June 23rd, 2024
Mike Marker: 138.7
Miles Hiked: 22
This morning we woke up in our tent outside of the Looking Glass Hostel. The inside was packed with people so we decided to camp outside along with many others.
I slept well and parts of me wanted to take a zero day but knew it was best to just continue on and get out of East Glacier for once and all.
Us four decided to do laundry at 7:30 AM, resupply our bags, and head out.
Of course everything took longer than expected and we rolled out around 10:30 AM.
We walked over to the main road to hitch from and Journey through out his thumb to the first truck and would you believe it, they pulled over. First car, what are the chances!
Turns out it was an older gentleman who was a rancher around this area; born and raised.
He was very curious about our hike and where we were going and told us a bit about the area, claiming that when he was younger there were zero grizzlies in the area.
He was so sweet and unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of him but no hitch goes without so much gratitude.
As we were getting our belongings and prepping to start our hike, a man backs up his car in the parking lot since we are on foot to let us know that a grizzly just went by.
We then see a lady casually walking down the road trying to get a picture of it… how wild how some people are “used” to them.
We continued on trail and didn’t see it and actually didn’t see any wildlife all day.
All day journey, Ross, and I hiked together within close proximity and if we weren’t talking we were hooping and hollering.
Bob was with us for a little bit and then took off the front with a pace I couldn’t keep up with and the others seemed uninterested to.
We actually went off trail for half a mile and was so thankful Journey asked where the next water was so I could notice. All of us missed the turn easily as it was hidden. This is going to be a common theme for the CDT since it’s not well marked like the other trails.
The day went through a lot of burn area and started out with quite a few down trees we had to get over. I always think of it as an obstacle course race. Once out of the burn area, the down trees were few and far in between. It’s funny to think about all the comments you hear from others about how bad the conditions are… It truly is all relative.
We came across a few meadows with lovely wild flowers and open views that are my favorite. They provide a lovely view and allow you to see animals in the distance.
Around 5 we came to a ranger station and decided to eat dinner since it’s best practice to eat then hike more miles to camp so that the food smells don’t follow.
Then, we were in a pickle. We saw a couple who saw Bob and told us he told them he was hiking with us and going to the campground ahead. Then the couple told us about an alternate that skipped the big climb and stayed in the valley.
This meant instead of doing 9 hard miles up and over a mountain we could do 4 flat miles.
The answer seemed easy for us since Journey and I didn’t have our hiker legs yet and we didn’t want to be walking in the dark.
Ross didn’t care about staying on the red line for CDT and we decided to take the alternate.
When we got to the junction there was a bit of concern which trail to take since the trail looked overgrown but we had a map that showed it and followed it best we could.
We would lose the trail, look at the map, keep walking, find trail, etc for about a half mile until the trail cleared up and took us to a wide easy to see trail.
I was so thankful to see it and that we were all on the same page to hoop and holler along.
Even if we were talking, mid sentence we would let out a loud “Heyo!” And continue our sentence. I found it hilarious how it has become our new normal and not rude in any regard.
We ended up making it to camp before Bob since he did the longer route.
I was so happy with our decision since my legs are definitely feeling the fatigue.
This has been a pretty brutal start to a thru-hike.
Thankful was an emotion felt a lot today. Thankful for good weather, thankful to walk in a group of 3, thankful to walk at a good pace, thankful for the alternate, thankful to not see any scary wildlife. It’s been a ride and I’m only 9 days in.
There are 9 people at our campsite and I’m hoping I can get some sleep with the numbers. Hopefully we have this kind of luck for the whole part of this trail.
Iz and Oz
Izzy + Ozzy 