Category: Great Divide Trail

Sunday, July 7th, 2024, 0530-2030Scarpe Pass to Barnaby Lake, mm 12.5 of the alt, off mm 61.5 of main 16.5 miles, Gain: 7,000′, Loss: 7500′, elevation 6300′ I usually have a day during every hike that I say was my hardest day of hiking yet. It’s often some combination of bushwhacking, route finding, distance, elevation, and weather conditions that prompt me to make such a statement. Later I tend to backtrack, conceding a hard day but only one among many. Once the pain and fatigue subsides, things don’t seem as hard. Having a few days to rest and look back on this day, I still think it was my hardest day of hiking but also the most fun and rewarding.[…]

Saturday, July 6th, 2024, 0700-1800Lone Lake to Scarpe Pass, mm 43.114.3 miles, Gain: 3400′, Loss: 3340′, elevation 6740′ I slept well initially but then a salt-hungry habituated deer started pestering me all night. I’d hear the soft clopping of her hooves approaching and I’d clap my hands or beat on my tent walls and she would satisfyingly scamper away, only to return again for a repeat. I hung my extra pole in a tree and left nothing out to chew on, but I still didn’t want her rustling around next to me. This was the game we played for hours, thus my sleep was quite interrupted. I swear, bears get such a bad rap when they are rarely the cause[…]

Friday, July 5th, 2024, 0630-1430Akamina campground to Lone Lake, mm 28.814.2 miles, Gain: 4314′, Loss: 3660′, elevation 6670′ I woke early to the 5 am light and a floppy wet tent. The color of my new Zpacks tent (burnt orange but really it’s pink) amplified the light, making it feel like an operating room. It was good cheery light for hanging out inside the tent, but not great for trying to sleep. As for the shape, some of my stakes had pulled loose in the wind but there was something else I was doing wrong. Finally I realized that the peak wasn’t high enough. I had to use a pole extender with this new tent but still set the pole[…]

Thursday, July 4th, 2024, 1130-1800Waterton to Akamina campground, off mm 1613 miles, Gain: 4154′, Loss: 2560′, elevation 5800′ I woke to a soggy tent on the outside but dry on the inside, save for the typical condensation. I slept the best I had in 4 nights, but still woke with a migraine. I was locked into a rebound-effect pattern that would probably last a day or 2 more. I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I got up to walk the town. Vince and Georgie had already packed and were gone, but I didn’t feel in a rush since the total distance for the day was only 13 miles…only. I got coffee, a bagel and charged my phone at Starbucks.[…]

Monday July 1st to Tuesday, July 2nd, 2024 My trip didn’t get off a great start at the very beginning. My first flight was supposed to depart at 5:13 am but of course after getting myself to the airport 2 hours ahead of time (I woke up at 2:45 am), the flight was delayed 2 hours for a broken PA handset. It was such a minor thing that we were given the go ahead to fly, provided that the correct paperwork was filled out before we took off. We left the gate only 20 minutes late, getting my hopes up that I might still make my tight connection, only to have to return to the gate to sit some more.[…]