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.
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