Total Mileage: 260.9
Most of the PNT is kind of predictable. Tough climbs that seem to go on forever, connected by long, exposed road walks that seem to go on forever. There are, however, a couple bushwhacks on this trail that make for some very interesting hiking.
One in particular is the Lions Head bushwhack. It is an 8 mile exposed ridgeline section of bouldering with smooth slanted rock linking the ridge together. It took a full 8 hours to do this 8 mile section. Although difficult and time consuming, this blue line (on the map) was way more fun than the red line (which I did last year).
After about a dozen more big ups and a lot more road walking, Sloppy and I made it to Eureka, Montana at 3:30 pm on Saturday. We had an 18 mile road walk in the middle of the day in 90 degree heat. Sloppy became very sick on the hike in and my stomach wasn’t feeling too great. It may have been from all the bleach we’ve been using to treat our water. Or maybe it was the jar of peanut butter I was given waaaay past it’s expiration date. As in over 6 years!
Sloppy’s parents came to visit and the next morning I took off towards Polebridge, Montana. I was hoping after breakfast with his parents, he would catch me. I received a text an hour later from him. He decided to take a zero day and rest. Can’t blame him after being that sick.
I pushed on and made it to Polebridge Monday evening. My resupply box didn’t arrive, so it looks like I’ll be doing another 300 miles on these shoes. They should have 800 on them by the time I get a new pair. I hope to see Sloppy again, he became a very good friend these last 1,500 miles and we went through a lot of crazy shit together.
Good luck Amigo, I’ll see you up the trail!✌️🥾🥾🥾
