Day 103 - Continental Divide Trail - Centennial Mountains Wilderness to Kay Creek

Day: 103

Date: Saturday, 17 August 2024

Start:  Centennial Mountains Wilderness

Finish:  Kay Creek

Daily Kilometres:  40.0

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

Total Kilometres:  3027.2

Weather:  Cool early then mild and mostly sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts/Muesli

  Lunch:  Trail mix

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals 

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

Highlight:  From mid-morning until early afternoon we were hiking at 9000’-9500’ above the treeline with never-ending and expansive views in all directions on a perfect day.

Lowlight:  Much of the trail today was very narrow, uneven underfoot, and through low overhanging vegetation meaning we had to watch where we were placing our feet rather than enjoying the views as much as we would have liked.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were later getting away this morning because Dave was grappling with the relacing his disintegrating boots and we had trouble extracting a tent peg which had been inadvertently hammered into a tree root last night while setting up the tent.  Fortunately, we have new footwear waiting for us at our next town and we did manage to eventually extract the tent peg without breaking it.

It was 6:45am by the time we started hiking.  The CDT climbed steadily on difficult trail from about 8000’, where we were camped, to over 9500’, but the views were magnificent and we could see vast distances to the plains below on both the Idaho and Montana sides of the mountain range we were following.  There were long stretches where we followed the contours giving us dress-circle views.

In the early afternoon we began descending, spending more time in the pine forests and grassy meadows, and stopped for our dinner break around 4:30pm at the Aldous Lake Trailhead (7000’) where there was a welcome and convenient picnic table next to a stream.

After dinner, we hiked another 8km, mainly through forest and rocky areas, and climbed to a saddle at 8400’ where we camped as the sun was setting, and the moon was rising, soon after 8pm.

We only saw five other people today, all of them southbound CDT thru-hikers, three of them together, so felt like we had the mountains and views to ourselves.

Day 102 - Continental Divide Trail - Island Park to Centennial Mountains Wilderness

Day: 102

Date: Friday, 16 August 2024

Start:  Island Park

Finish:  Centennial Mountains Wilderness

Daily Kilometres:  33.3

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

Total Kilometres:  2987.2

Weather:  Cool early then mild and mostly sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Microwaved breakfast scramble

  Lunch:  Turkey, bacon & avocado wraps

  Dinner:  Rice & tuna/Rice

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles plus a couple of small blisters; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  We crossed into Montana today, the fifth and last state on our CDT journey.  However, we haven't left Idaho behind as the CDT follows the state border for some days and tonight we are camped right on the Montana-Idaho border.

Lowlight:  Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We had a relatively relaxed start to the day and didn't leave the comfort of our heated cabin until around 8am.  Our first 15km was a forest road walk climbing gradually up to 9000’ on the shoulder of Sawtell Mountain from Island Park (6500’).  We both noted how nice it was to be hiking in dry socks and shoes/boots after about five days of wet feet.  There were a few cars and ATV’s on the road but not enough to matter and hiking conditions were good, so the climb wasn't too bad and we did get some nice views.

We turned off the forest road on the shoulder of Sawtell Mountain onto a rough single-track trail and gradually descended following Hell Roaring Creek, which was actually quite benign, through pine forest and wildflower-carpeted meadows until we linked up with another trail at Lillian Lake and climbed up to rejoin the official CDT around 4pm.

Any hopes we had that the trail quality would improve were disappointed and we had long switchbacking climb up onto a high ridge at 8500’.  The country was partially forested, felt very remote and there were good views.  Since leaving the forest road we saw no-one and feel like we have the place to ourselves.

Around 7:45pm, we found a nice place to camp in a small copse of pine trees on a very calm evening.

Day 101 - Continental Divide Trail - Moose Creek to Island Park

Day: 101

Date: Thursday, 15 August 2024

Start:  Moose Creek

Finish:  Island Park

Daily Kilometres:  14.3

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

Total Kilometres:  2953.9

Weather:  Very cold early then mild and mostly sunny.

Accommodation:  Cabin

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Hot buffet breakfast.

  Lunch:  Mexicali Sub

  Dinner:  Cheeseburgers & fries, ice-cream.

Aches:  Nothing reported.

Highlight:  Reaching the tiny resort hamlet of Island Park around 8:30am, hoping for somewhere to have a good breakfast and finding a lodge advertising a $13 hot buffet breakfast which turned out to be perfect for our needs.  Not only that, the restaurant was nicely heated on a very cold morning.

Lowlight:  Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke to a very cold dewy morning (hail from yesterday's storm still lay on the ground) at 5:30am, packed up our damp tent, and began walking along the sealed road towards Hwy 20, 5km away.

There were a few businesses at Mack's Inn at the highway junction, but the only restaurant was closed.  We were keen to get a good breakfast, so continued 2.5km north along the busy highway to the tiny resort hamlet of Island Park, where we had booked a cabin for the night, in the hope we would find something there (nothing was showing up on Google).

We did, and enjoyed a good breakfast, taking our time to enjoy the warmth of the restaurant and because we learned that the earliest we could check-in to our cabin was 2pm.

After breakfast, we sat at a picnic table in the sun outside the restaurant, dried some of our damp gear and did some.planning and shopping at the nearby small supermarket.

For lunch, we crossed the road to a Subway restaurant, then sat in a nearby park until 2pm before walking the short distance to our booked cabin.  Later, Julie did our laundry at a resort across the road and we dried more.gear in the sun outside our cabin.  A relaxed afternoon.

For dinner we went to a restaurant next door then had an early night.

Day 100 - Continental Divide Trail - Summit Lake to Moose Creek

Day: 100

Date: Wednesday, 14 August 2024

Start:  Summit Lake

Finish:  Moose Creek

Daily Kilometres:  39.6

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

Total Kilometres:  2939.6

Weather:  Very cold early, then cool all day, partly cloudy in the morning and thunderstorms with hail and rain in the afternoon.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts

  Lunch:  Meat & cheese subs

  Dinner:  Snacks

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles plus a right groin strain incurred when recovering from a stumble; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  In mid-morning we left Wyoming and entered Idaho, our fourth state on our journey.

Lowlight:  Thunderstorms in the afternoon brought very cold temperatures, hail and rain.  It was unpleasant hiking and, of course, got our footwear and socks wet and cold again.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Given how late we were camping last night, we slept in until 6am as Dave was desperate to get a reasonable night's sleep.  Sadly, more gastro trouble caused that sleep to be interrupted and.he didn't feel great when we started hiking around 7:30am.

Our last kilometres in Yellowstone National Park continued across a high plateau (8500’) through pine forest and a burnt area with the smell and steam from another geothermal area passed along the way.

Around mid-morning we crossed from Wyoming to Idaho, another milestone for us, and, in late morning, we exited Yellowstone.

The weather deteriorated during the afternoon as we followed a series of forest roads, some disused with massive berms to prevent vehicle use, but also challenging for hikers to negotiate.  We left the official CDT and joined the Mack's Inn Alternate, which we will follow for the next few days.  It gives us a chance to have a short day tomorrow and to resupply.

We actually made good progress today, despite the late start and poor weather in the afternoon, and ended up getting closer to Mack's Inn/Island Lake, where we have a cabin booked for tomorrow night, than we had expected.  Dave was hindered by a groin strain sustained during a stumble, but Tylenol made it more manageable.  The scenery was mostly just pine forest today, with few views.

Around 7pm we found a place in the forest by the side of the road to erect our tent.  The storm must have been more intense here as a lot of hail remains on the forest floor.

Given our long day and the prospect of good food tomorrow we just ate snacks for dinner before retiring to the tent.

Day 099 - Continental Divide Trail - Firehole Springs Backcountry Campsite to Summit Lake

Day: 099

Date: Tuesday, 13 August 2024

Start:  Firehole Springs Backcountry Campsite

Finish:  Summit Lake

Daily Kilometres:  31.5

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

Total Kilometres:  2900.0

Weather:  Very cold and partly cloudy early, then rain most of the morning and occasional thunderstorms during the afternoon.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Cheese omelette, bacon & hash browns, toast & jam

  Lunch:  Hot buffet lunch

  Dinner:  Nothing.

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

Highlight:  Seeing the Old Faithful Geyser erupt several times though, for some reason, being part of a huge crowd detracted from the scene a little.  Made it more like a circus attraction than a natural phenomenon.  We preferred the smaller geysers that we passed on the trail yesterday.

Lowlight:  Dave, whose boots and socks had been gradually drying out all day after getting soaked yesterday, slipped on a log crossing a small creek late in the afternoon and managed to get boots and socks totally wet again.  As it turned out, following a later thunderstorm, wet undergrowth saturated all of our footwear and socks anyway.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke at 5am on another very cold morning and were hiking by soon after 6am, intent on getting to the Old Faithful village, 8km away, in time for a good breakfast.  After descending through the pine forest, we emerged into the already busy large tourist complex soon after 8am.

It took us a little while and some walking to orient ourselves, but we managed to be on site for an Old Faithful Geyser eruption at 8:45am which was a bit of a fizzer because the fog and steam completely masked the height of the eruption.  We then adjourned to the warmth of a nearby grill which opened at 9am, after learning we would have to wait 30-40 minutes for the Lodge breakfast buffet, and enjoyed a delicious breakfast.

Sadly, by the time we finished, steady rain was falling and our plans for the morning changed.  Julie was going to go for a walk while Dave (who has been here three times before) took it easy but, instead, like everybody else, it seemed, we adjourned to one of the public areas in the warmth of the Lodge to wait out the rain.  It was even too wet to walk the considerable distance to the General Store to resupply for the next few days.

Eventually, the rain eased a little and Julie went to watch another eruption of Old Faithful before going to the store for our supplies, during which time, the rain came down again.

For lunch, we decided to go to the Lodge buffet but the queues were long and it was after 1pm before we got in, though the meal was excellent.

After lunch, and an hour or two later than planned, we began hiking the 16km to our campsite starting out via the busy boardwalks visiting other geysers and geothermal features in the immediate area.  They were impressive, but the crowds were oppressive, and it wasn't much fun.

After a few kilometres, we left the tourist area behind and rejoined the CDT trail.  It was clear we were going to be very late to our booked backcountry campsite, particularly as Dave seemed to be having another bad day (or perhaps too much buffet lunch), and the hike became even more tedious as a thunderstorm and rain rolled through making the trail and undergrowth wet.

Eventually, we reached the Summit Lake campsite around 8:30pm but found the tent sites taken by other hikers.  We decided to hike another kilometre or so and camp (illegally) by the trail.  We found a site in the pine forest at 9pm and quickly set up the tent and went to bed, skipping dinner, having had such a big lunch.

Day 098 - Continental Divide Trail - Shoshone Dogshead Trailhead to Firehole Springs Backcountry Campsite

Day: 098

Date: Monday, 12 August 2024

Start:  Shoshone Dogshead Trailhead (but staying at Grant Village Campground)

Finish:  Firehole Springs Backcountry Campsite

Daily Kilometres:  32.9

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

Total Kilometres:  2868.5

Weather:  Cold early, then a mild and partly sunny day with a thunderstorm in mid-afternoon.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Hot buffet breakfast

  Lunch:  Italian wraps

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals.

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

Highlight:  The Shoshone Geyser Basin was fabulous and we had it all to ourselves.  The trail snaked past fascinating bubbling cauldrons of translucent boiling water, steaming gurgling vents and erupting geysers, with other similar thermal features  visible in the distance.  Signs warned us not to leave the trail, but we didn't need to.  We could see plenty from the trail.

Lowlight:  Nothing in particular.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Dave didn't have a very good night with some kind of gastro problem, but he still heroically tackled the excellent buffet breakfast we purchased at the Grant Village Restaurant, not wanting to miss such an opportunity.

We packed up camp before breakfast and, after breakfast, walked across to the laundromat where “Slow & Steady”, the manager, has offered to drive us back to the trail at 8am, which he did.

Dave still wasn't feeling great, but he improved as time passed after we started hiking at 8:30am.

The day was mostly spent hiking mellow trail through very pleasant pine forest across a seemingly vast plateau at an altitude between 7000’ and 8000’ with a couple of notable exceptions.

There were several visits to the shoreline of the huge, remote and scenic Shoshone Lake and our interesting walk across the fabulous Shoshone Geyser Basin (see above).

There was also some less than mellow trail through bogs and marshland which kept our footwear and socks wet after several stream fords earlier in the day.  A thunderstorm in mid-afternoon brought cold temperatures and hail for a short period, but it cleared on time for a lovely evening.

Around 7:45pm we reached our booked backcountry campsite at Firehole Springs and found a tent site amongst the trees.  There was one other overnight hiker already in residence and he had the best spot.  During the day we saw about seven southbound CDT thru-hikers and no-one else.

Day 097 - Continental Divide Trail - Snake River Backcountry Campsite to Shoshone Dogshead Trailhead

Day: 097

Date: Sunday, 11 August 2024

Start:  Snake River Backcountry Campsite

Finish:  Shoshone Dogshead Trailhead (but staying at Grant Village Campground)

Daily Kilometres:  25.6

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

Total Kilometres:  2835.6

Weather:  Very cold early then mild and sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts/Muesli

  Lunch:  Bacon cheeseburgers & fries, ice-cream.

  Dinner:  Bacon double cheeseburgers & fries, ice-cream.

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

Highlight:  Heart Lake, which we reached around 9am, was a sublime picture of serenity on a beautiful sunny morning.  Very large and backed on one side by rocky mountains with a little bit of snow remaining, there wasn't a ripple on the water, as we walked along the gravel shore apart from the wake of a mother duck and her trailing ducklings 50m out..

Lowlight:  The first 90 minutes of hiking was miserably cold.  As usual, we got frozen hands packing up the tent on an icy morning, but then had to ford a very cold river, twice, in the first half hour, leaving us with frozen feet as well.  On top of that, the undergrowth was wet, making sure our feet stayed wet and cold.  Dave was hiking the fastest he has done all trip to try and warm up while Julie was almost whimpering with the cold.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

There was rain again overnight and the tent was damp and cold as we packed up before leaving at 6am.

Our first 3km was across a treeless flat river valley through dew- and frost-covered undergrowth, with a couple of river crossings thrown in for good measure.  We were very cold (see above).  We met a couple of southbound CDT thru-hikers around 7am, who were enjoying the same experience and we commiserated with each other.

Eventually, as we knew it would as we climbed away from the river and the sun peaked over the mountains, we gradually warmed up and by the time we stopped at a ranger station for our breakfast break after walking along part of the shore of the beautiful Heart Lake (see above), it had turned into a beautiful day.  We chatted with the ranger, who had spent a semester at the University of Tasmania, and some overnight hikers passing through while we ate.

From there we gradually climbed through a geothermal area where steam was venting from the ground in places and some hot pools were bubbling invitingly.  One stream was quite warm and some.hikers were already enjoying themselves in the water.

After the climb, our final kilometres for the day were through a pine-forested green tunnel until we reached Hwy 89 around 1:15pm.  From there we hitch-hiked for about 30 minutes before we got a ride into Grant Village (run by Yellowstone National Park), about 12km away, and bought ourselves a late lunch at the General Store.

We then walked down to the laundromat/shower block, which was managed by a supporter of CDT hikers who arranged for us to have free showers.  He will also give us a lift back to the trail tomorrow morning.  Then, while Julie did our laundry, Dave walked down to the campground where, despite it being full, room was found for us as CDT hikers and we got a nice spot surrounded by trees with a table.

Later, we returned to the General Store grill and had a dinner which was pretty much the same as our lunch.  Not much choice (and very expensive), but still a welcome change from rehydrated meals.

Internet reception is poor here so, on our way back to the campground, we stopped outside the closed service/gas station and used a contraband wifi password to login and publish the blog.