Flying to Montana to Start the Continental Divide

This morning I was up at 3am and got the rest of my things packed up. Not long after that I piled all my things into my dad‘s car and we began heading to the airport. I can’t believe that I’m about to start another hike. It was smooth sailing in the early morning hours and I got to the airport early. I checked in quickly and was able to get something to eat before my flight.

These last few months off trail I’ve been super cautious about what I eat and trying to take pretty good care of myself. Especially not hiking big days anymore and just working on my feet most days. This was the first time in months that I felt free to eat whatever I want. I remembered that this is the beginning of being able to eat whatever I want for a long time. I ordered a sugary coffee, a sandwich, and a bagel. Then I returned to my seat and waited for my flight to board. The really neat thing about flying out today is that I have a brief flight from Boston to Chicago, then I meet up with a bunch of friends at the airport in Chicago and we all fly together to the airport in East Glacier, Montana. I’m so excited to see friends and get ready for the continental divide.

The first flight was nice and easy and when I arrived in Chicago my friend Tripod was already there hanging out at the bar at the airport. I met up with him and got a spicy Bloody Mary at the bar. I simply couldn’t resist. We had an hour layover and I got a little buzz on off that one drink at the airport bar. Then we met up with Nine Lives and we boarded our flight to East Glacier. Because of the time change, this flight was a little bit longer going over to Montana. But I was able to snack, listen to some music, and rest my eyes for a little bit.

When we arrived in East Glacier was shocked at how adorable and tiny the airport was. I should’ve assumed that it would’ve been nothing like the airport in Chicago, but it still surprised me. We walked around the little airport which felt more like a visitor center than anything. Then we spent a while waiting for the baggage claim with loads of other people heading to do something here in Montana. Luckily all of our bags came. It would’ve been pretty awful if they didn’t considering the fact that all of us brought a bunch of gear in our checked bags and about 12 days of food. We’re trying to set ourselves up for the first 200 to 250 miles of the CDT with food rations. We’re gonna drop a handful of days of food off at a couple different locations in glacier to make our food carries a little bit shorter to start.

Our adorable motel in White Fish, Montana.

From the airport we got a ride over to White Fish. Which is only about 10 minutes from the airport in Kalispell. We booked a really big room that had about five beds because we were expecting that some more hikers might join us later on in town. We had to wait a little while for the room to be ready so we walked around the town and got something to eat. I was so impressed by White Fish and how many things it had to offer in a short distance from where were saying. It was truly a perfect trail town. We got McDonald’s and then ran a couple of errands. There was an amazing outfitter in town that had everything you could possibly need so I was able to get fuel there for the next few days and then an extra canister to put into one of my resupply boxes. Then we went to check into the room and get comfortable and relax. When we were leaving the airport I was so tired. I thought I could go to sleep right away. But now that we were here and walking around, I got a second wind. And like clockwork once we got back to the room, we all exploded our stuff all over the place.

The pile of mayonnaise packets that I scored from the local McDonald’s to use in my resupply.

All of us began going through our gear and putting certain things back in their place which we had taken out to fly. I checked little items like my knife, small scissors, micro spikes, and a few other odds and ends into my checked bag. It felt good to go through everything and put everything where it belongs. Then I began sorting through my monstrous pile of food. We’re not sure exactly where we’re gonna be dropping boxes and how this resupplying is going to go. Once we figure all of that out I’m going to sort the food into a few different groups and prepare to leave it where it needs to go.

Not long after we checked in at the room, another hiker Mosey joined us. I actually met her when we were at AT Trail Days just a month or so ago. It was so nice to see her again and I’m excited to hike together on the CDT. We all chilled at the room for a while and were constantly going back-and-forth about various permit, start date, and resupply strategies. Then later on, we went over to get some Chinese food at a place right next to the hotel.

The food was ridiculously good. We shared some appetizers and I got a Thai iced tea. I also got a big plate of Mongolian beef and could barely eat any of it. The hunger has not hit yet. I’m used to eating way less food being off trail and working constantly. But I’m excited to finally be able to carb-load freely and know that I can eat whatever I want whenever I want. I gotta be honest, that’s one of the best parts about hiking for me. Especially after spending so much time hiking over the past couple of years. It’s really just my natural state of being at this point.

A very on point fortune that I got tonight at dinner.

I talked to my mom on the phone briefly when we were at the Chinese place and then we all came back to the room to lounge. I got a couple little things at the grocery store down the street to have for tonight or tomorrow. And I also grabbed a couple of avocados to eat the first couple of days on trail. I’ll eat them with either the tuna sandwiches that I’m going to be making or the rice meals that I’ll be having for dinner. Adding avocado to a knorr side dish makes it a gourmet meal.

Even though I didn’t need much or get much from the grocery store, walking around was a spiritual experience. I noticed a major difference in the way I was shopping now that I’m back on trail. Over the last few months I’ve grocery shopped pretty intentionally to avoid certain isles all together. Two in particular are the candy isle and the bakery section. But today was different. I’m starting a 3,000 mile thru hike this week. That means I can eat whatever I want. I almost shed a tear as I picked up my first chocolate milk of the hiking season. 

As the night went on another hiker Lost and Found joined us. She was actually the Lost and Found that Fresh Grounds was always talking about when we saw him down in Florida. Fresh Grounds is an iconic trail Angel on all trails these days. He’s going to be coming out to trail magic the CDT bubble for about five weeks once we get to Benchmark. That’s about 200+ miles from the start point. I’m so excited to see him again and enjoy some of his incredible food.

When I saw him back in January, I didn’t get to fully enjoy it because I was so close to getting off trail. My appetite was down to just about nothing at all, and I was so close to being done that I was trying not to eat too too much. But it’s going to be such a blessing for him to come out and feed us while we’re up in Montana with limited resources and some pretty long food carries.

The front porch of the Chalet Inn, the motel we stayed at in White Fish.

It was cool to meet and talk to these new hikers that we’ ll be seeing here on the CDT. The room was the perfect size for five of us to be lounging and going through our gear comfortably as well. Eventually, we figured out what we were going to be doing for our food carries. We’re going to leave boxes for ourselves at Many Glacier, which is only about two days from the start. That way we can carry very little food to start and wean ourselves in. My backpack is so tiny, so the less food I can carry the better. But I really didn’t want to carry a larger pack on this trail, so I’m just gonna figure out ways to make it work. I set aside about four days to leave at Many Glacier and about six days of food to leave later on at East Glacier. That’ll be enough to get us all the way to Benchmark. From there, we’ll figure out what to do next.

Tripod, Lost and Found, Mosey, myself, and Nine Lives at the Chalet Inn.

As the night went on we were all so surprised to see that the sun sets incredibly late here in Montana. At 9pm it was still super bright outside. The sun didn’t really wind up upsetting until sometime after 10pm. You couldn’t ask for better timing to be starting a thru hike. Having long days opens you up to doing as many miles as you need to do and also taking as many breaks as you’d like to over the course of the day. That was one of the limiting factors of being on trail this last winter. The hiking days were long and there was very little daylight. It’s going to be such a blessing to be able to hike as long into the day as I want to without hiking into the dark. I really don’t wanna be hiking in the dark and grizzly bear country personally.

I was surprised how late all of us stayed up even though we’d been traveling all day. But eventually we all got comfortable and called it a night. Tomorrow’s going be a pretty early day. Tripod, Nine Lives, and I have a really unique opportunity to do a bike trip in West Glacier which I’m super excited about. It seems like it’s a bucket list opportunity to do a bike on a road that’s only open exclusively for biking for about 2 to 3 weeks a year here in glacier national park. The rest of the year it’s also open to vehicle traffic, which definitely would make a biking day trip a little bit less enjoyable. Hopefully my body holds up for a long bike ride because I certainly haven’t been on a bike in a long time. My body knows how to walk, but not much else at this point.