SPOT locations added to sidebar

A link to our SPOT GPS locator beacon is now available in the sidebar menu. I marked a location yesterday here at Doug's house in Farmington, NM. Joel (our hiking friend who flip-flopped with us) is going to take the spot on a five day hike he is starting today in northern NM and southern CO, so the next few days will be updates from him. Our position will be displayed for the last seven days (or that is how I understood it during set-up).

Flip flopping

flip-flop (n): hiker lingo for walking a thru-hike in two (or more) large sections, possibly in different directions, usually to avoid bad weather conditions.

flip-flopping (v): the transition between large sections during a flip-flop thru-hike.

Today we arrived in Farmington, NM. I know, weren't we just in Yellowstone or something??? Yes, but Liv, Joel, and I are now flip flopping (see definitions above) in order to go to our friends' wedding in Durango this weekend. We drove down from Togwotee Pass in Wyoming and will resume our hiking on Tuesday going NOBO (northbound) through Colorado and Wyoming back to where we just got off the trail. Then we will finish New Mexico for a three part flip flop.

I met up with Liv and Joel at Mack's Inn, ID a week ago after my other wedding trip to Oregon. On the way out, I visited my friends Bekah and Kyle in the Centennial Valley and met Bekah's siblings, who were nice enough to volunteer to drive my car around Yellowstone NP to Togwotee Pass, WY so that we could drive down to NM/CO for the upcoming wedding.

We left Mack's Inn and almost immediately were offered a ride from a nice Utahn named Mary-Beth, who took us up to see Big Spring, the source for the North Fk Snake River, which we wouldn't have seen without the ride off the trail. The rest of the afternoon was a short(ish) day of walking on old logging roads to the boundary of Yellowstone NP. We ran into SOL, Smooth, and Freebie for most of the afternoon walking and we all camped just outside of the park boundary as a permit is required to camp in the park.

It rained about 4 in the morning and my new tent kept my nice and dry on its first night in use. SOL, Smooth and Freebie got up early to walk the 20 miles to Old Faithful to meet Smooth's dad (John I think?) and our group of three started moving about an hour later. The walk across the Madison Plateau was boring, buggy, and dry. The highlight was meeting three NOBOs and having a snack at Summit Lake, which was nice, but still buggy. After a quick and fairly easy 17 miles we crossed the Little Firehole River and were immediately in tourist land. It is comical how fast we went from middle of nowhere to middle of a million chubby people with cameras, day packs, and screaming children. The last three miles of our morning were through Biscuit Basin and Old Faithful Geyser Basin. It was nice to see the thermal features again and even more fun to see Liv's reactions, since she had never been there before.

We couldn't get a campsite in the backcountry that night anywhere closer then 12 more miles, which none of us seriously wanted to do, so we stayed at Old Faithful all afternoon eating cheeseburgers and milk shakes and organizing food (and also drinking wine and watching the geyser erupt). It turned out that Hui was also in O.F. Village and he decided to camp with us and not hike on with his own backcountry permit.

In the morning we slept in until 7 (about 90 minutes longer than normal) and then got coffee at the cafe before starting to walk to Lone Star Geyser, a three mile hike to a geyser that most people don't get to see. LS geyser erupts every three hours and it turned out that it had just finished when we arrived, so we made a very early lunch (mac and cheese for me and Joel, cheese/crackers and snacks for Liv) and waited until a bit past eleven before the geyser erupted. The wait was well worth it because LS geyser erupts for about 25 minutes, starting with a 40 foot water column and finishing with a giant cloud of steam and a smaller water column. Our lazy morning finally ended about noon and we spent the rest of the day hiking around Shoshone geyser basin and Shoshone Lake, which Hui said reminded him of lakes in Minnesota. We ended the 20 mile day at a beautiful rocky beach with a nice sunset after a thigh-deep stream ford cooled us off nicely.

The backcountry campsites in Yellowstone all have numbers and you have to get to the campsite that your permit is for and no further. Each campsite includes an eating area, a food hanging area with a food pole, and a sleeping area that food is not allowed in. No food is allowed to be on the ground without supervision. The campsites are nice and there are logs in the eating areas for sitting while eating/cooking, but it is slightly annoying that someone has to stay with the food at all times or hang the food, especially if you are the first person up in the morning because you can't start your breakfast cooking and then go put away your tent because nobody is around to watch your food. Overall, we had nice campsites in the park and the availability of campsites when we obtained our permit forced us to hike slightly fewer miles a day than we otherwise would and I am happy that we therefore got to spend more time relaxing in Yellowstone Park.

Our third day in the park we got an early start from Shoshone Lake and crossed the south entrance road and arrived at the Heart Lake Geyser Basin, just before Heart Lake. The geyser basin is mostly hot springs and pools of various colors, which all flow down into Witch's Creek before flowing into Heart Lake. Witch's Creek is therefore quite warm (about 75-80 degrees) and the four of us found a nice deep spot with a bit of shade to hang out in for a few hours in the mid-afternoon. It was like a nicely temperate bath and felt very relaxing on a fairly warm day and we had the benefit of a small bottle of whisky we had picked up at Old Faithful. This afternoon was definitely a highlight of the trip for me so far. The rest of the afternoon was pleasant, easy walking (though very muddy) through the southern park and culminated at a campsite on the Snake River, which, due to a nice fire ring and a gorgeous full moon over the river, resulted in my slow dinner eating and subsequent late bedtime (after 10, gasp!).

We left the park on Sunday and climbed over Big Game Ridge on the S. Boundary Trail before ascending the very headwaters of the Snake River, climbing up Two Ocean Plateau, and camping at the "parting of the waters". Near the Snake R. we ran into Chance, who we hadn't seen since E. Glacier at the beginning of July, and he hiked with us the rest of the day and Monday. Our campsite at the parting of the waters was really interesting (to me at least), as Two Ocean Creek actually splits in half to become Atlantic Creek and Pacific Creek, which, as the names imply, flow to opposite oceans. The continental divide is therefore right in the middle of the creek above the parting of the waters. I felt very lucky to see this spot (and camp there) as I suspect that this is a rarity on drainage divides everywhere, especially continental scale drainage divides, and it is probably a geologically shortly lived phenomenon, as one stream will most certainly erode faster than the other and pirate all the flow (quickly as in on a few thousand to ten thousand year scale). But enough with the geomorphology speak...The next morning was certainly more interesting for the shearly enormous volume of grizzly bear tracks we saw right on the trail within the first few miles.

Monday we reached Togwotee Lodge on a slight alternate to the "official" CDT, which we took because we had heard there was an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at the lodge; something no thru-hiker can resist. The final day of hiking down the Buffalo Fork was mostly on horsey superhighway and we saw a lot of pack trains and outfitters taking groups out for the weekend (including a bachelorette party which I would have liked to join). The last few miles were in a tremendous downpour, made more miserable by the mud on a steep uphill to the lodge, but we made it and the lodge-owners only banished us to the laundry cabin until our clothes were cleaned and dried, at which time we were allowed burgers and beers at the Red Dog (or something) Saloon. My friends Brenden and Kelsey brought my car up from Jackson and had some beers with us as well.

So here we are, in NM, another few days off, which for me feels both good and full of some anxiousness, as I was only bad for six days of hiking. It was very nice to go to Doug's dental office this morning meet so many avid blog followers on his staff, it is nice to know that my fun can also be enjoyable for others.

As a further aside, I will try to work out some pictures for the blog this afternoon and Doug got us a SPOT locator beacon that I am going to try to figure out and attach our whereabouts to the blog so you can all see how far we get every few days instead of waiting for a post only from towns.

A brief pause for real life

Hi everyone, it is time for a long needed and, hopefully, long awaited update!

First let me apologize for 1) not blogging the last few town stops, and 2) Liv's bad jokes and inability to tell you where we are. I am sure you don't really care though, since she is consistently funnier than I am, or at least that is what I have been told by family and friends below the equator.

I am now in my parents' kitchen in Oregon drinking a beer and feeling very relaxed, yet slightly sad that I haven't hiked since Sunday, while Liv is no doubt out there torturing herself with a 27 mile day, a bunch of jerky (vegetarian? right!) and at least 3 snickers bars, since she doesn't get (need) to attend a good friend's wedding this weekend. That's the story and I'm sticking to it.

So last time I blogged was in Helena and I don't really remember the minutia since then (or it isn't that interesting), but we arrived in Anaconda on a Wednesday two weeks ago and I took two and a half days off to go to Bozeman to visit some old college pals of mine. Liv and the rest of our pirate gang (see previous post? I hope?) kept moving on, but they planned on taking a day off in Darby, so I was confident I could catch them. My time in Bozeman was nice and relaxing and then culminated in skiing "the great one" (see S. Keller's FB for photos) before rushing back to Anaconda to resume hiking. The skiing and the company was great, and it is amazing to have friends who are nice enough to drive me and my vehicle all over western Montana.

My first full day between Anaconda and Darby I hiked 34 miles over some of the most beautiful terrain to date in the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness. I saw two moose and one owl flying with a mouse in its talons near Storm Lake and then had a beautiful lunch at Goat Flats, a rarity on the CDT in that it was flattish grass and not swampy. In the afternoon I passed Flop and Irish and met up with Freebie, who I hiked with the rest of the way to Chief Joseph Pass.

Freebie and I were shooting for another 30 the next day, but I really wanted to do an alternate route int he morning that involved a bushwack over a talus field and we ended up on the divide way before the trail but we were moving pretty slow. It was totally worth it for the spectacular views in every direction: the sapphire range to the north and the big hole valley to the south with the Bitterroot, Beaverhead, and Pioneer mountains all in the distance. I have some great pictures, which I will hopefully try to get on the blog this week while I am home.

After hiking a lot of miles with no water (but still some swamp mud) and about a billion fallen trees over the trail we finally reached HWY 93 and starting hitching in to Darby (only took 95 minutes!) and met up with Liv and the rest of the Pirates a week ago Tuesday (26th? maybe) for a real good burger followed by a real good breakfast at Deb's and then we were back on the trail, or so it seemed to me.

The last section between Darby and Leadore was at least as beautiful, if not more so, than the Anaconda-Pintler section. The first day was 6 easy miles on a dirt road followed by 10 miles of very tough up and down on a trail that precisely followed the divide (including lack of switchbacks) and included some hot areas with no shade due to past forest fires before Big Hole Pass. The next morning we set out without Vocal due to some intestinal distress that he went through about 7 times between 2 AM and 7 AM (ugh!).

My most amazing animal sighting of my life happened about an hour and a half after leaving camp. The three of us were spread out over about 300 yards and I was leading down a steep ATV road with lots of rocks in the Sheep Creek drainage after crossing a low spot on the divide. Suddenly, I saw small dogs running out from under a log and down the trail away from me. Then I realized they weren't dogs, but six wolf puppies, each about two feet long from head to tail; three black, three tan-gray. The last one started towards me for about three steps, then saw his siblings racing down hill so he turned and ran. I stopped and took a few steps backwards up the hill (and was too stupid/slow to get my camera out, damn) and as Liv came around the corner into view behind me we heard the mother wolf start howling from up the hillside to the east. We all stopped where I had, Joel started recording the howling on his camera (video mode) and we were blessed (or scared by) almost 20 minutes of mama wolf howling to her babies and the puppies barking and howling back before the family was finally reunited (in our direction of travel, unfortunately). At times we could see mama running up on the hillside through the trees but never well enough to really make out her body.

For the next few days we walked from beautiful alpine lake and stream to beautiful alpine lake and stream and then we descended down to the headwaters fo the Big Hole River and camped on Jahnke Creek (another wonderful mosquito paradise). There I got lost and dropped my map shortly before we all camped. In the morning we all decided to hike separately as a fun game to see if Travis could get completely lost without a map (and some group tension), but I made it after going straight up to the divide and just walking along with a bunch of orange flagging that I believe will eventually be constructed into a beautiful segment of the CDT that nobody will walk because it will be longer than the current route. And I enjoyed it.

I ran into Liv after my mapless divide adventure and the two of us hiked together until we caught up to Joel at the next water source. We then all hiked (with E.T.) to Lemhi Pass, which, for you history buffs, was where L&C first crossed the continental divide after ascending the Missouri/Jefferson Rivers. It was really really amazing to camp at the "most distant fountain"; the spring furthest up the Missouri River system, which Lewis obtained water from over 200 years ago. And for the record, we got the speakers out and listened to the Allman Brothers greatest hits, which I am quite positive Merriweather Lewis would have appreciated hearing while viewing a spectacular rainbow and eating canned salmon with thai red curry paste. Or at least I did.

Waking up in such an historic place and walking in cool, partly cloudy weather up sage covered rolling hills with mountains in every direction was the icing on the previous day's cake. Sunday was a longish but relatively easy day to Bannock Pass with lots of long vistas and gentle terrain. We arrived at my car about 5:30 pm and we were happy to see that Scott, Jim, and Sarah

had left it at the correct Bannock Pass (there are two of them!) and had left a comfy and stylish "hello Kitty" steering wheel cover to boot. We drove down to Leadore, ID and quickly realized that a town of 90 people in Mormon country Idaho is beyond completely dead on a Sunday evening. E.T was with us and Hui was fruitlessly trying to hitch out of Leadore when we arrived, so the five of us went to Salmon, ID to get some food/beers and a hotel.

I spent the next two days shuttling hikers to and from Bannock Pass before driving to Oregon for Matt Templeton and Ashlea Swantons' wedding. At one point there were 15 hikers in town, which I am pretty sure is close to an all time CDT record; two NOBOs and 13 SOBOs. And two more SOBOs had left Monday morning. It was great to see everyone, hear some stories, talk gear, and really get a better sense of who we are out on the trail this year.

I will be getting back on the trail on Monday or Tuesday in Mack's Inn, ID with Joel and Liv and Vocal. Until then more beer (and weddings!).

Notes on "Liv-ing"

Finally I have sat myself down at a computer with the know-how to actually write something myself... Hopefully I am as full as wit as some of you are hoping...

These are my impressions so far...

- After just over a month on the trail my social skills may be forever ruined. I now expect my friends to freely discuss their bowel habits (frequency, form, etc) with one another. Spending time with exclusively boys is interesting to say the least and I have learned so many interesting things but mainly how much poo is talked about. At this point I feel I don't even know a trailmate if I'm not familiar with their bathroom/cathole routine. Ah, trail life...

- Mosquitoes- perhaps the world's most vile creatures. I have done my best to diminish the population of mosquitoes in Montana but I fear I am losing the battle- they suck (haha). Of all the wildlife we have seen they are unfortunately the most prevalent and make no secret of their presence. I will continue to fight the good fight against them but am worried they may win... Wish me good luck and high powered DEET. As a typically non-hostile or violent person I feel zero guilt when it comes to the massacre of mosquitoes- be gone you beasts!

- Food: Have you ever wondered if tabouli mixed with butter, dried red chili and tuna is good? If so I'm here to tell you that it is delicious! Same goes for bulgar wheat with dried green beans and mashed potato flakes. I am amazed by the food that is consumed by thru-hikers. It's great being complimented by cooks/waitstaff at restaurants in towns for the sheer volume of food that we are able to take down. If I weren't so proud I may actually be sheepish... Interested in sending food our way? See the address list for help on where to mail things...

- My feet have come a long way (pun intended). It seems like every morning that I step out of my tent they seem to groan a little as if they are saying "this again?!" Daily I have to tell them that the reality of the situation is that we are spending all summer walking so it's time to get with the program. They are beginning to comply- thank goodness. Joel's feet are trying to compete with mine for ugliest feet on the trail and any day now mine should pass along the crown- a title I won't be sad to lose. I have lost 3 toenails so far- grossing out several of my fellow hikers to my great pleasure. Two of them fell out in/around Darby. There was talk of me taking them into a small salon for a pedicure just to horrify the staff. "Excuse me, could you please paint a flower on this one and a CDT symbol on this one?" while holding out my hand with toenails. "No? How about using acrylic glue then to resecure them?" In the end it was better to leave them on the nightstand over night to further mortify our fellow pirate Vocal.

- The kindness of strangers has impressed me beyond words. From people willing to pull over to allow stinky hikers in for a ride to town to hotel rooms purchased by complete strangers just because someone thinks it's great what we're doing, I am so grateful. Just last night in Salmon, ID where I currently am, the owner of the hotel we're staying in delighted me by her extra kindness. She saw that I was sharing a hotel room with 4 smelly boys and let me use her personal bathroom, shampoo, conditioner (1st conditioner in over a month), gave me big, fluffy towels and said that it was important that I still feel like a girl- such kindness. I decided to not quote Vocal when he said "The CDT is for men- and Liv." I hadn't anticipated enjoying town stops so much but the people we are meeting are making them such unique experiences. Huge thanks to anyone who pulls through in assisting a thru-hiker.

In other news, Travis's feet smell- no surprise there but I thought I'd mention it... While I know this is brief there will be more- still so many miles to cover. The land has been amazing to see and I look forward to walking and walking and walking...

Liv