Total Mileage: 269.9
After being kinda miffed about not getting my resupply boxes and knowing I now had another 300-plus miles to hike on blown out shoes, I took off from Polebridge and made it to the Ranger station. I picked aggressive distances between camps and headed in. It felt great to reach the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) on day 98.
Heading south now, I had a lot of mosquitoes and overgrown trail to deal with. Once I hiked into the middle of the park the trail conditions and maintenance were pristine. One night I could make my distance of 49 miles, so at 43 I just laid my sleeping pad on the trail and slept right there.
Hiked up and over Triple Divide Pass and by 6pm, arrived at Two-medicine campground. Crushed some snacks and talked with some dudes I had seen the day before struggling to get to the parking lot after a long day hike. Afterwards, I hiked almost until I was to East Glacier Village. I heard a huge animal jump into the river as I passed by. Guessing it was a grizzly.
After getting into East Glacier, I beat my resupply box AGAIN and had to buy my food for the next stretch. After dealing with a 5 mile blow-down section out of Marias Pass, I realized I wouldn’t have enough food and was contemplating having to hitch 30 miles into Augusta.
Luckily, in the Bob Marshal Wilderness I met some weekend hikers. One had a 100 liter pack and I knew he had some extra food. Jonathan and Melissa hooked me up with some Mountain House Meals and some other goodies and an hour later, I met another couple, Dito and Chantelle, who gave me even more food. This would be enough to get me to my next stop.
After a cruiser section through the Bob’s and some more blow downs near Cigarette Creek Trail, it rained for an hour. It felt nice, being that it was the first time in a month since I’d gotten any precipitation. I finished the week out with a solid 42.7 mile day.
