June 22nd, 2024
Mile Marker: 114
Miles Hiked: 25
This morning was awfully chilly but no rain and bright sunshine peering through the trees AND I slept really well.
We hiked the four miles back to the CDT and started the trek up to the last pass we needed to cover in Glacier National Park. Here I was thinking we would have to skip miles but thank goodness for the nice weather melting the snow fast.
We were told there were a few traverses but that most could be scrambled around.
That proved exactly true. Some of them were easy to get around. Some of them we went under, yes under.
Some of them we had to scramble far below and on two of them I put on my microspikes because I just wanted to be safe.
We also saw a grouse at the very top of the pass. I almost didn’t notice because it blended well into the snow.
We crossed over the pass and had a lot of slushy snow to go through on the North side. There were a few moments I got nervous but I never felt like I needed to put my spikes on because if you kicked hard enough the snow was soft enough to make an impression.
Once we crossed out of the snow, we walked through burn area again and started roasting.
There was very little shade and we had a long walk to still get to St. Mary’s. The last 5 miles, the cutout to St. Marys, Journey and I had hiked before to get out of the cold however it all looked completely different than it did with snow and fog.
There was blue skies, a ton of wildflowers, and views of the mountains. It was just incredible.
We got out to the road and tried our best to hitch again. Most tourists tried not look at us so we walked to a main road where we could try and get some locals.
Us four all met up again at a supermarket to wait our turn to hitch since there was already a group out. Ross and Bob ended up joining with them because the car had enough room then Journey and I tried.
We ended up getting a hitch from a woman named Raquel (sorry if I spelled that wrong!!) She had a few months off in between jobs and was driving around the US visiting new places. She claimed she was staying at St Mary’s but didn’t have anything else to do for the evening and would take us.
Raquel was a blast and we all immediately got along telling stories about our time in glacier and our journeys. She had me laughing and smiling after a long day and it was much needed, more than she probably knew.
We offered for her to join us for dinner to thank her and got to know each other more. Raquel was similar to Journey as she was born and raised in Seattle and loves the cold weather stuff and snow; I so wish I could. 😂
She was a ball of joy and once again reminded me of the good in people, how kind strangers can be.
We are back at the hostel for hopefully the last night and then will continue into the Bob and head south for good.
The hostel is pretty busy but hopefully I can sleep!
Iz and Oz
Izzy + Ozzy 