Hiking The CDT- part 9- Yellowstone

1 May 2020 / bens game / Leave a comment

I hiked into Yellowstone at a reduced pace, knowing my shin wouldn’t be up to too much over the next days. The trail leaves Old Faithful, and heads South East away from the crowds. It isn’t hard to get away from crowds here. According to the NPS 97% of visitors never go more than one hundred yards from their car. This is a great shame but also good for people that like the wilderness in solitary. The rangers allowed my permit to go a quite a bit further each day than normal hiker permits (they treat people attempting the CDT nicely), and said if I did need to use a camp further or closer than the allocated one to just make sure it’s in an official camp area. My first camping place was 18 miles in. With a 10am start and a slow pace I figured I would get there in 9 hours with a little light to spare. I hiked passed Lonestar Geyser and into the Firehole Springs area. The scenery changed from dry pine forest to a prehistoric boiling pot almost instantly. Watching water bubbling and steam rising up from the ground as I hiked made for a fantastic spectacle. I had watched documentaries on Yellowstone as a kid and was finally here. Here at the place I thought would be the highlight of my summer, and 1000 miles in wasn’t even half way. The Firehole Springs area gave way to shallow flooded meadow. It was amazing just how fast the trail disappeared. I squelched through the area until it came back to forest. The forest gave me a lot of time and easy trail to concentrate on my injury, and how stupid I was for coming into this section without being fully healed. Mile after mile ground by until I reached my camp. It was deserted except for flies. I had half a mind to hike on to the next camp, but with an hour or two of light left I though better and pitched up. I find camping alone quite boring, especially when I’m told where to camp. The sun eventually set and I went to sleep.

The next day started with a nearly shoulder-deep wade through the exiting river from Shoshone lake, holding my pack above my head to keep the contents dry. I hiked through pleasant forest and eventually came out on the main road and crossed onto the Heart Lake trail. Here I bumped into Buck30. ‘I thought you’d blown me out the water and were long gone!’ he said. I told him of where I’d been and we hiked onto the Heart Lake Ranger station to have a further break and chat with the ranger about what life was like in the park. We also crossed a North Bound hiker that didn’t flipflop, the first we had seen. You can usually tell a thru hiker from a distance. Wearing worn out clothes, long worn out shoes full of holes, and a very small pack but turning up more than 15 miles from the nearest road. Looking near homeless but with a rather large stride. I forgot to mention I was now on my third pair of shoes. The Moab trail shoes were uncomfortable, the trainers I picked up in Helena were worn out and very holey, and now I was onto a set of Salomon 3-d chassis’ trail shoes. Anyway, back to the trail.

Hiking off from the Heart Lake shore, the trail crossed a small rise and entered into a pleasant small valley with great meadows. The trail was faint, and there were a couple of small backtracks where the trail would lead to a dead end pond or just peter out entirely. It was a fantastic area and enjoyable with no large climbs. At the end of this day I pitched up and Buck kept hiking a while longer to the next camp. I wished I had hiked on because within a few minutes in the morning, I had to wade through the next icy river that was much colder than the mouth of the lake had been. I was getting used to the unpleasant icy chill seeping inside my trainers, but that didn’t mean I wanted it at 6am. Though it does wake you up better than coffee. I was enjoying having my space but knowing there was another hiker on the trail is nice when hiking alone, it’s reassuring to know there might be help if something were to go wrong. By the end of the day we were crossing over the Yellowstone boundary and into the Teton Wilderness. I passed another NOBO (north bound) hiker who was nervous about bears. There was bear scat all over the place and it was big. I mean HUGE!. The kind of thing if you stood in, you would be better off chucking the shoes away. The trail wound down around the Snake River occasionally til one final big crossing over the Buffalo River with a strong current. There were a few gents at a camp at one point with packrafts , small inflatable boats that fit in a backpack. I knew they were about to have so much fun.

This part of the trail was also home to the Parting of the Waters. A river that splits into two, one side will end in the Gulf of Mexico, the other side in the Pacific. I sat here for lunch and once again I came across a famous hiker, this time called Lint. This was the third well reputed hiker I’d bumped into and once again I had no idea who this was, but he was excited to hear Buck30 was behind me. Lint has done the ‘triple triple crown’, the three long distance trails in the US, three times. Shortly after lunch I would come to the horse super highway, or horse way, something to do with horses. It stank and was full of horse poop. All the way. I came across several riders on horseback that were bemused to see a hiker this far out, and when telling them what I was doing and how far I was going in a day were gob smacked and took their hats off to me. That night I camped by a lake alone, pitching up at dark. In the night it misted over, and I was woke in the early hours by bells and the sound of a horse. I looked out my tent and saw a rider on horseback leading several loaded pack animals. It was spooky. I wondered how many times he had been up and down the trail in the dark of night through the mist.

I hiked out ahead for most the next day on my own while still feeling strain in my shin. I was taking it easier, still doing big miles each day but with good rest stops. With five miles to go before the next camp (a lake just off Togwotee Pass) I was admiring the view when I heard ‘BENJAMIN!’. It was Tribhu, caught up and flying like a kite. I informed him I was on a go slow but with a short distance left we split the difference between our paces and hiked on. On reaching the lake, Tim’s girlfriend Kirsten was walking up the way to meet us. We hiked at a gentle pace out the way and to the lake. I said I would wait here, I had told Buck earlier I would probably camp the night at the lake. Shortly after Tribhu and Kirsten left I discovered signs in the camping area stating no soft sided tents, bear and cubs are active in area. It threatened a large fine for breaking the rule, and not wanting that fine, I opted to hike to the road and hitch down the pass.

Seconds after I arrived at the pass, a car came by and offered a ride. It was two girls that had driven up to find mobile signal. They were camped before the next town but offered to drive the extra minutes into Dubois regardless. Pulling into the town they asked ‘Is this it?’. I responded ‘I’ve never been before, I guess it must be’. I hopped out the car and thanked them for the ride. There was a gas station, an agricultural sales place and a motel. The motel cost was a stinger, I think about $110 for the night. A nice modern room with A/C but more than this broke hiker needed. If I had been so bold as to wander around the corner, I would have found the town was far larger than I realised and there were much cheaper options. The next day I did this and kicked myself as punishment. I wandered into a shop and bought a coffee, sitting back on the seating outside and waiting. A NOBO hiker also rolled in who knew Buck30, and was excited to know he would be there soon. Hours rolled by and eventually around lunch Buck came to town unhappy the hitch took so long. The three of us walked to the hikers motel and managed a room each for $30, I wasn’t going to do a second night, but at that price I couldn’t help it. We stuffed our faces with the finest food the town had to offer. Tribhu also turned up but was leaving that day and was just there for a resupply. He mentioned the next town on trail after the Winds had a free camping area and perfect for a day or so off. I said goodbye but presumed this would be the last time our paths would cross due to his quick pace and my injury. The next morning I said I would probably see Buck a bit further down the trail and I walked to the edge of town to hitch.

I knew the sheriff of this town didn’t allow hitchhikers to catch a ride from inside the town so hiked out a good long way clear of any buildings. Minutes after I stuck my thumb out, I saw the police car come rolling around the bend to pull up in front of me. Out stepped a white haired officer. Like a scene from Rambo, he stated ‘Hitchhiking is banned in this town’. I looked back the way into the town. The main town itself was 3/4 of a mile back, so far as I could tell I was a good way out of the town. ‘Where is it OK to hitch from?’ I enquired. ‘See that sign on the other side of the road? Anywhere past that sign’ he said. I looked to the other side of the road in disbelief. About 30 feet down was the Welcome to Dubois sign. I was right out of the town and he came to move me 30 feet. He took my passport and there I waited as he stepped back into his police cruiser and seemed to radio and talk to someone. Eventually he brought it back and said ‘Don’t let me catch you hitching in this town again, have a good day’. With that he drove off. Now. The far more interesting part of this story. Skip ahead two years. I had just finished hiking the Wind River High route and spent the night in the same town again. Hitching in the other direction this time, at the other end of the town I stick my thumb out. A pickup pulls over and a white haired man offers a ride. I hop in and ask what he does around here. ‘Well, I just retired, I was the sheriff around here most my life’. I didn’t mention I had met him before, but it gave me a new insight the kind of man he was. He clearly cared about the people in his area, I don’t want to go into the details too much, but he told me a few stories about being first on the scene at several accidents and having to break it to the families. He said it made it had made for a difficult career and what he had seen, has stuck with him all his life. I was grateful for the ride.

Hiking The CDT- Part 7-Leadore To Lima

29 Apr 2020 / bens game / Leave a comment

Nothing in my life mattered at this point apart from hiking. Hitching back to the trail, I felt good and was ready to lay down miles. The only considerations I had at this point were eating enough food, and not getting too lost. While in Missoula, I paid a trip to the outdoor store and bought a new bigger camping pad. I was becoming tired of sleeping on dirt. It was a plush Big Agnes Air Core insulated pad, around three inches of comfort, with raised rails on the side. It was like the Rolls Royce of camping pads. In some ways I preferred it to a real mattress. The down side, sitting for a prolonged period in the evening and blowing into it to inflate. But the extra weight and time I viewed as worth it.

The CDT through this area is poorly marked, and you will not find sign posts helping out. It was a maze of forest, small hills and large open areas. I was out ahead hiking on my own on the first day and sat in a wooden throne on a lakeside. I ate some Doritos, and contemplated this next section. My habit would be to study the next ten to fifteen miles of map, and paint a visual picture of what it might look like and where I might turn. I would note things like how high the hill would be on one side and how far up it I would need to be to find my path. The details that can be gleaned from a map can be quite surprising with practice. If there was no trail, I would pick a landmark in the distance and walk towards it. If I could not see a horizon, I would take a bearing on my compass and just walk, combining it with the knowledge I would hike around a mile every twenty minutes. Later that day when the others caught up, Trackmeet in a detectives voice stated ‘Ben, I know it was you sat on the throne at the lakeside, there were dorito crumbs, ranch flavour to be exact, and I know that’s your flavour.’ … Busted. There was no denying.

We hiked on a way and came across one of the most ‘American B movie’ sounding areas I have been to in my life. The “US Sheep Experiment Station”. Like something out of a Sci-Fi movie gone wrong. Who knows what black sheep lurk around the trees. I didn’t see any sheep but can only presume in this area they were bigger, meaner and more inclined to eat meat than their smaller cousins elsewhere in the states. In this section trees became sparser as I hiked and so did the trail. Often disappearing for 5-10 miles at a time. I had to pay a lot of attention and found if I didn’t check the map I would become lost quickly, and trying to reconcile yourself with a map in high heat with little water becomes draining fast. I know the others had an easier time using their phone to navigate, but there is a sense of satisfaction knowing you can carry yourself through the wilderness without aid.

On the second day I was coming into a large open vista that sticks in my memory, I stood on the edge of a hill looking at the miles I had to cross. Lighting was striking the ground maybe fifteenth miles off to the North. I double checked the map. The clouds were moving in the direction of the opening I was eyeing up. If it struck while I was out there, there would be no shelter. But like everyone seems to say, you gotta get the miles in. So I proceeded. It’s admittedly quite insane to hike into something you know will happen. Having lightning striking the ground within a short distance really makes you question what your doing in the middle of a large, flat opening on your own.

I picked up my pace and started across the clearing. But my effort was for nothing as right in the middle rain began lashing down and lightning began to strike. There was a small depression of ground that dipped maybe four feet and I hastily pitched my tent and crawled in to shelter. I suddenly didn’t fancy the few miles to the other side and bunkered down like this felt slightly more secure. It was like mortar rounds dropping around me without warning. All I could do was sit and hope the shallow scoop and 15d nylon tent was enough to protect me from the million volts spasmodically striking the area around me. But just as quickly as it had come it was gone and within a quarter hour it went silent. I packed up my soaked tent and hiked on. These sort of quick hitting lighting storms happen daily in the Rockies and trying to hike a ridge from one end of the country to the other exposes you to a daily barrage of fear.

On my final day in this section I was dropping off the ridgeline from one valley to the next searching for water. Earlier I had noted on my map it looked like the last water would be a stream before climbing onto the ridge, and made a mental note to MAKE SURE I PICK UP WATER. I forgot when walking past it and carried on up the hill. Near the top I realised the mistake but it was a big hill and I didn’t want to turn back. This turned into a torturous mistake. From maybe five miles along the ridge I dropped a little way into one valley, hoping for water. Nothing. I climbed back up, I then dropped off the other side of the ridge into another valley, still nothing. I climbed back up, I was wasting so much time and effort for being lazy in the first instance. I dropped into one more valley, there was a slow trickle of water in a cow infested area. It had Giardia written all over it, but I did have a filter. I slowly filled two bottles as mosquitoes stabbed into my neck, face, and legs. Swinging to kill them and dumbly holding my breathe through the agony. When the bottles were filled I brushed myself all over and ran clear, climbing up the other side of this valley and back to the ridge. On the ridge I sat down to eat biscuits and relax. I had just wasted a couple of hours I didn’t need to. The sky was clear and sun beating down on this weary hiker.

Off in the distance I saw a hiker approaching, and I figured I would wait til they caught up. At the speed I’d been going I still didn’t think it was Spark, Trackmeet or Carrot. I waited, glad to be away from the pain of the valley. The hiker caught up with me. ‘Hi’,. I said. ‘Hey’ came the response. ‘I’m Tribhu, you must be Ben’. We talked about how he had been a little behind me for weeks. How every hiker he had spoken to told him an English guy was just ahead. It must be crazy hearing every day someone is just a hair whisker ahead of you. Like a shadow that can’t be caught. Then we talked about the next road crossing. On the map there was a star mark with the annotation to call a number and refer to ‘the star’ for a ride. The number given was the motel owner in the next town and he would gladly pick up a hiker in return for a nights stay in the motel. It was on the edge of an interstate and as such not a place to be hitching. Tribhu said ‘Well, I’m a pretty fast hiker but my girlfriend is going to be waiting for me on the roadside. If you hike fast enough you can have a lift into Lima(the next town/gas station)’. More than happy with the prospect of a ride instead of 10 mile road walk, I joined him.

It was a scorching day and I didn’t want to miss this ride so I laid the pace hard. At the end of the first climb I looked back down to him. A moment later he reached the top of the climb and said ‘ Whoa, I didn’t realise you could hike this fast, I haven’t met many other hikers that can do this pace’. I didn’t say it, but the truth was I was hiking so fast because I didn’t want to miss my ride. We carried on chatting over the next miles both focused on the next point of water. Marked as a trough in a valley, we made particular note of it as it’s where we would drop off the ridge line, and it would be the valley we walk out of. As we descended, the heat intensified and the ground became flat and barren. We hiked at a near jogging pace for many hours, I think averaging around 4mph. The time ticked slowly while maintaining focus on pace. I was dehydrated and it was a bit exasperating. By the time we hit the road I was done for the day. Officially the trail paralleled the road for a mile but I decided that was enough. I felt like I had run a marathon and said goodbye to Tribhu. I would cross the road and wait for a ride here. I was burned.

Twenty minutes later Tribhu pulled in with his girlfriend and gave me a ride after finishing the extra mile. The Motel we arrived at ten minutes later was cheap and cheerful. Not renovated since the day it was built, it was a time capsule to a gone era. I did a shop for food from the gas station then showered, watching pools of baked on dirt wash off in waves. I chucked my clothes into a washing machine and sat back, trying to focus on an old rerun movie that was playing on tv. A short while later Tribhu was at the door to tell me he would be taking the following day off with his girlfriend and I could have a day off too or see him further down the trail. I went to sleep and the next day feeling rejuvenated, decided to hike. Waking late I went into the reception, a friend of the Motel owner was heading back in the right direction but only half way. I was grateful for the ride and left a quickly jotted note on Tribhu’s windshield. I ended up walking about an extra 5 miles that morning and although I lost an hour and a half to it, I wasn’t concerned. I felt bedded into the trail and was at home in my world.

Crossing Borders

17 Sep 201728 Jan 2018 / bens game / Leave a comment

The officer said ‘Its illegal to carry fruit and veg back into the United states, that’s your second contravention’. The first was ten minutes previous when we accidentally merged into a ‘Sentri lane’ to re-enter the United states just minutes after leaving, which carries a $5000 dollar fine.

‘Where are you heading?’ another of a series of questions begins.

‘To Argentina!!’ We both reply

‘How long is it going to take?’ , the next question.

‘Two or three months maybe, ish?’

The border officers are getting a real kick out of this.

Today we- crossed into Mexico, were let through by a green light. Did a u-turn, tried to go back to customs to get our Mexican Tourist Cards, took the wrong lane back into the USA without an option to bail out, and were told it’s up to a $5000 dollar fine. Told we would now need an inspection. Pulled into the x-ray machine, questioned, searched briefly, told the fruit in our cooler box is going bad, and is also contraband, which is a fine.

What a day!!!!! What a day. It was kinda funny, and they didn’t give us any fines I can say from the get-go. Driving into Mexico is easy, just a series of traffic-style lights. We didn’t find any opportunity to talk to anybody at the border. Immediately you are spat out onto an expressway, with signs in Spanish. Confusing to say the least. If you are staying within the tourist zone for 72 hours or less no paperwork or stamps are required, this is perfectly acceptable. If you want to go inland you require the paperwork.

This saga took most the afternoon. When we finally got back into the States we went to McDonalds’ for consolation fries and soda. We found out the office we needed to go to in Mexico was closed as it’s a holiday so now are camping free on the USA side of the border waiting for Monday morning to start fresh again with a full day for paperwork. Also giving time to pick up anti-malarial supplies for myself hopefully at a cheap price. We slept the night on a large lay-by to a reservoir supposing to be a quiet place to sleep. All night fishermen came by with trailers continually opening and closing a noisy metal gate down to the lake. This morning we were tipped off to a cool trail to a mountain top where we could camp the night.

We spent an hour on another lake kayaking in a $12 per hour sit-on-top, me paddling forwards, Karli paddling backwards in a counter-productive manor. And soaking each other in the process. It was an all out war for a moment with a peace treaty that never quite stuck, it was a good kick though. Karlis’ parents will be relieved to know she has picked up a fresh supply of large sweet bags to compliment the M&Ms we have been consuming at a steady rate. (We have also been training for climbing with running etc for a potential BIG mountain in Mexico, our excuse for excessive consumption.)

After losing a couple of previous days of our two week Mexican vehicle insurance we are re-planning and streamlining the country a little bit. That’s all for now folks!!!!

Always Pee with a View!!

24 Jul 201728 Jan 2018 / bens game / 1 Comment

A couple of days ago a friend offered me a camping pad after I explained my goes down after a couple of hours use which i believed to be the valve leaking slightly. This is good when I wish to get up in a couple of hours but not so good when i want to sleep, its resulted in an upsetting wake up and blow up the pad night shift every night so far. I said I would persist with my pad and set off on a 115 mile ride. That night while pitching up next to a river up a cold cold pass (near Copper Mountain), the whole valve ejected itself from the sleeping pad. This left me feeling rather deflated. I took a few plasters out of my pack, kind of re-inflated the pad and taped the valve into place. It wasn’t perfect but hey, I got some sleep. The next day I woke to police lights 20 meters from where I was camped, there was a bike race crossing the main road, I packed up and rolled onto the path like I was racing. After climbing over the last few hundred feet of pass I rolled down to Leadville where I purchased some solvent glue hoping to make a more permanent solution to my camping pad troubles. I still have not tested it.

I carried on out of Leadville to Twin Lakes where I have based myself for climbing 14ers (peaks about 14,000 feet). There is a nice small hostel, like an old village hall, with bunks down the sides, a big table in the middle, and sofas and a coffee station at one end. A lovely cosy place. The hostel owner informed me of some free wine left in the fridge going spare and food in the hiker box and I was sold. Around 7 other people stopped in the hostel, mainly CT hikers and the owner joined us for the evening. This hostel also comes with free pancakes with strawberry and rubarb in the morning, but my mind was set on an early summit.

I packed my bag in the evening, put my bike in a corner and preped. At 3.30am my phone vibrated followed by me sitting up drowsily, why do I do this to myself?? I slipped out into the night. It felt frosty and crisp. I turned on my head torch and started walking. I think it was about a one hour walk to the trailhead to go up Black Cloud Creek. Perfect darkness, I could see the Milkyway. I started climbing the 5500ft to the summit. Through dense Aspen trees I wondered if a bear would hear me coming. Would it be small enough for me to fight it if startled and aggressive? As I cleared the treeline the sky began to lighten. I hurried to the ridge line that would take me to the summit. Just as I arrived on the ridge the sun came over the horizon, It was worth the racing up and early start. Morning light and evening light always seem best for photos. I did plan on going fast today and possibly doing a second peak, but I decided to enjoy it. The biggest mountain in Colorado to myself. I took photos getting as creative as possible. (see pics) then jogged up the ridge to the summit. Arriving on the summit at 7.15am I decided to mess with my camera and the brilliant photo op the American Flag gave me. After which i sat and ate a few energy bars. I descended fast, running past other hikers from around half way up. When I arrived back at Twin Lakes, I decided that was enough for one day, and so, I chill.

The forecast for the next few days is grim, but, there is movie theatre in Salida about 50 miles down the road that could kill a few hours indoors and i do quite fancy a movie.

Later

Benjamin