Again, why?
Why did I choose to embark on a cross-USA adventure again? It’s a great question with no single real answer. I suppose it’s a mix of everything but most importantly, it’s something I’m good at. I like the raw experiences and after completing 2 master’s degrees, this was a celebration for me. Additionally, I was asking myself: what else can I do, lol?
To make this a full on experience the boys had to check some guns prior to starting the trail 🙂
Starting the trail
CDT meant going all the way up to the northern border of Montana, so that’s where we went. We got a hitch from some guys in a small town we were staying in, they were also planning to do the CDT.
The funny part was they didn’t want to drive us across the border from the US to Canada, so they dropped us right at the border. We walked across ourselves and then they picked us up again on the other side and drove us to Waterton, this small town where the trail starts. And yeah, it had a Subway, so I was very happy with that. Starting the trail with a Subway felt like a good sign.
Glacier National Park
Starting in Glacier National Park meant one thing: it’s going to be spectacular. And it was. If you read nothing else about the CDT, just know it starts here. Show up, sort your permits as a thru hiker, done. Easy. Beautiful. One of the best places I’ve been.
Of course, a massive snowstorm had rolled through two weeks before we started and the snow was still sitting there when we arrived. So we had to reroute a little. That’s fine. You can plan everything and nature will just do whatever it wants. You adjust. Now the rain. In those 6 or 7 days in Glacier it rained on me more than it did during the entire Pacific Crest Trail. The whole thing. At some point I just stood there thinking – okay. This is going to be a very different kind of trip.
We actually started off pretty intensely. We did 212 km (132 miles) in the first 6.5 days and climbed over 7,600 m (25,000 feet), so it was pretty intense. We met a few people along the way. However, starting with these conditions was complicated. Even though I thought I was training for this trip it still hit hard. But I guess that’s the reality of the CDT. If you really want to make it in time and not be too late for Colorado going south you have to put in the numbers. Yeah maybe you can start a little slower but I don’t know… feeling that exhaustion in my legs and in my body just felt like I’m back home.
It just felt like I’m back.
Starting in Glacier National Park meant that we had to carry bear spray. Bear spray for grizzlies primarily because black bears are fine. So yeah it’s funny because we saw a bear on like day 3 or 4 straight away. Again I was excited for what’s here to come. This did feel wild. This actually felt like the real start.
Not to mention having to deal with river crossings. For me that felt like jumping into the pinnacle of the Pacific Crest Trail but for somebody just hiking their first trail and choosing the CDT this must have been quite intense. It really tests you right from the start.
Although the views were impeccable, the rain took its toll on the body. I felt like we just wanted to dry our stuff, and the second we sat down, it was about to start raining again in 5 or 10 minutes, so it was hard mentally. And yeah, there were some overgrown sections straight away, so I thought all right, if we’re in Glacier National Park and this is already overgrown, what’s waiting for us later? Well, you know the CDT has a motto, it’s called “embrace the brutality,” and we would learn it later on.
At the same time during the first week, we started appreciating the trail, just getting into the mindset of being out there, getting exhausted and eating a lot of food. We started with the slop. The slop is basically a mix of a little bit of ramen and dried potatoes mixed with whatever you have, cheese, sauces, meats and honestly, it was amazing. That was exactly what I needed after a long day of hiking. We started seeing new faces that became friends along the way. It just felt like the trail was slowly becoming home.
The Bob Marshall Wilderness
Even though it was wet, Glacier National Park was a bliss. It was challenging, it was beautiful, we were making connections and meeting people along the way that we would see later on. And yeah, now we were about to start the Bob Marshall Wilderness. You remember the storm I mentioned a few weeks or 10 days prior? Well, the Bob Marshall Wilderness kind of became a bog Marshall Wilderness, meaning it was wet, it was muddy and it was going to be a lot of fun. It also has one of the highest populations of grizzly bears in the US, so with 6 or 7 of us tackling that section, we never felt any sort of danger. I feel like we were just causing too much trouble ourselves, just being too loud and obnoxious, maybe.
Moving slow as you can see
Great way to check your balance too
Bob Marshall Wilderness was the only moment where I genuinely questioned myself. Am I actually capable of doing the CDT. It lasted maybe 30 seconds and never came back. I was just holding myself to too high a standard for the first few weeks.
There was a lot of drying our stuff whenever the opportunity arrived. No other option. Sometimes we’d start hiking, stop after 30 minutes, take everything out of the pack, let it dry, repack and keep going. That was just the reality of it.
But it was fun. There was a group of us and we came up with this thing where every day we’d do rock-paper-scissors to decide who was the boss for the day. That person decided how far we’d go and where we’d camp. Honestly it was super funny. It gave the whole thing this playful edge which helped because Bob Marshall ended up being 6 days for us in total.
I just love this picture, so I’m putting it as a separate one because it’s about the reality of the trail. When the sun’s shining, you just get some water, you sit in the grass or the weeds, it doesn’t matter, you chill, you joke about people, you eat the snacks you have. Nothing really matters at the time. It’s just peaceful, tranquil, and a pretty fun moment in the middle of your probably 40 km (25 mile) hiking day.
Felt cute, might delete later
July 4th
During the CDT I had my fourth 4th of July in the US and Bob Marshall Wilderness did not disappoint. Spectacular day. Spectacular camping spot. Spectacular views. Take a look at what a random day in northern Montana can offer if you’re willing to just get out there and hike.
The last day before hitting town we camped on a small island surrounded by a river. Spectacular spot. Additionally, we did camp at the ranger station, pretty cool experience too.
First trail magic
At the trailhead to a town called Augusta we met this guy helping out his brother who was hiking the CDT northbound and nearly done. He had drinks so we stayed and hung out. Somehow the conversation got to mullets and next thing you know he’s shaving our heads right there in the parking lot. We got some drinks too, I think there was a shot of absent as well, ooopsie.
Once we got to Augusta we bought a lot of drinks, met up with the other hikers and tried to squeeze 7 or 8 people into a four person motel room. Disastrous, funny and exactly what thru hiking is all about.
