Part Nine

     June 5 – 7                         Bob Marshall Wilderness                   (Go to Pt 1)

The next morning we slept late, dozing in our bags until the sun finally baked us out of the tent into a positively glorious day! A bright, deep-blue sky pierced only by dazzling sunlight bore down across the rugged mountain terrain that shot straight up out of the valley floor and towered above our camp.  ​
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The forest was infused with the diamond glint of pine-filtered sunlight and the ambient melody of whitewater running out front of camp; a slight breeze swayed in the lofted tree branches and birds of all sorts were in song and conversation along the riverbank and edge of the forest.

Click on the map for a larger image

The first highlight of staying parked in camp all day was always the lazy, pancake breakfast with brown sugar and honey.  MmMmm!!  After feeding our inner-Whine Pooh like men, we gathered the few clothes we had and went to the river to rinse out the grunge and take a bath. After lunch, I took a splendid nap in the sun and that evening, after dinner, we made a warm, cheery campfire where we smoked a drum cigarette and sipped our hot chocolate like seasoned hard-men.    
Feeling luxuriously rested following our day off, we were ready to grind out as many miles as the day allowed, even though I felt a sense of reluctance to pack up and leave such a serene site. To our advantage, the trail was good right out of camp and held to one side of the river but by late morning the sun had intensified, displaying the flip side of cold and windy with skin-burning penetration and no hope for a breeze.  We stopped to douse ourselves in the snow-melt streams every chance we got.  

Then, near the end of the day, after pounding out twelve, hot, not-exactly-easy miles of elevation gain up the Spotted Bear valley, we arrived at the base of the pass only to find the approach up the long, steep grade, completely slopped out with that damned, heavy, wet, bottomless crap that masqueraded as snow.   

​Climbing the pass under such merciless conditions, this late in the day, was grueling to the point of exasperation but the only way out of this mess was over the top; so it was with a great sigh of reprieve when we found firmer snow conditions on the south side of the pass, which had already been cooled by late day shade cast from an overhead ridge.  One, short mile of easy snow plodding got us to our camp, situated by a small, sapphire of water called My Lake. 

That evening, Craig and I did a pretty thorough repair /maintenance job on our Bear Paws, knowing that tomorrow’s early sun would make a mash potato mess out of our intended route.  We started the next day early, while the snow was still firm, and with no trail to follow we picked what appeared to be the path of least resistance across the south flank of Larch Hill. 

​Turns out we chose a route that offered up a considerable amount of resistance, thrashing us for the better part of an hour with a grueling stretch of vicious timber bashing and bush whacking until we finally managed to dumb-luck our way out onto a melted stretch of trail heading south from the northern toe of the Chinese Wall.

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Go to Part 10

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The CDTC was founded in 2012 by volunteers and recreationists hoping to provide a unified voice for the CDT. Working hand-in-hand with the U.S. Forest Service and other federal land management agencies, the CDTC is a non-profit partner supporting stewardship of the CDT. The mission of the CDTC is to complete, promote and protect the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, a world-class national resource. For more information, please visit continentaldividetrail.org.

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