My New Favorite Things

Currently sitting in the Missoula Public Library it seems like the trail is a world away.  Glacier National Park was so incredible I pinched myself every day.  After leaving East Glacier Park I have been traveling with Papi Chulo and Kramers, the company has been really nice.  It's so much fun to be journeying with people who share my enthusiasm for the fact that every day is simple the best day of our lives.

The Lewis and Clark National Forest blended into the Bob Marshal Wilderness and we we found ourselves in the most remote stretch of the trail.  This corridor of mountains are wild and free.  Bear and wolf signs EVERYWHERE! It was so great.  And the WILDFLOWERS are absolutely STUNNING!!!!  Parts of the forest had been burned by fire in recent years and we entertained ourselves with games of "Tree Tennis"...  basically taking turns pushing trees over =-) these skeletons of wood and charcoal can literally fall at any moment (often without wind) and are quite dangerous to anyone passing through the area.... just doing our part to make this mountains safer!  In the BOB we came across a few Forest Rangers clearing trail and pack mule strings carting loads of supplies into maintenance camps.  Everyone is basically trying to get as much trail clearing done as they can before the fire season sets in and they are called away to help with fires.  What a life!  We also got the pleasure of hiking right under the Chinese Wall, a massive rock cliff that stretches for miles and is the main attraction for anyone visiting the BOB.

After resupplying at the Benchmark Ranch (Kyle sent me a resupply box with food and maps) we continued south.  Without that resupply option I would have had to carry nearly 10 days worth of food, THANK YOU BENCHMARK!!!!  After traveling along many fabulous trout rivers and having visions of fishing we climbed to the ridge and for the first time this trip we actually hiked along the Great Continental Divide.  It was so special to be sleeping on top of a ridge at 8000 feet watching the sunset dancing on the thunderheads in the distance.  Then to wake up to the sunrise to the east.  This just might be the best day of my life.

As the days passed we notice the mid-day heat slowly climbing past 80.  With a breeze on the ridge it was manageable but we get word that a heat wave is coming.  100 degrees in Helena.  The day before we hit route 12 to Helena we were actually hiking by 5am to take advantage of the cool morning.  By 1 we stopped for a Ciesta because the thermometer read 86, and we were at 8000 feet.  We took naps and cooked dinner.  By 5 the heat seemed to be cooling off.  When we left 8000 feet it was a lovely 72 degrees, within and hour we were down to 7000 feet and it was 83 degrees.  That's not bad when you're sitting in the shade with an iced tea but when backpacking with 15+ miles between water sources you really do have to pay attention.  The three of us are taking a couple days to relax and let the heat wave pass. The next few sections are a little lower in elevation and we are very much hoping the weather settles down a bit.  With fire season on the horizon we are glad to be moving south!

Happy Trails!!!
~beads

Chinese Wall in Bob Marshall Wilderness