CDT mile 2248.8, miles hiked 32
cold morning along the divide
Since we are approaching Glacier National Park in a couple of weeks it was time to start making a game plan for our ending. So today as we hiked we discussed how many miles we should plan to do, our strategy for bear country, and if we should speed up or slow our roll.
fall is here and winter is coming
The sky was cloudy from the moment we woke up. The air was cold too, in fact, it felt colder today than it has in months. The wind was blowing and as we hiked in the dark both of us tried to sink as deep as we could I to our hoods to stay warm. As the sun rose we saw what our day would be, low dark clouds.
The wind and the air had a bite to it, it felt more like late September than late August. As we wound our way through the hills we enjoyed sweeping views of the valley and comm eyes as to how we could still see the Anaconda smokestack, aka the dick of Montana as I learned. All day we joked about how winter was coming early and how our friends behind us by a couple of weeks are going to get clobbered.
Finally, at 6 we sat down for a break and to put on our extra layers as the sun was dipping low and we were getting cold. We also decided to work out our game plan. We both agreed we should push hard and not slow down. So we worked out our mileage and when we would hit the park. September 6th is our estimated arrival at East Glacier, the day after Labor Day. Our plan is to end on September 10 up at Watertown lake. We had originally planned to hike the high route back to East Glacier, but we got a text from maverick telling us the high line is closed due to grizzly activity.
The remains of an old cabin
So tomorrow we have to load up and haul our butts as fast as possible to McDonald pass so we can get to Helena and book our permits. It’s funny in just over two weeks this will all come to end, yeah sometimes it seems like yesterday I was standing at Crazy Cook. I would love for this thing to last forever, but I’ve seen enough snow this hiking season so a push to the end it is.
