Day 6: “Not All New Yorkers Are Mean”

June 20th, 2024

Mike Marker: mixed up still

Miles Hiked: 16

We had an easy slow morning this morning again which was much needed. Around 9:30 we headed to the hostel to put our belongings and head out with Journey, Ross, Bob, and I. Whatever got a head start since his feet were hurting.

We decided to hike 15 miles into the Bob Marshal Wilderness and get a hitch back from Marias Pass to East Glacier.

Before heading out we decided that we would hike together as there is safety in numbers.

The lead person frequently rotated around and we all constantly let out hoops and hollers to alert the wildlife we were coming through. The previous day Journey and I started saying “Outtatowners” that we got from a team on the Amazing race a couple of seasons ago. It gives us a good chuckle every time.

After a couple hours we came upon a young black bear that was pretty scared of us and rushed off. We stood around hollering for a few minutes after just in case a momma bear was near.

The day was very chill terrain and mostly throughout dense forest so the time passed quickly as we moved at quick speeds.

Eventually we ran across another black bear that didn’t care about us at all. It looked at us and didn’t run, just kept eating its food. I couldn’t get a great shot of him as I was busy just watching.

We reached Maria’s Pass and realized quickly that it was going to be a difficult road to hitch on due to fast speeds.

We stood on the side of the road for about 20-25 minutes with our thumbs out and eventually two young boys in a truck pulled over.

They claimed they were on a road trip all the way from New York and are spending the time just driving all over the US. They have no route in mind, just go one way for a while and turn when they feel like it and sleep in the truck.

They moved stuff out of their back seat and us 5 hikers squished in. They claimed they could take us anywhere we needed and I was so grateful for their kind spirits. Then one mentioned “Not all New Yorkers are mean” which made us all laugh. Nope, definitely not.

These boys had big smiles and seemed so relaxed and at ease, living life simply and just happy with the views. They were in awe of what we were doing but we were also in awe of what they were doing.

We arrived back at the hostel and organized our stuff for tomorrow and grabbed pizza with Pitch for the last time before she headed into the park for the weekend.

We spent a significant amount of time coming up with route ideas to finish the last 20 miles of the park. The most difficult part is that we have to have a permit if we stay at any of the park’s campsites and we have to hike miles in to even get back to the CDT. After multiple discussions we think we will be hiking the last miles Northbound and without getting a permit by hiking extra miles to an outside campsite.

The snow is melting significantly and we are hoping for good weather the next couple days so we can close out the park and continue the trek south.

Fingers crossed everything works out!

Iz and Oz