Into the Bob!! (Days 6-11)

Day 6

I finished up writing before he came I last night, but I met chezwick, the calendar year triple crowner. Meaning he would be hiking the PCT, CDT, and AT all in a single year. He had just finished up the PCT and was going for the FKT (fastest known time) for CYTCers. I don’t envy his lifestyle, but it was fascinating to hear his perspective on hiking and some of his stories.

I ended up taking the first zero day of the trail. It was the last thing I wanted to do as it meant rocket and booster would be getting away from me, but my feet were in such a sorry state I could not imagine a full day of hiking.

The day was mostly uneventful, but I enjoyed relaxing and talking to fellow sobo, Spokes, who was laid up for a few days with a bum ankle.

Highlight of the day off was using one of those little foot spas with the jets. Phenomenal!

Day 7

My left Achilles has been absolutely killing me and today I went to take my first steps and the pain was almost unbearable. To fix the problem, I cut off the uppermost section of the heel of the shoe so it would not dig into my Achilles. Result wasn’t perfect, but it did immediately cut down on the pain. I am calling it a success!

A few miles into the hike, I officially left glacier 🙁 the last glacier section I walked through was incredible overgrown, but it was hard to say goodbye. I will be back!

A few miles after that, I saw a grizzly! I was in the overgrown section still and it ran across the trail probably about 50 feet in front of me. It didn’t seem to notice I was there. I had thought about leaving my bear spray at the hostel, but I’m so glad I decided not to. That’s about the ideal grizzly sighting for me. I’m satisfied. No need for any more encounters.

Today was unbelievably hot and exposed. I was in a burn scar for much of the day and just kind of kept my head down and hiked until I couldn’t anymore.

Near the end of the day, I met a section hiker named Amy who was doing the glacier and bob marshall wilderness sections of the cdt. We ate dinner together and I hiked a couple more miles to a lovely campsite protected by trees on soft, pine needle covered ground.

Day 8

Feet hurt are still bothering me, but I taped them up extra good today and hopefully they’ll be alright if I can keep them mostly dry.

The day started with some phenomenal views in a field overlooking the bob marshall wilderness. After the first few miles, the views got a little more obscured by leaves and I felt as if I were hiking in a “green tunnel”. Its interesting, that seems the be the biggest complaint about the AT, but clearly some green tunnel exists on every trail. For the rest of the day, the views were lackluster.

The most exciting part of the day was being attacked my a large predatory bird. I’m not exactly sure what type it was, but it was big and scary and mean. I heard it screeching right before looking over at it and stepping out of the way at the last second as it made a pass at me. It continued to yell at me from a tree and I covered my head with my trekking poles while continuing to walk away from it. It made like 6 or 7 passes at me and hit my trekking poles multiple times squawking incessantly, so I sprinted for my damn life – only wiped out once when the hawk ran into me mid stride.

Later, I realized I had lost my bottle for clean water mid way through the day. Not the end of the world as I still had my larger water bottle and the filter, but hopefully Amy or another hiker behind me would pick it up.

Met my first nobos! At the campsite, I ran into Negotiator and speedy Gonzalez a German father/daughter combo that are flipping back to Colorado to finish up once they get thru glacier. They hiked a few more miles past the campsite I was staying at.

Once speedy Gonzalez and negotiator moved on, I made dinner, stretched out, and got into my tent. I probably fell asleep around 8:30 and woke up to thunder at about 10. I convinced myself it was a plane or something and went back to sleep before waking back up at 11 to light rain. That woke me right up and I ran outside to grab my shoes and pack and stick them in my tent. Soon after, the rain turned to a downpour and wind gusts had me fearing for my tents’ structural integrity. I was clutching to my trekking pole the supports the tent screaming curses to the wind. It did not care! This went on for about 2 hours before the storm finally blew over and I was able to fall back asleep

I feel like I earned my status as a thru hiker today after all the crazy shit that occurred.

Day 9

I woke up to a soaked tent, sleeping bag, and clothing after last nights storm, but all I could do was hike on and try to dry my stuff out a little later.

Today I started on the spotted bear alternate, a ~27 mile path which promised nicer views and friendlier climbs to the red line. About a mile into the alt I met MASH, the first true northbounder I’d run into. He was British and super kind. He offered me a lot of advice for the rest of the trail which I greatly appreciated. Interesting that almost every other hiker I’ve met so far has been international.

Soon after leaving MASH, I the wrong way! But only for about 3/4 of a mile this time. Was still a deflating experience, but at least I was keeping true to my trail name.

My major annoyance of the day is the USFS huts along the trail. They are dumb! They all offer beautiful camping on their property, but of course camping is off limits. And the privies are locked! LNT until you have to share the privy I guess? The area is reserved for “admir activities” hope they get lots of good admining in!! The most upsetting element is that the hut has a welcome mat. FOR WHAT??

Whatever. Rant over. I felt like I was running on fumes all day after the events of last night. Climbs were pretty tame and so was the trail, but I was just pooped and my feet were killing me. Achilles was feeling a bit better though!

Just before getting over the only pass of the day I met Cinnabon, hunter, and J.R. – other nobos and the first American nobos I’d met.

I stopped a bit earlier than I had originally intended, but met Savannah and Tim at campground. Tim just recently moved here and Savannah works on the trail crew in the area. They also had a dog who was so cute and a real treat to be around at the end of the day.

I made dinner and soaked my feet for a little while before getting a good stretch in and hitting the sack early (7:30). Dinner was the mountain house I’d been saving for over a year. $13 for a backpacking meal is steep! But it hit the spot. Hoping to push some decent miles tomorrow after the extra rest!

Day 10

Woke up at about 6:00 and feeling somewhat refreshed, but achy. Got all packed up, bandaged the feet, and was on trail by 7.

Today I’d be finishing up the spotted bear alternate and going over a pass where I would hike next to the Chinese wall for a little while.

Lots of water crossings today and did all I could to keep my shoes dry but on the 2nd to last of the day I dropped my freaking shoe in the creek. RAH!

Feel like I hit my groove today and entered some kind of hikers high mental state. Was really feeling great on the climb over the pass. I think I’m finally getting used to the elevation. Once I was done with the days climbing, though, the adrenaline wore off and my feet were killing me. I remember the AT being like this too. The feet were the last part of my body to get used to long days. Hopefully in another week or so they will have adjusted. Things are getting better!

The Chinese wall was super cool. I was right up next to it for about 5 miles. As it towered over me, I thought this must have been similar to what Mt Rushmore looked like before someone decided to blast faces into it.

Today I saw a youth group on a trip from Washington and shared a tent site with a father, his twin sons, and their 4 horses. Was very relieved to see the giant brown animal at the campsite was not a grizzly as I first thought in my only half awake state when I arrived at camp

I made dinner, soaked my feet in the creek again, and was in my sleeping bag by 8.

Day 11

The plan for the day was to resupply at Benchmark Wilderness Ranch. I had about 14 miles to hike before arriving there, but the trail was flat and nearly rockless. It reminded me of hiking in southern VA. Particularly the Grayson highlands. I made it there in good time, but upon arriving at the ranch realized that the owners were not home. This meant no resupply. Bummer!! Looks like I’d be hitching into Augusta. Not the end of the world, but also not the easiest hitch.

I ran into a day hiker today who was from Missoula. He told me that in his 15 years of living there the storm from the other night was the worst he’d seen. After the storm I had thoughts of “maybe I don’t belong out here”. Hearing that those nights are far from the norm was comforting.

Town was about 30 miles from where I was and I only saw 5 cars for the next 4 hours. Luckily, I finally got a ride from a father and his two sons who had been on a 3 night trip with their mules. They told me they don’t normally pick up hitchhikers, but I looked especially pitiful. Score! They dropped be off in Augusta where I resupplied and grabbed a tent site at the nearby RV park. If I’m being honest, not a very nice place to spend the night. To future hikers, I’d carry a bit more food and hightail it to the next available town. Tent spot was overpriced, covered in rabbit and dog poop, and almost impossible to get a stake into, and the showers were remarkably dingy. I’m talking dead bugs, dirt, one working light, and zero toilet paper.

The good news was that sobo hiker, Stephen was also in town. He was great to talk to and had also been attacked by the terrifying hawk. I was glad to not have been singled out. We made dinner from our food bags and chatted til the sun started to go down. We both planned to get back on trail tomorrow, but he might try to sleep in a bit. We will see!

That’s the end of another eventful week on trail.