CDT # 11 Darby MT to Benchmark Wilderness Camp to East Glacier Village MT

Choosing to be on a long trail like this carries an acceptance of risk and a relinquishing of control. When you leave the resupply town packed with the next 5 days worth of food, you don’t know exactly what you will encounter. There is a level of excitement and freedom in this choice, as well as, potential challenge and discomfort.

We departed Darby on a clear blue sky day.

The terrain soon involved the remains of an old forest fire where some areas burned hotter than others.

On day 2 is when the wildfire smoke showed up and stayed. (cell phones are poor at picking up the visuals of the smoke). It was hot with little wind and my body strongly wanted to resist taking in breath. Hiking uphill for 45 minutes on a climb involved open mouth breathing and resulted in a burning at the back of my throat. My eyes stung, a headache built up, my inner person was shouting, “Get me outta here”!

Fellow hikers moving through the smoke together.

On day 4 we opted to leave the trail via the first trailhead road we came upon. Fortunately it was a Saturday and traffic was up and we got rides right to our stored camping van in Butte.

To our great relief while driving north to rendezvous with family the smoke didn’t follow! The van is now being kept in Calgary ready to pick us up when we finish in Waterton.

After a few days we were back on the trail again but this time it is low lying clouds that surround us not poison smoke and we are soothed by the familiar, graceful meadows of grass.

Fall has fallen with rosy and brillant yellow leaves. The final blooms standing are the white heads of Pearly Everlasting and the gone-to-seed Fireweed.

We enter the Bob Marshall Wilderness area which is one of the largest in the mainland USA. Hikers all spoke about going through “The Bob” as a special place but we couldn’t figure out why exactly. Is it because the 130 mile trail stretch has few points of exit and no resupply potential? Or is it an area where bears are abundant?

After picking up our resupply box at Benchmark Wilderness Camp, which consisted of a collection of old-school type log cabins with no one around, we entered “The Bob”. Large valleys in various stages of after-fire grow back were expansive. Rockface mountains show up again.

Heavy morning cloud shrouds Switchback Pass. A misty climb of more than 1600′ from the valley below.

Rivers such as the Flathead, the Sun, and the middle fork of Strawberry Creek are central in these valleys and run large.

Biggest, most roman of the beaver dams we have seen yet!

After an all-night rain, waterways are swollen and not to be taken lightly. The current is powerful and fearless and so must we be in crossing. Wet up to the hips I was and hanging tight to my poles!!

The “Chinese Wall” is an unusual feature; an escarpment that juts up out of nowhere. While we were passing this 12 mile bluff, we heard rocks fall from high and behind where we were. On looking up we couldn’t see the cause so we moved on. Later that evening a fellow hiker called Cliff Hanger camped with us. He was able to witness the cause of the rock fall; a Mama Grizzly and her 2 cubs were making their way along a ledge. Who would have thought?

Autumn mushrooms are abundant along the trail. Wish I knew what’s edible!

Several nights of heavy rain bring out an often hidden quality of the trail…mud! An 8 hour slog of sidestepping the water holes and slip of greasy mud is tiresome but then the  trail runs up onto higher ground again and everything is different.

A small but clear bear print.

My not so clean new shoes.

Hunting is allowed in wilderness areas and we met up with 4 such parties in The Bob. Horses and pack mules are their vehicles and share the trail. They are a friendly bunch. Nevertheless, as hikers, we spend time cursing how they chew up the path.

You never know what you will find on trail. A yurt on a ridge!

A ranger/maintenance cabin called “Gooseberry Station”.

A fairy tale cabin all wrapped in foil hoping to survive the forest fire that was in the area in August. We set up our tent on the porch to keep dry during a wet soggy night. Images of Hansel & Gretel crept into my dreams.

In East Glacier Village all operations are soon to close for the season. We are staying at a hostel that is a great meeting place for hikers already finished and soon to depart home via train and those like us that are arranging permits for Glacier National Park. Today we embark on our last segment of the CDT. We chose to spend 6 days hiking at a more leisurely pace through Glacier National Park to Canada, at Waterton National Park, in order to enjoy and savour all that has been happening these last 5 months.

Resting in the bunks in our cabin at the hostel. Rest is good!