September 7-10
We enjoyed some amazing trail magic the first evening out of Helena from two couples camping at a creek about 12 miles from McDonald Pass. We met the men while they were cutting up a tree for firewood. They invited us to join them for dinner. We both had Subway sandwiches but decided to accept their offer and at the very least, they would probably offer us something to drink and take our trash. When we arrived at their campsite, their wives were busy cooking and we enjoyed a variety of drinks, chips and salsa, huge seedless grapes, grilled steak and chicken, corn on the cob, and potatoes! They invited us to camp with them, but Canada was calling and we left around 7 and walked until dark. There were hunters in the area and we could hear them calling elk and driving around on quads, but they didn't bother us and I enjoyed a great night's sleep.
The remainder of our hike from Helena to Lincoln was without incident EXCEPT to report that I saw my first BEAR on the CDT in 2018. I was eating breakfast on the 9th at Stemple Pass when a bear sauntered across a dirt road about 50 feet away. It happened too quickly to get a picture, but everyone we met coming south reports we'll see more in "The Bob" (Bob Marshel Wilderness) and Glacier National Park. I'll try to have my camera ready!
The daylight hours are slowly decreasing and the temperature is dropping both at night and during the daytime. I'm starting to wear an extra layer all day and there are times on windy ridge walks that it feels brutally cold!
For additional content, check out Flickr for images, YouTube for video, SoundCloud for audio, and the Postholer Map with my most recent location.
Comments