have a rental car booked which we will drive to Los Angeles. From there, we fly home on the weekend.

Another adventure ends.

Day 146 - Continental Divide Trail - Reynolds Creek Campground to Many Glacier Campground.

Day: 146

Date: Sunday, 29 September 2024

Start: Reynolds Creek Campground

Finish: Many Glacier Campground

Daily Kilometres: 27.4

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

Total Kilometres: 4177.3

Weather: Cold, windy and overcast with occasional light showers.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Protein bars/Trail mix

Dinner: Rehydrated meals

Aches: Dave - the usual niggles; Julie - painful knee after a fall (see below).

Highlight: More spectacular mountain scenery on the climb to, and descent from, Piegan Pass (7574’). Although low cloud hid the tops of some of the jagged and sheer-sided mountains, most were still visible as were some glaciers and large snow patches.

Lowlight: The weather gods were not shining on us today. Sara, the Swiss CDT hiker who was in the same campsite as us last night, had said the weather forecast was for strengthening winds during the day and it would be a good idea to get over Piegan Pass as early as possible.

The wind did strengthen on the way up but, on the way down it was terrifying. Both of us were blown off our feet at various times, both sustaining knee injuries. Dave's looked worse, perhaps thanks to being on blood thinners, but Julie's seems more serious, slowing her down in the latter part of the day and she's now taking some anti-inflammatories.

If that wasn't enough, when we finally reached camp and were about to eat dinner, a mix of sleet and snow began to fall. It was miserable. Must be time to finish the trail.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were hiking, along with Rob, by 7am. However, thanks to the policy of the Glacier National Park (GNP) of removing some bridges for the winter, we first had to ford a very cold Reynolds Creek in our sandals before donning our boots/shoes.

The first half hour was spent climbing steadily up to where the trail crossed the Going to the Sun Road. Rob had left his car here and he switched to a day pack before joining us for the long climb up to Piegan Pass. The higher we went, the more the weather deteriorated, though it didn't seem to bother Rob, a Scot, who felt right at home. The views from above the treeline were fantastic and we could see many peaks and some glaciers beneath the forbidding skies.

At the Pass, Rob turned around for the walk back to his car and we continued on. Tomorrow, Rob will do a day hike of his own and then, very generously, meet us at the northern terminus of the CDT at the Chief Mountain border crossing into Canada, before driving us to Kalispell where we will pick up a hire car on Tuesday.

After farewelling Rob, we began our descent from the Pass which turned into a very slow, very stressful and, at times, terrifying journey. We knew the only way to get out of the diabolical wind was to descend below the treeline, but we had to go extremely slowly, sometimes sitting down to avoid being blown over. Fortunately, there were not very steep drop-offs so a fatal fall was unlikely, but the rocks were sharp and the slope significant so a fall was likely to result in injury, as happened to both of us.

Despite all this, we were still in awe of the wild scenery, witnessed in such wild conditions. Eventually, we did get into the trees, which was such a relief, though there were still sections exposed to the wind. To top it off for Dave, he slipped on a wet rock crossing a stream and ended up with himself and his pack partially in the water for some time before he was able to extract himself.

On our way down we met a southbound CDT thru-hiker who is attempting to hike all three long-distance trails - Appalachian, Pacific Crest and Continental Divide - in one calendar year. That's a total distance of around 12000km (7500 miles). He has just three months to hike what has just taken us nearly five months!

The lower we got, the safer the conditions and the last kilometres of the day were alongside two beautiful lakes, Josephine and Swiftcurrent. We reached our goal, the Many Glacier Campground, around 5pm in bleak conditions. Many Glacier is a tourist hub in GNP, but is now closed for the winter. The chalet, motel, cabins and store are all closed. An area had been set aside for CDT hikers in the vast campground which is empty, apart from the Swiss/Canadian couple and ourselves. The water has been switched off, so Julie had to collect some from the nearby Creek for dinner, and all the toilets are locked apart from one pit toilet. It's a forlorn place, especially with the wind howling and a mix of sleet and snow falling every now and then.

We are hoping conditions improve overnight as we are planning a very early start tomorrow for our last day on the trail.

Day 145 - Continental Divide Trail - Red Eagle Lake to Reynolds Creek Campground

Day: 145

Date: Saturday, 28 September 2024

Start: Red Eagle Lake

Finish: Reynolds Creek Campground

Daily Kilometres: 25.3

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

Total Kilometres: 4149.9

Weather: Cold early then mild and mostly sunny.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Protein bars/Trail mix

Dinner: Rehydrated meals

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

Highlight: For much of the morning the trail ran alongside, but high above, Saint Mary Lake, through lovely forest with magnificent views across the pristine lake to the jagged mountains on the other side.

Lowlight: Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke at 6am and, on his way to the privy, Dave met a full-size moose on the trail which casually walked off and was later silhouetted by the dawn light grazing in the lake shallows. Magic!

We were hiking by soon after 7am on a cool morning under clear skies, but the surrounding mountains prevented any sunlight from reaching us for another hour or two. We followed the Red Eagle Creek downstream through long-burnt forest with the sun gradually illuminating the rocky escarpment to our left.

After crossing the creek, the trail took us along the shore of Saint Mary Lake and we had magnificent views (see above). There was no wind today, which was a very welcome change. It was a perfect day for hiking. As we neared the western end of the lake there were some spectacular waterfalls and just after the falls at Virginia Creek we met, coming the other way, our friend, Rob.

Rob has kindly arranged to be in Glacier National Park to coincide with our finish of the CDT as part of a trip to the West Coast and will be at the Canadian border to pick us up when we finish the trail on Monday afternoon. He hiked some of the Pacific Crest Trail with Dave in 2017 and also joined us for some days on the Appalachian Trail last year. We were very pleased to see him and he is camped with us tonight.

We reached our campsite, along with Rob, around 3pm and had a lazy afternoon catching up on each other's news.

While we all had dinner, we had an interesting chat with the Swiss/Canadian CDT hikers we first met on the trail a few days ago. Then, just as we were about to retire to our tents, another CDT hiker, Snazzy, arrived in camp. He had started the CDT the same day as us back on the Mexican border nearly five months ago and we hadn't seen him since. It was good to see he was still going and he seemed pleased to see us. We didn't get time to catch up with him, but we'll probably be staying on the same campsite tomorrow night so will see him then.

Day 144 - Continental Divide Trail - Morning Star Lake to Red Eagle Lake

Day: 144

Date: Friday, 27 September 2024

Start: Morning Star Lake

Finish: Red Eagle Lake

Daily Kilometres: 23.2

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

Total Kilometres: 4149.9

Weather: Cold to cool and partly sunny with a strong and blustery wind.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Protein bars/Trail mix

Dinner: Rehydrated meals

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

Highlight: The climb up and over Triple Divide Pass (7376’) on well-engineered trail that gave us dress-circle views of the precipitous mountain scenery was memorable. Below us were alpine lakes and we could see some spectacular waterfalls coming down from the heights.

Lowlight: The gusty wind that had blown yesterday and all night continued today and, when we were above the treeline, made the hiking unpleasant. For much of the climb up to the Triple Divide Pass, very strong wind gusts seemed to be determined to blow us off the trail and down the steep slope to our left. We frequently had to stop and brace ourselves to avoid that fate.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We slept in, knowing we had a short day, and didn't start hiking until 7:45am. The location of the backcountry campsites in Glacier National Park (GNP) and the distances between them have determined our itinerary through the Park. After a long day yesterday, we have three relatively short days before a longer day on Monday to finish the trail.

Even though it was a short day today, Dave was still fatigued from yesterday's big day and this showed on the 2000’ climb to Triple Divide Pass, buffeted by strong winds the whole way. So, progress was slow, but the views, which seemed to change around every bend, were breathtaking and well worth the slow climb.

Once we crossed the Pass and began our descent, the wind did not let up until we eventually dropped below the treeline. Then it was just very windy!

The trail below the treeline was a little overgrown, but generally good quality and we made better time. We passed more waterfalls along the way and the autumn foliage was beautiful. Lower down we had to cross two rivers on suspension bridges, the second of which was very sketchy.

We reached Red Eagle Lake and our campsite around 4:30pm, a very unusual and welcome early finish to a hiking day, and set up camp. We are the only people staying here. The GNP backcountry campsites have designated clearings for tents, and another clearing, perhaps with some logs for sitting, for cooking and eating away from the tent sites (in case bears pick up the dinner scent), and generally a privy (long-drop toilet).

We had an early dinner, after which, Julie went for a kilometre walk to another campsite at the other end of the lake where we knew another CDT northbound couple (one Swiss and one Canadian) we had met yesterday were camping, to have a chat and find out what their plans were for the next couple of days.

Then we had a welcome early night.

Day 143 - Continental Divide Trail - East Glacier Park to Morning Star Lake

Day: 143

Date: Thursday, 26 September 2024

Start: East Glacier Park MT

Finish: Morning Star Lake

Daily Kilometres: 37.4

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

Total Kilometres: 4126.7

Weather: Cold, with some light rain/hail in the morning then partly sunny and very windy all day, particularly in the morning.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Egg mayonnaise sandwiches

Lunch: Meat & cheese wraps

Dinner: Protein bars

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

Highlight: The spectacular mountain scenery. Almost all day we had clear views of the mountains of Glacier National Park which seem impossibly steep and jagged, towering over forested valleys and alpine lakes.

Lowlight: The wind has made the day memorable. In the morning, as we crossed over Two Medicine Pass (7411’), the wind was so strong it was literally blowing us off our feet. At times we were clinging to the ground or cliffside to prevent being blown away. When we did make progress, we looked like bizarre folk dancers, taking unplanned sideways or backwards steps in an effort to stay upright. It was tiring and slow progress.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We left our motel at 6:15am and began hiking out of town on a bleak morning. It had been raining and was still spitting a bit, and it was cold, dark and the wind was blowing hard. We knew we had a long hard day in front of us and our motel room had been warm and dry. Dave was ready for our journey to be over, but we still have five days to go.

Our mood didn't improve as we left the roads to follow overgrown and narrow wet trail by headlamp up to the boundary of Glacier National Park. Soon Julie's feet were wet and cold.

The trail quality did improve in the Park and we climbed steadily and, occasionally, steeply towards our first pass of the day, Two Medicine (7411’). The views were spectacular but the increasing strength of the wind as we gained height often made it too hard to stand still to admire the views or take photographs. This was particularly true at the high point and as we followed a ridge northwards (see above). We were very happy to start our switchbacking descent towards Two Medicine Lake though the wind still made it challenging. On the way we met some longhorn sheep that did not seem too bothered by our presence.

Down at the Lake there were lots of tourists and some primary school groups. We found a picnic table partly out of the wind and had lunch.

After lunch we hiked along nice trail following Dry Fork Creek upstream, mostly through pretty forest with the autumn foliage of some trees and undergrowth contrasting with the deep green of the evergreen pines. On either side were the sheer sides of jagged mountains.

Eventually we crossed Pitamakan Pass (7631’) with more superb views then descended to Morning Star Lake where we camped at around 7:45pm. It was getting dark and Dave was very tired (over 5500' of ascent today) so we didn't bother with a cooked dinner and had an early night. We can hear some large unidentified (so far) animals moving through the forest around where we are camped.

Day 142 - Continental Divide Trail - East Glacier Park MT

Day: 142

Date: Wednesday, 25 September 2024

Start: East Glacier Park MT

Finish: East Glacier Park MT

Daily Kilometres: 0.0

GPX Track: Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos from her run today.

Total Kilometres: 4089.3

Weather: Cool to mild, mostly sunny and breezy.

Accommodation: Motel

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Omelette, hash browns, toast & jam/Scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, choc chip pancake.

Lunch: Ham & salad rolls

Dinner: Cheeseburgers & fries, icecream

Aches: Nothing reported.

Highlight: Not only did we get all of the backcountry campsites we wanted when Dave went to the Glacier National Park (GNP) Office in St Mary this morning but, while midway through the booking process, GNP management decided that the famous Ptarmigan Tunnel (for hikers), which was scheduled to close tomorrow (a couple of days before we would get there) would now.remain open for a further week.

Lowlight: Although the weather forecast for GNP for the next week is good for hiking and sightseeing, tonight and tomorrow have a very strong wind warning. The ranger who made our booking warned that wind speeds could reach 100kph (60mph) tomorrow in two of the high passes we have to cross. Not looking forward to that.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Dave's 7am shuttle driver to the GNP Office at St Mary, 50km away, didn't arrive until nearly 7:30am, but he drove fast. He was a member of the Blackfeet Tribe and a good conversationalist so the journey to and from the GNP Office was very pleasant with the bonus of magnificent scenery on a fantastically clear morning.

At the GNP Office, Dave was able to book the campsites we wanted in the park (see above), despite GNP IT system failures which ended with him paying in cash and getting a hand-written permit.

While Dave was getting the permits, Julie went out for a longer run than usual, carrying bear spray. Grizzly bears are prevalent in GNP with one of our preferred campsites closed because of bear activity and a hiker attacked by a grizzly in the park last week. It was driven off by his hiking companions with bear spray. Apparently grizzlies are very active at present as part of their pre-hibernation “feeding frenzy”!

Anyway, Julie survived her run and we had a late breakfast at the same cafe as yesterday after Dave returned from St Mary.

The rest of the day was spent packing for our last five days hiking and on laundry as well as relaxing in front of the TV (Dave) or reading or dozing (Julie).

We likely have a long and tough day tomorrow to reach our booked backcountry campsite in GNP, so ate early at another nearby restaurant and had an early night.

Day 141 - Continental Divide Trail - East Glacier Park

Day: 141

Date: Tuesday, 24 September 2024

Start: East Glacier MT

Finish: East Glacier MT

Daily Kilometres: 0.0

GPX Track: Click here and here for Julie’s Strava & Photos from her run and walk today.

Total Kilometres: 4089.3

Weather: Cool early then mild and mostly sunny.

Accommodation: Motel

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Omelette, hash browns, toast & jam/Scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, blueberry pancakes.

Lunch: Meat & cheese subs.

Dinner: Nachos, icecream

Aches: Nothing reported.

Highlight: Lazy relaxing day.

Lowlight: Dave tried six different possible shuttle drivers/companies to organise an early ride to the Glacier National Park Visitor Center in St Mary, 50km away, tomorrow morning to book our backcountry campsites for the next leg of our journey. It opens at 7:30am. Campsites are allocated on a first-come first-served basis on the day of, or the day before, you enter the park, so it is desirable to be there early.

The response of the companies/drivers contacted varied - some didn't respond, some weren't available and some were outrageously priced. Finally, one offered to do it at a less outrageous price. Hopefully they turn up at 7am as.promised.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Julie went for a dawn run and then we both walked to a nearby cafe for a nice American breakfast.

For much of the rest of the day, Dave hung out in the motel room doing planning and admin while Julie looked around town and went for a walk in the afternoon.

East Glacier apparently originated as a railway town, but is now more of a tourist stop for visitors to Glacier National Park. A large percentage of the population are Native Americans of the Blackfeet Tribe. It is a good place for hikers as there are various eateries and the town is compact.

Last night, Julie accepted an invitation (to both of us) to join some of the other CDT hikers for a drink back at the Mexican restaurant where we had earlier had dinner. Dave opted out. Tonight we joined some of the same hikers back there for a very convivial dinner. Everybody is proud of what they have done and savoured the experience, but looking forward to their last days on the trail and moving on to the next thing in their lives.

Day 140 - Continental Divide Trail - North Badger Creek to East Glacier Park MT

Day: 140

Date: Monday, 23 September 2024

Start: North Badger Creek

Finish: East Glacier Park , MT

Daily Kilometres: 39.7

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

Total Kilometres: 4089.3

Weather: Cool all day. Overcast in the morning and mostly sunny in the afternoon with a strong wind.

Accommodation: Motel

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Pop tarts/Trail mix

Dinner: Nachos, icecream.

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

Highlight: Reaching East Glacier Park, our last resupply town on the trail before we reach Canada. A bonus was getting here a day early so that we have two days off before our last five days on the trail.

Lowlight: Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

The alarm went off at 3am and we were hiking by 4am on a cool dry morning, quite a contrast to yesterday's cold and frost. Our tent was dry when we packed up and the creeks we had to cross were rock-hoppable, at least until the sun rose.

Later in the morning, as we followed Two Medicine River downstream on a trail that crossed it multiple times, the rock-hoppability became more challenging though, Dave, who has Goretex boots, managed to keep his feet dry …. unlike Julie .... not amused.

The reason for the early start today was to cover the 40km to East Glacier Park, where we had a motel booked, by a reasonable time. Despite hiking in the dark by headlamp for the first three hours, we made good time, covering 12km, and had breakfast as dawn broke.

Between breakfast and lunch we covered another 12km, mostly following Two Medicine River through a lovely valley populated with many autumnal deciduous trees backed by partially pine-forested mountains.

We had our lunch break at a trailhead on Highway 2 across.from the jagged peaks of Glacier National Park. It was windy and cold, despite the sun and we didn't dally.

Our last 16km of the day was a roadwalk down Hwy 2, which was quite busy, but the mountain scenery was good. We arrived in the tiny town of East Glacier.Park, with its impressive Amtrak station on the elevated railway through town, around 3:15pm and.checked into the motel. Dave was very tired, but happy to have made it, especially with the prospect of two days off now before our last five days on the trail.

In town, we met some other CDT hikers we had last seen in Augusta who are planning to leave tomorrow. Suddenly, there seem to be more hikers around.

Later, we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant around the corner and will have an early night.

Day 139 - Continental Divide Trail - Strawberry Creek to North Badger Creek

Day: 139

Date: Sunday, 22 September 2024

Start: Strawberry Creek

Finish: North Badger Creek

Daily Kilometres: 37.7

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

Total Kilometres: 4049.6

Weather: Very cold early then cool and mostly overcast.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Protein bars/Trail mix

Dinner: Rehydrated meals

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

Highlight: We passed the 2500 mile mark of our trek today.

Lowlight: We woke at 5am to a tent with frozen condensation on the inside and ice on the outside. Packing it up in the dark was miserably cold. Then, because we had to ford a creek to continue on the trail, we crossed it in our sandals then put our boots/shoes on. It was bitterly cold and we both had frozen feet for the first hour or so, not to mention frozen hands. This may have been the lowlight of the whole trip!

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke at 5am, packed up our frozen tent and forded the adjacent stream (see above). We were both miserably cold for the first hour or so and that encouraged fast hiking by headlamp in an effort to warm up.

For most of the morning we were passing through a burnt out forest with lots of fallen trees and other dead trees still standing like forlorn sentinels. On either side of the Strawberry Creek valley, along which we were hiking, were stoney mountains. The trail, which must get quite a lot of horse traffic, was cut up and very boggy, though not as bad as it might have been had the ground not been partially frozen. We could understand why some hikers call the Bob Marshall Wilderness the Bog Marsh Wilderness.

It was a very autumnal day, cool and overcast, with much of the deciduous foliage yellow or orange.

Around noon, we crossed the low Muskrat Pass (5987’) and left the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The Chinese Wall had been the highlight, but there were other spectacular escarpments and lovely forest in between, though it was sad to see such extensive burnt areas.

Outside the Wilderness, the trail continued to be boggy for some kilometres then became firmer underfoot but very overgrown with wirey scratchy undergrowth. Seemed like we had to have bogs or undergrowth.

Later in the afternoon, we descended to North Badger Creek and the trail became better, passing through cool damp pine forest.

Around 6:45pm, we reached our target creek, where there was reputedly Verizon phone reception, and camped. The reason for wanting phone reception was that, with a 40km+ day tomorrow, we will reach our last town and resupply point, East Glacier Park, and be able to have an extra day off. That would be helpful because while in town, we will have to spend time getting to another town, St Mary, 50km away where there is a Glacier National Park Visitor Centre, to obtain our backcountry and camping permits for the last five days of our journey. You can only get these in person on the day of, or the day before, you enter the park.

We did manage to get an additional night at our already booked motel in East Glacier Park and will make a very early start tomorrow in order to arrive at a reasonable time tomorrow evening.

Day 138 - Continental Divide Trail - Pentagon Creek to Strawberry Creek

Day: 138

Date: Saturday, 21 September 2024

Start: Pentagon Creek

Finish: Strawberry Creek

Daily Kilometres: 35.3

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

Total Kilometres: 4011.9

Weather: Very cold early, then cool and mostly sunny.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Protein Bars/Trail mix

Dinner: Rehydrated meals

Aches: Dave - the usual niggles; Julie - nothing reported

Highlight: Nothing in particular.

Lowlight: The crossing of the Middle Fork Flathead River turned out to be both time-consuming and frustrating. When we arrived at the river it was obvious, disappointingly, that it was not rock-hoppable as hoped. We did not want to wade through so, after some investigation, found a log jam downstream that looked a possible crossing option. Just as we were about to try, another CDT hiker, “Owl”, turned up and walked down the main log across the river with aplomb. To fall off the log would have been catastrophic given the jumble of logs below and the fast-flowing water. Julie went across more carefully, but Dave decided he didn't have the agility or balance to justify the risk and returned to where the trail crossed and changed out of his boots into his sandals and waded across while Julie waited on the other side. Once there, Dave dried his feet and put on his boots before we began walking along the trail again. In less than 100 metres, we came to a second crossing of the river and both had to take our footwear off to wade across. Extremely annoying and the whole exercise cost us nearly an hour.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke at 5am and began hiking around 6am in pitch darkness. First we had to rock-hop across the Pentagon Creek which was not easy in the dark by headlamp and Julie ended up with one very cold wet foot.

Then we had a 3000’ climb up to the aptly named Switchback Pass (7792’) over the next 10km. It took us nearly four hours and had seemingly endless switchbacks and false summits, though the grade wasn't too bad and the forest lovely.

At the Pass we stopped for breakfast in the sun and admired the views with craggy rocky summits on either side. After the Pass came a long descent past some picturesque lakes and beneath craggy cliffs on trail that had been badly cut up by horse traffic. We had seen some horse riders with pack horses on our way up to the Pass.

The trail improved as we got further down and began following Clack Creek for many kilometres along the valley floor, mostly through meadow.

We left the creek to cross the Middle Fork Flathead River (see above) then follow it upstream for some kilometres, finally rejoining the CDT (from the Spotted Bear Alternate).

We had dinner at the trail junction, then walked another 5km through a burnt landscape until we found a rare place to camp on a tiny island with Strawberry Creek flowing on either side. It will be cold tonight and it looks like we will have to ford the creek first thing tomorrow morning.

We didn't get quite as far as hoped today because of the slow climb at the start and the time lost at the later river crossing.

Day 137 - Continental Divide Trail - Burnt Creek to Pentagon Creek

Day: 137

Date: Friday, 20 September 2024

Start: Burnt Creek

Finish: Pentagon Creek

Daily Kilometres: 37.6

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

Total Kilometres: 3976.6

Weather: Cold to cool all day and partly sunny.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Snacks/Trail mix

Dinner: Rehydrated meals.

Aches: Dave - the usual niggles with his left ankle particularly sore; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight: Hiking along the base of the Chinese Wall for about 13km. The Wall is a high escarpment (~8000’) with a sheer and forbidding rock cliff that towered above us as we hiked along about 1000’ below its crest.

Lowlight: Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke at 5am and were hiking by 6am on a cold morning. We climbed steadily towards the base of the Chinese Wall, a very impressive escarpment (see above) which stretches about 20km in total, reaching it around 7:30am.

We then followed the Wall for about 13km through a mixture of pine forest and meadows, dipping down to cross many small creeks. A strong cold wind came up and we both were quite cold by the time we stopped for breakfast, even though sitting in the sun.

When we reached the end of the Wall the CDT swing eastwards and we followed it for a few kilometres before joining the Spotted Bear Alternate route. Most CDT hikers take this Alternate. Not only is it 25km shorter than CDT but also because, reputedly, the scenery is just as good.

After descending from a pass, the Alternate followed the Spotted Bear River, which we crossed a few times. The trail was quite good underfoot, but also quite overgrown, so we felt like we were bashing our way though vegetation much of the time. Nevertheless, we made reasonable time and the more even tread of the trail took the pressure off Dave's bad ankle a little.

Later in the day we were passed by three northbound CDT hikers, all of whom we had seen back on Augusta, and also three men on horseback, with a pack horse, all of them with rifles on the saddles, just like in the Westerns.

Around 7:20pm we reached a more open area where we could camp, a rarity on the wilderness along the Spotted Bear River, and stopped for the night.

Day 136 - Continental Divide Trail - Straight Creek/Benchmark Trailhead to Burnt Creek

Day: 136

Date: Thursday, 19 September 2024

Start: Straight Creek/Benchmark Trailhead (but staying in Augusta MT)

Finish: Burnt Creek

Daily Kilometres: 30.0

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

Total Kilometres: 3939.0

Weather: Cool to mild and partly sunny.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Microwaved breakfast burritos

Lunch: Meat & cheese rolls

Dinner: Rehydrated meals.

Aches: Dave - the usual niggles with his chronic left ankle being particularly sore today for some reason; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight: As we walked the mile through town to the Benchmark Road junction at dawn, we worried about how long it would take to hitch-hike back to the Benchmark Trailhead along the rough dead-end forest road. We reached the turnoff and had begun walking along the forest road, when a pickup towing a large horse trailer passed us, then stopped 50m up the road. The passenger walked back to us and said if we were willing to sit in the tray of the pickup, they could take us to the trailhead. Then he (Dave) and the driver (Bill) reconsidered and moved everything (saddles, etc) from the back seat of their dual cab into the tray of the pickup so we could sit in the back seat. We then had a very interesting drive out to the trailhead learning about the two weeks they, who were from Wisconsin, were to be working as volunteers for the Forest Service in the Bob Marshall Wilderness repairing corrals, gates, etc. In the trailer were their two horses and two pack mules. They delivered us to the trailhead around 9am, the earliest we could have hoped for when we left the motel.

Lowlight: Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We left the motel around 7am, walked through Augusta, and managed, against expectations, to quickly get a ride back to the Benchmark Trailhead (see above).

We were hiking by 9am and soon in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and following the Sun River upstream which turned out to be what we did for the entire day until we camped. The trail was well-used and somewhat muddy not helped, judging by the evidence, by frequent horse use. We passed through occasional meadows, but were mostly in lovely pine forest, with high mountains rising on both sides. It was a very clear day and the views were fantastic. Along the way we saw some very large bear tracks and some bear scat, but no bears. We did see a few hikers.

Dave was struggling with a sore ankle and the usual post-town heavy pack, so our pace was not fast, but we managed to get done what we had hoped and found somewhere to camp around 7:15pm.

Day 135 - Continental Divide Trail - Augusta

Day: 135

Date: Wednesday, 18 September 2024

Start: Straight Creek/Benchmark Trailhead (but staying in Augusta MT)

Finish: Straight Creek/Benchmark Trailhead (but staying in Augusta MT)

Daily Kilometres: 0.0

GPX Track: Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos from her run this morning.

Total Kilometres: 3909.0

Weather: Cool, overcast and breezy.

Accommodation: Motel

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Denver Omelette & hash browns, toast & jam.

Lunch: Meat & cheese rolls

Dinner: Cheeseburgers & fries, ice-cream.

Aches: Nothing reported.

Highlight: Nothing in particular.

Lowlight: Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Another decadent day off in Augusta for us. Breakfast at the motel's cafe after Julie went for a run, then planning, admin and some chores while watching the TV in the background.

We chatted with two CDT hikers who were hitchhiking back to the trail this morning, one of whom was an Australian we met way back in New Mexico nearly four months ago. Every time we think we may be the last of this season's northbound CDT hikers, some more appear from behind us.

We had an early dinner at the same bar in town followed by an early night. The next, and penultimate, leg of our hike will be 5-6 days through the famous Bob Marshall Wilderness (“the Bob”), which reportedly has superb and wild scenery along with a healthy population of grizzlies.

We have to hitch-hike from Augusta back to the trailhead in the morning and are a little apprehensive about how easy that will be. Fingers crossed!

Day 134 - Continental Divide Trail - Augusta

Day: 134

Date: Tuesday, 17 September 2024

Start: Straight Creek/Benchmark Trailhead (but staying in Augusta MT)

Finish: Straight Creek/Benchmark Trailhead (but staying in Augusta MT)

Daily Kilometres: 0.0

GPX Track: Click here and here for Julie’s Strava & Photos from today.

Total Kilometres: 3909.0

Weather: Cold early then mild and mostly overcast with some light rain in the afternoon.

Accommodation: Motel

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Western omelette, hash browns, toast & jam.

Lunch: Ham & cheese rolls.

Dinner: Chicken dinner/Steak strips, ice-cream.

Aches: Nothing reported.

Highlight: Nothing in particular.

Lowlight: Nothing in particular.

Pictures: No pictures today.

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Not much to report for today. We both had a.good night's sleep and enjoyed the motel's breakfast after Julie had been for a run around the very small town.

Augusta is a neat and tidy little Western town set in flat grazing land with the mountains to the west. The locals are very friendly and we are immediately identified as CDT hikers.

For the rest of the day, Dave hung out in the motel room watching the TV and doing some admin chores while Julie spent time sitting outside on the verandah or looking around town, including asking whether anybody knew of anybody who could drive us back to the trail on Thursday morning. No luck so far, so we think we will be hitchhiking.

We ventured back to the same bar as last night for dinner then had another quiet night. A few other hikers have turned up at the motel.

Day 133 - Continental Divide Trail - Dearborn River to Straight Creek/Benchmark Trailhead

Day: 133

Date: Monday, 16 September 2024

Start: Dearborn River

Finish: Straight Creek/Benchmark Trailhead (but staying in Augusta)

Daily Kilometres: 30.4

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

Total Kilometres: 3909.0

Weather: Cold early, then mostly sunny and warm.

Accommodation: Motel

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Snacks/Trail mix

Dinner: Bacon cheeseburger & fries, icecream

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

Highlight: Getting picked up near the Benchmark Trailhead by three lady hikers and two dogs in two packed vehicles, who went out of their way to squeeze us and our packs into their vehicles, and then drove us the 50km over a very rough road to Augusta and our motel.

Lowlight: Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

It rained overnight, and our tent was a bit damp, but the sky was clear when our unwelcome alarm went off at 3am. We packed up as quickly as we could, including wiping down the tent, and were on our way soon after 4am with our goal, the Straight Creek/Benchmark Trailhead, 26km away.

After initially messing around for a few minutes trying to find the trail where it crossed a creek, we made good progress along the reasonable trail. It was dark for the first 2.5 hours, but we could sense the creek below and the rocky mountains on either side.

We didn't stop for our breakfast break until around 8:30am when we reached a trail junction where we were to leave the CDT and head towards the trailhead.

After breakfast, we followed a good trail that was somewhat marred by horse use, and.made even better time, reaching the trailhead around 11:45am. From there we walked another 3km down the road towards Augusta, seeking the best place to hitchhike which would capture any traffic from campgrounds and a guest ranch.

We prepared for a long stay by the roadside and only saw one vehicle, going the wrong way, in the first two hours. However, around 2pm, two vehicles going out way came along and, after some discussion, the drivers worked out that they could fit us in, one of us in each vehicle (see above). Julie went in the car, and Dave travelled sitting on a bed in the back of the camper.

We were delivered to our motel a little under an hour later, and checked in. Two other CDT hikers are already staying here and we later had a good chat. They will be leaving tomorrow, but we are having two days off.

We are here a day earlier than intended when we left Helena, but have already made arrangements - flights, rental car, meeting friend, Rob, in Glacier National Park,.finishing our hike on September 30th - that we do not want to change. And Dave won't complain about an extra day off.

Later, we had dinner at a nearby bar in this very small and friendly Western town, then went to bed early to catch up on some sleep.

Day 132 - Continental Divide Trail - East Fork Falls Creek to Dearborn River

Day: 132

Date: Sunday, 15 September 2024

Start: East Fork Falls Creek

Finish: Dearborn River

Daily Kilometres: 41.8

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

Total Kilometres: 3878.6

Weather: Cold early, then mild and partly sunny.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Snacks/Trail mix

Dinner: Rehydrated meals

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

Highlight: As dawn was breaking, we were hiking along a high ridge with layers of mountain ranges silhouetted against the faint orange sky. Spectacular!

Lowlight: Our booked shuttle driver to Augusta tomorrow cancelled (see below).

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Knowing that we needed to cover a lot of kilometres today in rugged country, we woke at 4am and were hiking by 5am on a cold morning. Currently, the sun is rising around 7am, so we were hiking by headlamp for the first hour and a half. The wind of yesterday was gone, and it was both peaceful and spectacular as we hiked along the high ridge at around 8000’ as the sun rose (see above).

It turned out to be a day or two halves, with the first half mostly above the treeline with great views and some solid climbing. The second half, which started with a long descent of nearly 2000’ to the Dearborn River, was through forest where the undergrowth and some deciduous trees were starting to look very autumnal in shades of yellow, orange and red.

Once we crossed the river, we followed it upstream, mostly along trail high above the river, for the remainder of the day. The mountains rising from the river on both sides were rocky and spectacular.

We began looking for somewhere to camp around 8pm, and found a spot about 8:15pm, by which time it was quite dark. This will be our life for the next two weeks, starting and finishing in the dark.

During the day, when we briefly had internet reception, we confirmed our pickup time tomorrow with the shuttle driver (third one we tried) only to be told she was now unavailable. We were not happy, as the trailhead from which we access our resupply town of Augusta (50km from the trail), is at the end of a dead-end forestry road with no through traffic. The chances of getting a lift on a Monday, after the summer vacation has finished, did not seem good. We had heard of one couple who had taken 16 hours to get a ride.

With this in mind, we decided that the earlier we could get to the trailhead tomorrow, the better. So, despite our early start and long day today, we decided to get up at 3am in the hope of hiking the remaining 26km to the trailhead tomorrow by around noon, giving us the afternoon to hitch-hike into Augusta..

Day 131 - Canyon Creek to East Fork Falls Creek

Day: 131

Date: Saturday, 14 September 2024

Start: Canyon Creek

Finish: East Fork Falls Creek

Daily Kilometres: 35.5

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

Total Kilometres: 3836.8

Weather: Cold all day with a strong wind and partly sunny.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Snacks/Trail mix

Dinner: Rehydrated meals

Aches: Dave - the usual niggles; Julie - nothing reported

Highlight: About when we wanted to have a lunch break, after labouring in the very cold wind all morning (see below), we reached a yurt (hut) that was open for hikers and provided excellent shelter, complete with chairs and a table. Ideal for lunch. It was set up with stretchers, solar power, a gas stove and fire, so would have been good for camping.

Lowlight: The wind today was relentless, strong and cold from about an hour after we started hiking until the evening. Since, for much of the day, we were on treeless ridges and mountains, we were very exposed. The constant roar in our ears and buffeting as it caught our packs and clothing was very tedious.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke at 5:30am to find out tent very wet with condensation from a cold damp night. The surrounding vegetation was covered in frost. Maybe for that reason, we were slower to get going and didn't start hiking until 6:45am under cloudy skies. Before long a cold strong wind arrived and stayed with us for most of the day. We were wearing many layers to keep warm.

Last evening we had worked out that, because our roadwalk yesterday to get around the CDT wildfire closure had shaved some distance from the kilometres to our next resupply at Augusta, we might actually be able to get there in three more days rather than the planned four. It would mean three long days, but would give us two days off in Augusta instead of one.

At our breakfast break, where we had internet reception, Dave lined up the extra night in the motel (got the last room), and arranged a shuttle pickup from the remote Benchmark trailhead. It's a long story but finding a shuttle driver was not easy and the latest they can pick us up on Monday is 5pm. This means that Monday will have to be a shorter hiking day and, therefore, today and Sunday would have to be big days.

This seemed like a good plan at the time but, as the day passed with us being buffeted by the wind (see above) and the ascents becoming more challenging, we began to second-guess our decision.

Despite the wind and climbs, it was actually a great day scenery-wise. The smoke haze was gone and we were above the treeline most of the time following the spine of the Continental Divide, giving us superb views of mountain ranges and valleys and far distant plains. We could see far behind from whence we had come and far ahead to where we were going.

However, the steep ascents and descents, more than +/- 5000’ in total, kept our (Dave's) pace slow and we didn't get as far as we would have liked.

Around 8pm, as it got dark, we found a partly protected sloping tent site in a saddle and set up camp. Looks like being an early start tomorrow if we are to do the necessary kilometres to meet our shuttle on Monday.

Day 130 - Continental Divide Trail - Marysville to Canyon Creek

Day: 130

Date: Friday, 13 September 2024

Start: Marysville

Finish: Canyon Creek

Daily Kilometres: 41.0

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

Total Kilometres: 3801.3

Weather: Cold and overcast most of the day with a strong cold wind.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Microwaved fruit pies & pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Snacks/Trail mix

Dinner: Rehydrated meals

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

Highlight: Nothing in particular.

Lowlight: In the early afternoon, one of several dogs on a farm that came out to bark at us, jumped the fence, struck up an instant rapport with Julie, and followed us for the next 10km of our road walk. No amount of threats and yelling would make it turn back and it had several close calls with passing cars. Eventually, a driver who must live locally, stopped and got the dog into his car.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We delayed getting up until 6am and started hiking at 7am, with the intention of arriving at a country store we could see on Google, close to our planned route, at 9am when it opened. We didn't know what food would be available there, but figured they would have something different to our usual on-trail fare.

The two-hour walk to the store was quite pleasant, following a traffic-free dirt road mostly downhill through attractive partly-forested grazing land. Towards the end of this walk we reached the valley floor where there were farms and also a compound with multiple small dwellings and RVs and various flags flying, including the Confederate flag.

The store turned out to be very small, so we bought a few things then sat on the rocking chair on their porch while we had our breakfast. It was a very cold morning with a cold wind blowing, but at least the porch offered a little protection. The store also had a trash can and pit toilet, both bonuses for thru-hikers.

From the store, we had a 26km road walk along Hwy 279 up to Flesher Pass (6150’). The road initially passed through farmland, irrigated by huge sprinkler systems, then climbed through a picturesque ravine carved by Canyon Creek before reaching a narrow valley with more farms and cabins. After a lunch stop we passed a farm where there were dogs and one of them decided to join us on our hike for 10km (see above).

Eventually, we reached Flesher Pass around 4:30pm where we rejoined the official CDT, north of the wildfire closure, which we had skirted.

It was nice to get back onto single-track trail, even if it did climb steeply away from the pass. Our last 5km for the day was quite hilly with good views, enhanced by the emergence of the setting sun, illuminating the clouds, and a bright moon rising on the east.

Around 7:50pm, we found a protected tent site on a cold windy ridge and set up camp. It was good to get in our cosy tent and sleeping bags.

Day 129 - Continental Divide Trail - Hwy 12 to Marysville

Day: 129

Date: Thursday, 12 September 2024

Start: Hwy 12 (but staying in Helena MT)

Finish: Marysville

Daily Kilometres: 35.4

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

Total Kilometres: 3760.3

Weather: Steady rain early then mostly overcast and cold, but very cold when exposed to the wind.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Microwaved breakfast plate

Lunch: Ham, cheese & salad wraps

Dinner: Rehydrated meals

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

Highlight: Around 6:30pm, we had passed by the pub in the tiny hamlet of Marysville, when were called back by a local who insisted he buy us a drink. We accepted the offer and spent a very convivial 45 minutes in the small bar chatting with drink-buyer and his wife along with a few other patrons at the bar.

Lowlight: When exposed to the wind today, which was often, it was very cold.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

The cold front that had brought the thunderstorm and heavy rain last evening also brought much lower temperatures and it was raining steadily when our Uber arrived at the motel soon after 8am. It promised to be a miserable day for hiking, with more rain forecast but, by the time the driver dropped us back where we were to resume hiking, the rain has stopped. It seemed miraculous and, in fact, it did not really rain again until we were halfway through setting up camp after 8pm. We have been fortunate with the weather for this trip (so far!).

We were still following the alternate route we had been on before our day off in Helena, and our first couple of hours hiking today was following a little-used forest road back up to the CDT at Priest Pass (6000’), a climb of 1500’ which Dave found very taxing with a fully-loaded pack (5-6 days of food).

It was much colder at the Pass and for the next 16km as we followed the Continental Divide northwards. Although there were small patches of pine forest here and there, we mostly hiked through very exposed grassland and the wind was bitterly cold.

After the 16km along the CDT, at around 5pm, we detoured off the trail to follow the route we had worked out to get around the next wildfire trail closure about 15km ahead. Our detour took us down the east side of the mountain on forest roads and through the tiny hamlet of Marysville.

We knew there was a bar/restaurant there from Google, but hadn't planned to stop because it was pricey, according to Google. Instead, we had stopped by the trail earlier and had our dinner. However, as we passed by we were called in for a drink (see above) and realised it would have been a good place to stop in for dinner. Next time!

By the time we left the bar, it was nearly 7:30pm and starting to get dark. We walked for another 30 minutes up out of the valley and found ourselves a place to camp beside the forest road. It began raining lightly while we set up camp.

Day 128 - Continental Divide Trail - Helena

Day: 128

Date: Wednesday, 11 September 2024

Start: Hwy 12 (but staying in Helena MT

Finish: Hwy 12 (but staying in Helena MT

Daily Kilometres: 0.0

GPX Track: Click here and here for Julie’s Strava & Photos from her run this morning and later walk.

Total Kilometres: 3724.9

Weather: Cold early then mild and partly sunny with a thunderstorm and some heavy rain in the evening.

Accommodation: Motel

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Huevos Rancheros, toast & jam/Breakfast burrito

Lunch: Mexicali subs

Dinner: Pizza, icecream

Aches: Nothing reported

Highlight: Nothing in particular

Lowlight: Nothing in particular

Pictures: No pictures today

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Julie went for a run before breakfast which we had at a nearby cafe. The morning was then devoted to shopping. After Helena, we have two more resupply stops, both in very small towns - Augusta and East Glacier Park - before we reach the Canadian border and the finish of our hike in just under three weeks. Given the small towns have very limited resupply options, we decided to mail ahead our food to post offices at both places. This meant buying food for 15-17 days today and the nearest supermarket was 1.5km away while Walmart was 3km away.

We divided the shopping list and Julie went to Walmart while Dave went to the supermarket with both of us carrying large loads back to our motel.

In the afternoon, we sorted out all the food and mailed off two food packages from the post office which was conveniently next door to our motel (unlike the supermarkets!).

Helena seems a very pleasant small town and we did get to see a bit of it as we walked around. A nice pedestrian mall in downtown and attractive wooden houses in the suburbs nearby.

We had other chores and planning to do today at this, our last major stop, so it turned out to be quite a busy day. Some of the planning related to mapping a way around yet another wildfire trail closure about 80km ahead. It looks like we will be doing some more road walking.

Other planning related to getting from the Canadian border back to Australia and we think we now have that sorted.

Poor Julie got caught in torrential rain and hail while running her last errand for the day (cancelling her phone plan). Later we got takeout for dinner then packed for a moderately early departure back to the trail tomorrow morning.

Day 127 - Continental Divide Trail - Bison Blackfoot Trail Jct to Hwy 12

Day: 127

Date: Tuesday, 10 September 2024

Start: Bison Blackfoot Trail Jct

Finish: Hwy 12 (but staying in Helena)

Daily Kilometres: 44.3

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

Total Kilometres: 3724.9

Weather: Very cold early, then warm with hazy sunshine.

Accommodation: Motel

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Snacks/Trail mix

Dinner: Cheeseburgers & fries potatoes, icecream.

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

Highlight: During the afternoon, our route took us through the historic mining village of Rimini. There were many old wooden buildings and, as we passed by, a local working in his garden gave us a brief history of the area and town. His own house dated back to 19th century.

Lowlight: The last 10km today, which involved walking along a flat sealed road after many kilometres, and a very early start, seemed to go on forever, made worse by having prominent mile markers counting down our progress to the end.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We decided to get up at 4am to give us more time to hike the 40km+ to Highway 12, and our hitch to Helena, We were on the trail before 5am, hiking by headlamp through quiet pine forest until dawn at 6:30am.

At 7am, we had a decision to make. We already knew the CDT was closed 15km ahead for the summer because of a prescribed burn and there was a suggested alternate which we planned to take. However, we had learned during the last few days through our crowd-sourced navigation app that the alternate was no longer viable because the forest road was closed to all comers. Instead, there were now a number of suggested alternates from hikers ahead of us, some ambiguous and others confusing.

We chose a suggested alternate that claimed to be easy to follow and shorter. It turned out to be easier to follow, but was actually longer. It started with a long forest road walk, during the first part of which the temperature dropped markedly. It was freezing. The road passed near some old mines that were being environmentally cleaned up and we were passed by some early morning dump trucks. Later, we learned that the original alternate route road was closed for the same reason.

We tried to maintain a good pace through mostly pine forest, some of which had been logged, as the road climbed over the shoulder (8000’) of Old Baldy Mt. Near the crest, we met a southbound CDT thru-hiker, the first we had seen for more than a week. He was a nice guy and keen for a chat, but the encounter left us feeling sorry for him. He was finding it hard, he was lonely, and he knew he was a long way behind most other southbound hikers and unlikely to catch them.

From the crest,.which we reached around 10am, the rest of our day was spent descending or on the flat. Along the way we passed through the atmospheric old mining town of Rimini (see above), though there were now quite a few vacation cabins along the road as well.

Finally, soon after 5pm, we reached Hwy 12 and booked an Uber to come.and collect us and.take us to our booked motel in the centre of the large town of Helena, the capital of Montana, where we arrived around 6pm. Julie quickly showered and went out to buy some takeout dinner and we ate while watching the Trump-Harris debate. Perfect timing!

Day 126 - Continental Divide Trail - Champion Pass to Bison Blackfoot Trail Jct

Day: 126

Date: Monday, 09 September 2024

Start: Champion Pass

Finish: Bison Blackfoot Trail Jct

Daily Kilometres: 40.3

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

Total Kilometres: 3680.6

Weather: Cool early, then mild with hazy sunshine.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Snacks/Trail mix

Dinner: Rehydrated meals

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

Highlight: Nothing in particular.

Lowlight: The wildfire smoke haze came back overnight. It wasn't as bad as a week ago, but it spoiled what views we had today, though made for a spectacular orange sunrise and sunset.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

There had been a strong wind overnight and with that came the unwelcome return of wildfire smoke which spoiled our day a little (see above).

Conscious that we needed to record a high mileage today if we were to reach Helena tomorrow night, we were hiking by 6:30am in good conditions apart from the smoke haze, and trying to maintain a good pace.

We were following the crest of the Continental Divide and initially hiked through attractive partly forested country where small groups of cattle were grazing. After a couple of hours, we left the cattle behind and the trail spent more time in the pine forest. Generally the trail was good walking, but there were sections that were rocky and technical that slowed us down, as did the sporadic blowdowns.

Apart from the climb up onto the shoulder (8400’) of Thunderbolt Mountain, the hiking was more undulating than mountainous and we maintained an altitude of between 7500’ and 8500’ for most of the day.

Around 2pm, while we were stopped for lunch, we were caught by two northbound CDT thruhikers, one of whom we had met a couple of times in New Mexico, which seems a very long time ago. We didn't see anyone else all day.

Some blowdowns in the last 5km of the day slowed us down and we didn't quite get as far as hoped before deciding to camp around 8pm, as it got dark. But, we are within striking distance of Highway 12 and a hitch into Helena tomorrow. To give us the best chance of doing it on daylight, we will make a very early start tomorrow.

Day 125 - Continental Divide Trail - Anaconda to Champion Pass

Day: 125

Date: Sunday, 08 September 2024

Start: Anaconda MT

Finish: Champion Pass

Daily Kilometres: 42.7

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

Total Kilometres: 3640.3

Weather: Cool early then warm with hazy sunshine.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: McDonalds big breakfast

Lunch: Turkey, avocado & bacon wraps

Dinner: Rehydrated meals.

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

Highlight: Nothing in particular.

Lowlight: Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were a bit later leaving the motel (7am) than hoped but, beforehand, enjoyed our takeout McDonalds big breakfast from their restaurant across the road, which only opened at 6am.

Our first 12km for the day was mostly a flat roadwalk through farmland and public land along reasonably busy sealed roads with little shoulder to separate us from the fast-moving traffic. It was tedious and Dave found it tiring, but we made reasonable time. We hoped to walk more than 40km today, and each of the next two days, so that we reach our next resupply stop, Helena, in three days, saving us a day overall on our original plan.

After crossing under the I-90 freeway, we joined a very quiet gravel road through more farmland for another 12km which was still tedious, but less so.

We had a lunch break at a road junction leaning against a farm fence in the shade of some trees around 1pm on a day that had become quite warm. Then we followed a forest road up into the mountains alongside the picturesque Cottonwood Creek, climbing 2000’ up to 6800’ to rejoin the official CDT at around 6pm. The country was hilly and partly forested grazing land and quite attractive. It was nice to be amongst some trees again after the morning’s roadwalk. Along the way we saw some bow hunters in their vehicles, dressed in their camo outfits. We had already seen some closer to Anaconda in the morning. It must be bow-hunting season in Momtana.

The CDT was single-track when we rejoined it and we followed it further upwards through pine forest getting some occasional views of the bright orange setting sun. Around 7:40pm, on the crest of a ridge at 7500’, we found a nice tent site amongst some young pines and camped, happy with our day.

Day 124 - Continental Divide Trail - Lime Spur Road to Anaconda

Day: 124

Date: Saturday, 07 September 2024

Start: Lime Spur Road

Finish: Anaconda MT.

Daily Kilometres: 14.9

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

Total Kilometres: 3597.6

Weather: Cold early with a biting wind, then warm and sunny and hazy.

Accommodation: Motel

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Omelette & hash browns, toast & jam/pancake & syrup.

Lunch: Mexicali subs

Dinner: Fried chicken, macaroni cheese & salad, ice cream.

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

Highlight: On the recommendations in our navigation app, we had breakfast at a bar in Anaconda when we arrived there soon after 8am. Our omelettes were delicious, large and good value. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast in the warmth of the bar..

Lowlight: Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

For some reason, neither of us slept that well. It could have been the lumpy and marginal tent site we had been lucky to find, or the ATV that roared past us around 11pm (we could easily be seen from the road), or the eager anticipation of a relatively short walk into Anaconda for a hot breakfast. Around 4:30am we decided to pack up camp and by 5:30am we were walking the quiet road to Anaconda on a dark and very cold morning.

There was some traffic and we walked against the flow using our headlamps for the first hour, making good time on the sealed road. By soon after 7am we were on the outskirts of the historic copper mining town of Anaconda (5500’) which occupied the floor of a flat river valley bordered by high partly-forested mountains. The town was stretched out, long and thin, and it took us another hour to reach the centre of the old town and the bar where we were hoping to get a good breakfast. We were not disappointed (see above). While there, Dave messaged the (unmanned) motel where we were booked to stay tonight to see if we could possibly get an early check-in and they responded immediately that our room was ready. Another win!

We walked another 1.5km to the motel, detouring via the adjacent supermarket for snacks, and were checked in by 9:30am.

Today will be a “Nero” (near Zero = less than 10 miles) in thru-hiker parlance and we will be hiking again early tomorrow, but the early check-in gave us most of the day to do our usual chores and to relax.

Day 123 - Continental Divide Trail - Rainbow Mountain to Lime Spur Road

Day: 123

Date: Friday, 06 September 2024

Start: Rainbow Mountain

Finish: Lime Spur Road

Daily Kilometres: 38.7

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

Total Kilometres: 3582.7

Weather: Cool early then warm and sunny with some haze in the afternoon.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Snacks/Trail mix

Dinner: Rehydrated meals

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

Highlight: The stretch of trail from Goat Flat at 9337’ (no goats and not flat!) to Storm Lake Pass (9148’) followed a narrow path traversing a very steep slope that gave superb views of the surrounding treeless mountain peaks and the valley far below (when we weren't making sure we didn't put a foot wrong).

Lowlight: Biting flies are back.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Our hiking day started at 6:30am with a steady climb to the top of Rainbow Mountain (9264’) where we paused in the early morning light to do some internet admin with the first good phone signal for a while.

We then continued on, including a huge descent followed by a huge switch-backing and steep ascent, until we had a late breakfast around 10am on a high treeless saddle (9214’) amidst fantastic alpine scenery in absolutely balmy conditions - mild, sunny, clear and no wind. Perfect!

That was more than 2000’ of climbing before breakfast but, to Dave’s delight, that was almost the last climbing of the day. We left the CDT here to follow the Anaconda Cut-Off Alternate which would take us through the town of Anaconda where we planned to resupply, and also reduce the distance we still had to hike.

The Alternate started with the traverse from Goat Flat (see above) then descended steadily to the scenic and crystal clear Storm Lake. On the way, we met the first people, day hikers (one with a pistol on his hip), we had seen in 48 hours.

From the lake the rest of our day's hiking was along roads. Firstly along a forest road with little traffic, then along Highway 1, which was quite busy, or along the old Highway 1, which was parallel and very quiet.

After dinner in a picnic area with the luxury of a picnic table and toilet, we kept walking until a little after 7:30pm when we found a place to camp just off the old Highway 1.

We only have about 12km to walk tomorrow morning to reach Anaconda so are looking forward to a nice cooked breakfast, an easy day, and a night in a motel.

Day 122 - Continental Divide Trail - Pintler Pass to Rainbow Mountain

Day: 122

Date: Thursday, 05 September 2024

Start: Pintler Pass

Finish: Rainbow Mountain

Daily Kilometres: 33.5

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

Total Kilometres: 3544.0

Weather: Cool early then warm and mostly sunny with some smoke haze.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Snacks/Trail mix

Dinner: Rehydrated meals

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

Highlight: Getting onto North Montana, the fifth and last map set for the Continental Divide Trail in our navigation app, FarOut.

Lowlight: Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Our day was to be spent crossing the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness. We began hiking with a descent from Pintler Pass, where we had camped, around 6:30am on a cool and clear morning.

The pattern of our day soon became clear, as we reached the base of the descent, passed a picturesque lake, Johnson Lake, 1500’ lower than the Pass, then began the long climb to the next pass. This time it was Rainbow Pass (9052’) and the climb seemed interminable on gnarly single-track trail.

There were great views from the pass, but these were soon lost as we descended steeply into the pine forest again, and past the beautiful Rainbow Lake. The gnarly trail continued downwards through the peaceful and atmospheric old-growth forest getting as low as 7400’, before beginning the climb to yet another (unnamed) pass at 8600’. This time there was just a short descent to the spectacular alpine Warren Lake, perched at 8400’ and backed by sheer rocky Warren Peak.

Another 1000’ of descent followed on gnarly trail before we began the climb up to Cutaway Pass (9032’) from where there were more awesome views. Then it was back down into the forest again for the last few hours until we eventually camped around 7:45pm amongst the pines.

We didn't get as far as hoped today as Dave struggled from the first long climb. The ups and downs, and the gnarly trail, following a tough day yesterday, seemed to catch up with him and he was tired and slow all day, despite assistance from some caffeine and Tylenol.

We’re hoping that the terrain is a little more forgiving tomorrow and looking forward to a shorter day on Saturday.

Day 121 - Continental Divide Trail - Hell Roaring Creek to Pintler Pass

Day: 121

Date: Wednesday, 04 September 2024

Start: Hell Roaring Creek

Finish: Pintler Pass

Daily Kilometres: 36.7

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

Total Kilometres: 3510.5

Weather: Cold early then mild and mostly sunny.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli

Lunch: Snacks/Trail mix

Dinner: Rehydrated meals

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

Highlight: Nothing in particular.

Lowlight: Blowdowns (fallen trees) seemed neverending today. There was one period of about two hours in the morning when we had to climb over or find our way around a tree, or multiple trees tangled together, about every 50 metres. Most had sharp stubs where branches had broken off that were keen to draw the blood or snag the clothes of unfortunate hikers. It was exhausting and time-consuming.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were hiking by soon after 6:30am on a cold and clear morning. For the first hour or so, we hiked along lovely trail through old growth pine forest, but then things went downhill, literally. We came to the edge of the ridge we had been following and looked down and out over a huge burnt area where, though many dead trees were still standing forlornly, many more lay like a giant’s scattered matchsticks across the slopes of the valley. Our trail descended through this chaotic landscape and soon we were negotiating blowdown after blowdown (see above). It was slow and frustrating and not particularly scenic.

Although there were fewer blowdowns later on, they remained a feature of the day, even when we passed through unburnt forest, as we did for the last few hours of the day.

It was also a day of hills as we oscillated between 7000’ and 9000’, climbing a total of more than 5000’ and descending a similar amount. There were good views from the higher elevations, but so much of what could be seen was, sadly, burnt forest.

The same young northbound CDT hiking couple who passed us at lunchtime yesterday, passed us again today while we were having lunch. We had thought they would be miles ahead of us by now. However, they had apparently stopped early yesterday because of the cold wet weather. We had noticed how small packs they were carrying seemed and wondered whether that might mean they had insufficient warm clothing to deal with the colder weather.

We finished the day with a solid climb through peaceful pine forest up to Pintler Pass (8736’) as the sun set which was beautiful. At the Pass, we found a campsite amongst a few trees around 8:15pm and quickly set up the tent and went to bed.

Day 120 - Continental Divide Trail - Chief Joseph Pass to Hell Roaring Creek

Day: 120

Date: Tuesday, 03 September 2024

Start: Chief Joseph Pass (but staying in Darby MT)

Finish: Hell Roaring Creek

Daily Kilometres: 36.8

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

Total Kilometres: 3473.8

Weather: Cool to cold all day, with some sun in the morning and several thunderstorms in the afternoon accompanied by rain periods.

Accommodation: Tent

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Microwaved egg & bacon muffins

Lunch: Turkey & cheese wraps

Dinner: Rehydrated meals.

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

Highlight: The wildfire smoke haze of the past four days was largely gone.

Lowlight: Some misnavigation in the morning cost us 2-3 kilometres and about 45 minutes.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Our shuttle driver, “Buddha”, was on time and we were back at the Chief Joseph Pass trailhead and hiking by about 7:30am on a cool morning with much less wildfire smoke haze than we had been dealing with for the past four days. It brightened our spirits considerably.

After following the CDT along a broad forested ridge for a few kilometres, during which we left Idaho for the last time, we took an alternate route recommended on our navigation app to avoid some burnt areas and to save some time.

The instructions were somewhat ambiguous and we missed a turn as we descended to cross the Trail Creek valley. Fortunately, we woke up before we were too far off course and it didn't cost too much time. After crossing Trail Creek, the alternate route followed an unmapped trail upstream beside a small creek and then along a forest road and a trail back to the CDT.

The CDT was following the crest of the Continental Divide through forest which had largely been burnt out. The undergrowth was returning but the trees were dead and the soil blackened. It was quite depressing. The scenery stayed this way through most of the afternoon, made even more forlorn by heavy clouds and haze that moved in. There was a series of thunderstorms and it got very cold and rained for an hour or two. While stopped for lunch we were passed by a young couple also northbound CDT thruhikers, who had been staying at the same place as us in Darby last night. They were the only hikers we saw all day.

In late afternoon, we finally exited the burnt area and enjoyed some pine forest walking as well as crossing some rocky outcrops offering good views. The rain also stopped and we found a nice campsite in the forest around 7:30pm, having hiked a little further than planned.