Category: Continental Divide Trail

July 19th, 2019 Mm 732 to Bannock Pass/HWY 29 mm 747, then ride to Leadore Distance in miles: 15 0615-1100 I mosey on down the trail in the morning, excited to end this long segment and eat a ton of food in town. But I worry about where Relentless is, coordinating a ride from the pass, and all the other logistics. My plan is just to get to the pass and see what happens. Is that even a plan? I run into a NOBO, Bearbait, early on. We have the usual chat about water sources, who is ahead and behind, etc. He has not seen Relentless ahead, so I conclude he must be behind. The trail winds through a bunch[…]

July 18th, 2019 Goldstone Pass mm 700.7 to mm 732 Distance in miles: 31.3 0605-1830 We hope for another big day to make the following day a shorter distance into town. It was cold overnight but thankfully did not rain. All my stuff is bone-dry in the morning and easy to pack. A steep climb greets us within minutes and I am happy for the warmth it brings. But then we are on an exposed ridge for awhile and the cold wind forces me to put layers back on. The sunrise is nice, the rays filtering through the clouds. It stays overcast, windy and cool all morning. This is a good thing since we walk through some burn areas that[…]

July 17th, 2019 Mm 668.5 to Goldstone Pass mm 700.7 Distance in miles: 32.2 0605-1900 What a better day than yesterday! My quads are sore from descending the steep slope but otherwise I feel recovered in the morning. We hope to do a big day and get at it nice and early. It’s cold and everything is damp, but a big climb warms me right away. I greet the sun and views of alpine lakes and peaks. It looks a lot like the Sierras up here, with all the rock and scraggly trees. We descend into a valley and stay low through forests, meadows and even some sage brush most of the rest of the day. We catch up to[…]

July 16th, 2019 Big Hole Pass mm 641.5 to mm 668.5 Distance in miles: 27 0615-1830 Today is a tough time. There are lots of big, steep climbs and overgrown trail. But what really set things off is a navigational error and a treacherous bushwhack. We start the day on a mining road and promptly miss a junction where the single track trail breaks off. All the while I’m saying that we need to check to make sure we’re still on trail but my phone GPS won’t lock on to a location. When we finally realize our mistake, the junction is over a mile back and we have climbed a bunch. The guthooks map seems to show a dotted line[…]

July 15th, 2019 HWY 43 mm 625 to Big Hole Pass mm 641.5 Distance in miles: 17.5 1330-1900 Darby would get a pretty average to low rating in my book if it weren’t for the RV park and grocery. Not much is open on Monday so we get breakfast at the grocery deli…cheap and pretty good breakfast sandwiches! I have so much online business to do in the morning. My Altra Superior 4s have already developed blow-outs in both shoes, same location. The upper is actually separating from the sole. I do an emergency repair with superglue but doubt it will hold long. I order new shoes, socks, and sun gloves for the next town, Leadore. My parents are also[…]

July 14th, 2019 Mm 606.7 to mm 623 then 30 mile hitch to Darby. Distance in miles: 17 0615-1200 Town day, again. And only a short hike in…a half day. The trail is pretty gentle on us, nice and loamy, mostly downhill. We hike through small trees but with a very clear, clean understory. The beargrass flowers and lupine are inspiring, a spectacle of white and purple with some yellow flowers I don’t know mixed in. The fragrance after all the rain is sweet and subtle…I want to bottle it and call it some fancy french name. Veargrees.We come across another grouse family. I almost step on one of the chicks in the trail but it is old enough to[…]

July 13th, 2019 Johnson Lake mm 575.4 to mm 606.7 Distance in miles: 31.3 0615-1900 I sleep so good overnight and feel ready for another big day. I plan the day around water, since there is one last creek at 30 miles and then nothing until we get to town the next day. I hope to make it to that creek for the night but there’s still a lot of climbing, around 7000′ according to the app. Nothing looks terribly steep at least. We make it up to the first pass, Pintler Pass. Then down and then up again to a ridge. I’m already complaining about the heat and the mossies. For the first time, I actually borrow some of[…]

July 12th, 2019 Storm Lake mm 3.2 of Anaconda route to Johnson Lake mm 575.4 Distance in miles: 28 0620-1800 Everything is so damp when I wake up, as I knew it would be right next to the lake. Doesn’t matter, the sky is clear and we’re going on our 3rd day with no rain! We’ll be able to dry things later. First we must climb up to a pass, one of 5! for the day. When we enter the high alpine meadow, we are treated to a view of our itinerary for the day. Up over a pass then down through a lush valley of old growth forest with streams every half mile. Repeat. There are high rocky peaks[…]

July 11th, 2019 Mm 28 of Anaconda route to mm 3.2 Distance in miles: 21 1100-1830 I catch up on some business in the morning and we’re off on the next section into the Pintler mountains. First we must walk about 12 miles on or parallel to the highway. Most use this as an excuse to hitch but we decide to at least give it a shot. If it turns out to be anything as scary as the day before, then we’ll get a ride. The walk starts out with a nice sidewalk along the highway and cars going 35 mph or less. It’s so nice that we miss a turnoff onto a side-road that would have saved us a[…]

July 10th, 2019 Mm 406.3 to Anaconda, mm 28 of Anaconda route. Distance in miles: 30 0615-1600 We are doing the Anaconda cutoff, which is basically a route that shaves a huge dogleg of the CDT around Butte. Nearly every CDT hiker that I know is doing the same. I had wanted to do the longer, official CDT route but I also wanted to see our traveling Trail Angel friend Solo. I last saw her in Silver City. She lives in her van and has been posted up around Anaconda doing trail magic for a few weeks. I also just want to get to Colorado before it’s too late in the season, so dropping about 100 miles of road and[…]