travel | Endless P Summer

Let me preface this post by saying Zion is an absolutely magical place and well worth the visit. If you’re a regular reader of this blog you may have noticed I tend to put a positive spin on most places but this time I really mean it. The Zion Traverse aka the Trans Zion trail is roughly 48 Miles that many people run in one shot but Queen B and I decided to enjoy it as a multi day backpacking trip. With good planning it is very runable. I highly recommend this hike.

Day 1 10/31/17 5 Miles

This morning, after climbing out of Goldstrike Canyon, QB and I started driving towards Utah. We stopped in Boulder City to eat fish tacos at the famous ‘Coffee Cup’ then proceeded to Zion NP, about 2–3 hours away. Pulling off the highway at the visitors center we got permits for a couple nights in the backcountry then drove up to the Lees Pass trailhead. The traverse is a 48 Mile tour through the park that many people run in one shot. Running it sounds fun but this time the plan is to backpack it over the course of 2+ Days. From Lees Pass we walked about 5 miles along the La Verken Creek Trail and got to campsite #6 right at sunset. From the beginning the scenery has been spectacular. The soft dirt path we walked on was nice and easy and well graded and there were views of huge red mountains all over the place. Tonight is clear, cool, and calm so we decided to cowboy camp. Hopefully being Halloween and everything this canyon isn’t haunted. If you ever do this hike make sure to check out the swimming hole at campsite #6 and get here early enough in the day to swim.

Day 2 11/1 25 Miles

Cowboy camping in the canyon was pretty cozy although the cool air woke me up a couple times. I’d rather sleep through the night but each time I woke up I was rewarded with a sky full of stars and some awesome shooters. The light of day didn’t reach us until close to 8am so I ended up sleeping in a little by default. From our campsite we walked about a mile until we reached a side trail to Kolob Arch. This added another mile plus to our day but the natural arch was worth checking out. Once back on trail we climbed a little then dropped into Hop Valley. This place was awesome! We followed a creek as it serpentined through a red rock canyon with cottonwood trees wearing yellow foliage. From Hop Valley we took the Connector trail that had some great views of distant rock formations then walked along Wildcat Canyon. I still have yet to see a big cat in the wild. Eventually we climbed up onto a plateau and followed the West Rim trail to our home for the night; campsite #5. It got breezy and chilly on the plateau so once we got to our site we bundled up and from a cliff watched the sunset over a landscape unlike anything that I’ve ever seen before.

Day 3 11/2 19 Miles

Right away this morning we enjoyed an impressive sunrise from the plateau then began our descent along the West Rim trail and into Zion Canyon. The fall colors of the park combined with the colors of the canyon were so cool. Early November is a great time to be hiking here; the crowds are thinner, the air is cool and good for hiking, and the foliage is worth seeing. The West Rim Trail passes right by the notorious Angel’s Landing Trail so QB and I decided to take a little detour. Angel’s Landing is an extremely narrow trail to a rocky outcropping in the middle of Zion Canyon. There are chains built in to the ground to make it safer but it’s still pretty gnarly, plus there’s lots of people getting in the way and stuff because it’s so popular. I mean it was scary and everything but it didn’t stand a chance of derailing us and was a great little side trip. From Angel’s Landing we walked down about a million switchbacks to the Grotto in the canyon floor. There was a mile of road to our next trailhead and since there was no trail along the road, we took the shuttle up to Weeping Rock TH. From here we power walked up a ton of switchbacks to get out of the canyon. It was about ten more scenic miles along canyons to the east entrance of the park where we ended our hike. So many tourists just go to the attractions in Zion Valley, while those are cool, there is so much more to see in this park and the Traverse is a great way to experience it. According to the ranger who gave us our permits, the east side of the park is the “Bitchinest!” We got to the East Entrance just before 5pm and got 3 quick hitches back to our car an hour and a half away in Kolob Canyon(1 from a kid who grew up in the town next to me in Mass). It was hitchhiking as it should be, it wouldn’t have worked out better if we had booked a shuttle ahead of time.

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Posted on November 3, 2017 by endlesspsummer

Hiking, travel

adventure, Angels Landing, canyons, desert, hike, Hiking, mountains, national park, travel, traveling, Utah, Zion, Zion Traverse

9/11. The day after finishing the CDT Queen B and I spent our time in East Glacier relaxing, eating food, hanging out with other hikers and waiting for the train. It was cool because a lot of hikers were either just finishing up their hike or getting into town and about to go into Glacier NP. From East Glacier we took an overnight Amtrak to Seattle. I’ve never taken a long distance train and the ‘Empire Builder’ runs from Chicago to Seattle and I guess has a lot of history. It was a relaxing way to travel. There was a half dozen other hikers so for awhile we hung out together in the observation car. Back in the seat I was able to spread out better than I would on a plane and got some halfway decent sleep. It was something like a 15 hour ride though so even though it was fun and comfortable I think I would still prefer a flight. Supposedly

9/12 When we got into Seattle I heard from Little Spoon and Moaglee who were spending the day in the city before flying to Alaska that night. QB and I met up with them for lunch and got all caught up on each other’s hikes since we last saw them about a month ago. After lunch we had to run a couple errands in town then took the light rail south of the city and got picked up at the train station by our friend Malibu. We went out for Hawaiian food in West Seattle and walked around Lincoln Park. Mali put us up in his van for the night and I slept so hard! Met up with Moaglee and Little Spoon when our paths crossed in SeattleMalibu’s sweet van/spare bedroomMali

9/13 In the morning Malibu cooked a delicious breakfast casserole then dropped us off at the ferry terminal in downtown Seattle. We took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island then did a little walking before catching a hitch for about a dozen miles in a tiny Smart Car. Our next hitch was from Andy, a Seattle Firefighter, who makes a 2.5 hr commute from his home in Port Angeles. It was a great ride! He brought us exactly where we needed to go; the ranger station in PA. We got set up with permits for a couple nights on the Olympic Coast then resupplied, ate a late lunch, and started making our way towards Rialto Beach. A county bus drove us down some windy roads towards Forks for a couple hours before letting us out and we got a ride in the back of a pickup the rest of the way. We got to the beach right around sunset and walked a mile north on the coast before camping. It was awesome! Beautiful sunset and a very nice night camping in the woods just next to the beach. A gigantic shipSeattle waterfront on the ferry going towards Bainbridge Island Rialto Beach

9/14 Today was a great day. I did a backpacking trip along this coast in the spring of ’14 and loved it. Since then I’ve always wanted to come back. Today we walked north for about 20 miles along beaches, tide pools, and rocky coastline. There’s a bunch of headlands that we had to get out and around which can be dangerous at high tide so using a tide chart and doing a little paying attention was important. In a few places we had to go inland a little bit and hike overland even using some ropes and in a couple places crawling through natural tunnels. The weather was absolutely perfect today, not a cloud in the sky with a cool ocean breeze once in awhile and warm enough to jump into the ocean for an afternoon dip. A few years ago when I was out here I saw a ton of bald and golden eagles. Although we only saw one bald eagle today, there were a bunch of other animal sightings. We saw two black bears at different times walking out on the coast eating seaweed or whatever. A few deer, 4 sea otters, a close encounter with a seal and a bunch of dead stuff that washed up on shore including an octopus, a seal, 2 sea lions, and some kind of shark or something. Around sunset we found ourselves a campsite in some woods next to the ocean. For the second night in a row I fell asleep to the sound of waves crashing against the shore. A man among buoys

9/15 From our campsite by the beach we walked about a mile north to Cape Alava, the westernmost point in the Continental U.S. We followed a trail inland for about 3 miles through a forest and came out at the Ozette Lake trailhead. The ranger in Port Angeles the other day told us this was a busy trailhead and we shouldn’t have trouble getting a ride out. Dude didn’t know what he was talking about. After 4 hours of relaxing by the roadside we got picked up by the 4th car that passed us. No big deal, there was a blackberry bush nearby that kept me busy and a huge bald eagle soared overhead. It was another firefighter that ended up driving us about 20 miles to the intersection with the busier rt 112. As we were getting dropped off, the bus to Forks was pulling up. Perfect timing! During the 40 minute ride to Forks we picked up a hiker and immediately I thought he looked familiar. It was Funjumper, I met him in Belden, CA in ’15. He didn’t remember me and may have even doubted that I remembered him until I recalled that he was from Quebec. Anyway he just finished the Pacific Northwest Trail that goes 1200 miles starting in Glacier and ending out here on the coast. When we got into Forks the town was bumping with Twilight fans, they were having some kind of festival for the book series. QB and I got some Chinese food then resupplied at a supermarket before putting our thumbs out to get out of town. After a couple minutes, Stephanie picked us up and drove us about 40 minutes down the coast. As we were driving by the ocean we saw a bunch of cars pulled over and looking out towards the water. From her car we could see whales breaching and raising their fins out of the water. Stephanie pulled over and the 3 of us walked down to the beach to get a better look. We saw a bunch of what we learned were grey whales close to shore and what they were doing was scraping barnacles off their backs on the ground. So cool! I guess it’s very rare. QB and I got a ride a little ways further to Kalaloch CG which was full but luckily had a hiker walk-in site.like 12 blackberries see that fin out there? I swear it’s a grey whale you can walk right under this tree

9/16 After we packed up this morning we walked down to the beach again to check on the whales. Still there, doing their thing. We ate some breakfast burritos at a gas station, then walked over to get some info at the Kalaloch ranger station. Ideally I’d like to do a traverse of the whole Olympic park but they’re getting some serious rain in the next few days so we might do a shorter hike in case we have to bail early. Since we can only get permits from certain ranger stations we had to hitch south to Quinault. We got a 30 minute ride from Paul and Ron to exactly where we needed to go and got things taken care of. The rangers at Quinault were former thru hikers and much more helpful. From Quinault we had to get back up north to the Hoh rain forest. Oatmeal, a ranger and former thru hiker, drove us for about an hour then Elsie, a Belgian woman on holiday, brought us the rest of the way. I know I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again; as long as there are cars, hitching with QB is pretty easy. From the Hoh visitor center we walked 10 miles along a nice flat trail through an incredible rain forest. It’s green, mossy, and the trees are enormous. I can show you pictures but you really have to see it for yourself. We got to the Olympus Guard Station where there’s a bunch of sites and called it a day. Really hoping the rain holds off or at least isn’t too bad.swam here in the Hoh River this tree fell down and became a bridge see?

9/17 This morning we blasted up a long 7 mile climb to the High Divide. The weather was cool and cloudy until we got to the top and it got a bit more rainy and the clouds were moving in. Even with the weather we still had some great views of Mt Olympus and the Olympic range. There is some seriously beefy mountains over here. We hiked through 7 lakes basin and down to a beautiful lush green forest with giant trees. Oh and I saw 10 black bears today! All from a distance but they were everywhere. From the forest we had another stiff climb up to Appleton Pass and up there it started to rain a little harder and get colder. I knew I had hot springs waiting for me at the end of the day but the last 5 miles down from the pass were cold and wet. Not my favorite weather. At the Boulder Creek campsite we met and ate supper with Dustbunny and Tickled Pink, who are about a hundred miles from finishing their thruhike of the PNT. It was fun to hear about their hike and that trail and since they’ve also hiked the CDT and PCT we knew some of the same people. After we got set up and ate we walked down to the Olympic Hot Springs. Finally I could warm up. These springs were awesome! There’s like 7 or 8 rock pools that are built up around natural springs and most are pretty hot. After a cold rainy day this is exactly what I needed. Hoh Lake so many black bears!beefy Olympic MountainsHigh DivideSeven Lakes Basinloving this forestbut it can be hard to see it through all these treesso green!Olympic Hot Springs

9/18 Overnight it rained and my tent didn’t do a great job keeping me dry. I was cold and didn’t sleep that well but I didn’t have much to do and was close to the hot springs so I could just go relax in those all day. It was really nice. A perfect day to just sit and soak in the warm sulfury smelling water. It’s only a 2 or 3 mile trail from a trailhead parking lot so besides the people that are camped at the Boulder Creek site, a fair amount of people just walk the short hike in from their cars. We met some cool people and had a lot of fun just doing nothing all day. I didn’t want to get out of the hot water and my hands and feet got so pruned up that I worried if they would ever go back to normal. We could have stayed another night but since everything was soaked we made a quick decision to pack up and walk out around 5pm. At the trailhead we got a hitch from a couple from Montana that brought us about a half hour to Port Angeles where we found a cheap motel for the night. Hot springs are good for the soul, but everybody knows that

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Posted on September 19, 2017 by endlesspsummer

Hiking, travel

adventure, hike, Hiking, hitchhiking, mountains, Olympic peninsula, pacificnorthwest, pnw, sunset, travel, traveling, washington

Day 130 9/6/17 16 miles

So last night, before going back to the trail, a bunch of us went out to eat at the Mexican place in town and I have to say it wasn’t the best burrito I’ve ever had. The portions were good but then they covered it in like velveeta cheese or something, it was weird. I was talking to a couple there and the guy was a retired firefighter from Ohio. When I explained to them what we were up to he left the tip on our meal so that was cool. Thanks Tom! After supper QB and I hitched back to Marias Pass, where we got off trail earlier in the day, and found a spot in the woods to camp.

This morning we got up and started cruising right into town. We crossed rt 2 and some railroad tracks and got into Glacier NP but since our permits don’t start until tomorrow night we’ll be walking back into East Glacier Village and spending the night there. From Marias Pass the trail kind of parallels the road and the tracks all the way to town. There wasn’t anything too spectacular to see from trail, or maybe there was, it was just too smoky to see much of anything. About a mile from town I saw and heard a small dark brown bear crashing through the woods 15-20 feet to my right. It scared the bejesuses out of me but I recovered quickly. Once again QB didn’t see it but she did hear it. Current bear score 12-2 in my favor. We got to town and ate a couple times at the Two Medicine Grill, which I recommend. I did laundry and showered for the first time in a week and got a room half off at the Circle R motel because it didn’t have a TV. Fine with me, I feel like hotel TV’s only play Forensic Files anyway. Smoky!Ran into Recalculating in town and he’s become quite feral since I first met him in New Mexico, his shoes look like they got struck by lightning This license plate has my name on it Me and QB and some tall guy

Day 131 9/7 25 miles

Right away this morning QB and I devoured a huge breakfast at the Two Medicine Grill; omelettes, pancakes, hash browns, even a slice of pie. After breakfast we got back on trail and into Glacier NP starting with a nice stiff climb up to Scenic Point. For a while we walked with Recalculating, who unlike most thru hikers has a wife and 4 young kids at home, pretty awesome situation but not the norm out here. Glacier has been incredible so far, even with a blanket of smoke from the wildfires hanging in the air. I’d love to see this place on clear bluebird days so that’s why I’ll definitely have to come back. The smoke however, puts a whole new paint job on things and makes the mountains and the lakes look really cool. I’ll let the pictures below speak for themselves. Plus I saw a bunch of animals, a moose laying around in the grass and probably about 25 bighorn sheep including a little baby. We’re camping at the Atlantic Creek site and also camping here tonight are Garbelly and Critter who we’ve been keeping in touch with but haven’t seen since Winter Park.A couple of bros just chilling out

Day 132 9/8 25 miles

Today was the day! We hiked with Critter and Garbelly for most of the day and started off with a steep climb up to Triple Divide Pass. Although smoky, this was one of the most incredible passes I’ve ever been up and over. There’s three sides to Triple Divide Peak (just to the West of where we crossed); any water that lands on the west flows to the Pacific, water landing on the east flows to the Atlantic and water landing on the north flows to the Arctic Ocean. So cool! While climbing up the Pass, Critter spotted a moose down in the valley from at least a half mile away, then we had a bighorn sheep directly in front of us on trail and on our way down we saw 4 mountain goats way up on the side of a steep wall. The rest of the day the trail was pretty relaxed but there was lots of water. We stopped to jump off rocks into an awesome swimming hole at Red Eagle Creek. In the afternoon we walked along Lake St Mary which was tough to get a good view of because it was super smoky but it’s obviously a spectacular sight. I got another chance to swim at the bottom of Virginia Falls then we stopped again at St Mary Falls. Because of the wildfire situation, QB and I weren’t able to get our backcountry permits so tonight we had to hitch to Rising Sun CG where we’re camping at the hiker walk-in site. Ideally we wanted to camp in the backcountry for our last couple nights on trail but it’s no big deal, I’m just glad the park is still open and I really hope it stays that way. This campground has a restaurant and we were able to get some good food, plus a couple guys that were eating there recognized that we were thru hiking and bought us dessert. Garbelly and Critter walking through the smoke Triple Divide Pass Cannonball!!!posing so hard Triple Divide Pass Swam where the mountain dolphins live St Mary Falls

Day 133 9/9 14 miles

Before leaving Rising Sun we grabbed some sweet potato pancakes at the restaurant. It’s so tough to pass up a good meal when it’s close by. We had a short 14 mile day until the next campground so we weren’t in a hurry. Once on trail we climbed way up to Piegan Pass and the views were just awesome. I know I said yesterday that Triple Divide Pass might have been the most impressive pass I ever climbed but that title only stood for a day. Today the smoke had cleared some and we had some better views. It really was amazing. It was super windy on the way down but that probably helped get some of the smoke out of the area. We could see cascading waterfalls, aquamarine lakes, and jagged peaks all over. After we got down to the valley it was a relaxing 5 or 6 miles into Many Glacier, another front country campground with a store and restaurant. There’s lots of other thru hikers here tonight also. Garbelly and Critter, Maine Man, Flip Flop, Liam and Kate, Spindrift and James all are camping here and planning to finish tomorrow. A bunch of us went to supper tonight and it was a lot of fun. It’s weird, I felt like there weren’t many hikers around for most of the trail but I’ve seen lots throughout Montana and especially the last couple hundred miles. They say nothing brings people together like a common enemy, like the school kids rallying together against the lunch lady. In this case it’s the wildfires causing the thru hikers to bunch up right at the end. Queen B. Macklemore Piegan Pass Swiftcurrent Lake

Day 134 9/10/17 20 miles

What a day! First of all last night was crazy windy, all night long blowing wicked loud. Even with my earplugs in I hardly slept and it seemed like everybody had the same problem. Even with minimal sleep everybody was still pretty jacked up for our last day. We set off with a big crew of hikers; Garbelly, Critter, Flip Flop, Liam and Kate. From Many Glacier we climbed up to Ptarmigan Pass that has a tunnel going 150 feet blasted through the Pass. It was awesome! We all chilled out up there for awhile enjoying the view, then went through to the other side and the trail down was absolutely spectacular! I can’t believe somebody decided to build a trail and this tunnel up here. We walked half a dozen more miles before coming across Dawn Mist Falls and took the little side trail to it. This was the last highlight of the trail and my last opportunity to jump into freezing cold water so of course I did. After the falls it was only 6 or 7 miles until the road and the border crossing at Chief Mountain. We crossed the border, did the damn thing, got our passports stamped, and took a bunch of pictures by the monument. From the border our friend had rides up to Calgary and QB and I hitched south. We got a fun ride from Ina, Karen, and Jules (an AT long distance hiker herself) back to East Glacier. There are lots of hikers in town and after pigging out at the restaurant we hung out with all them out front. Breaking camp on our last morning Pride Rock?Ptarmigan Ptunnel Walking out of the tunnel QB, Garbelly and Critter at Dawn Mist Falls Dawn Mist Falls A bunch of kids walking to Canada This trail was overwhelmingly dudes, it’s cool that we finished with 3 women; QB, Critter and Kate

Over the course of 134 days I walked roughly 2800 miles from one imaginary line to another (QB had her total mileage at 2795, I’ll go through my journals later but that seems acurate). The trail was significantly harder than I thought it would be, but also more incredible than I could have ever imagined. Finishing the trail hasn’t exactly sunk in yet and I’m sure it will take a while to digest. I’ll have it forever and I will look back fondly at this summer on the CDT. The fact that there are so few hikers on the trail makes for a tighter knit community. Probably like going to a small high school or something. I met some great people out here that I look forward to seeing again. Oh yeah, I will definitely be back here too. The CDT introduced me to so many great places that I definitely plan to explore more.

I have so much gratitude for everybody who helped me get through this trail; trail angels, folks who gave me rides, people who took me in and fed me or gave me a place to crash for a night, friends who came out to hike with me, all the support I’ve got from this blog and encouragement from friends following my hike online (it holds me accountable in a way, a good way, and provides motivation to finish this grueling hike). Thank you to my parents and family for their continued love and support and especially to my hiking partner Queen B who made this summer so much fun and without her, I would not have made it.

-Endless

PS All My Love!!! And thanks for reading

PPS from East Glacier we are catching a train to Seattle and hiking for a few more weeks. The train should be fun, I don’t think I’ve ever taken anything longer than the commuter rail from Lynn to Boston. Originally we planned on hiking the last 350 miles of the PCT so QB could finish her triple crown but due to fires might have to come up with an alternative plan. Stay tuned there should be more posts in the next few weeks. And seriously thanks for reading, it has been a pleasure writing this blog and I appreciate the feedback I’ve got. If you want to see different pictures feel free to follow me on instagram @endlesspsummer

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Posted on September 12, 2017 by endlesspsummer

Hiking, Thru hiking, travel

adventure, cdt, colorado, continental divide trail, hike, Hiking, hitchhiking, Idaho, land of enchantment, Montana, mountains, new mexico, smoke, sunset, thru hike, Thru hiking, thruhike, thruhiking, travel, traveling, travelling, washington, wildfire, Wyoming

Day 117 8/24 25 miles

First thing this morning I put a nice beating on the continental breakfast at the Trade Wind Motel. It was a good one too, they had like 20 different boxes of cereal to choose from. I felt like I was in Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment. So many options but I gotta have my Pops, like 4 bowls of them. After breakfast we hit the trail, actually a road. For miles we walked along pavement and it was not ideal. We crossed under I-90 and it turned to dirt road which was better. This section of trail, about 52 miles today and yesterday, is actually an alternate of the official trail. The regular route is east of here near the city of Butte and a good deal longer. I originally planned on going that way but I heard that was also a lot of road walking and I don’t think I missed too much. Another time. Besides the city of Anaconda though, which was cool, the last two days have been a bit of a slog. I definitely was excited to be back on trail when we got there this evening. Road walking on dirt road is one thing but pavement walking is for the birds, especially highways with lots of cars. What’s cool about taking the Anaconda route is that all of a sudden we’re around a bunch of other hikers. The CDT is weird. Sometimes it seemed as if we would get into these vacuums where we would barely see other hikers for hundreds of miles but lately lots of hikers have been taking different alternates and all seem to be converging at the same time and place. We’re seeing lots of people. Pei Mei and his crew caught up and we walked with some of them today after not seeing them for a couple of states. Shortly after getting back on the official trail QB and I found a good spot to camp and called it a night. Anaconda Stack, this is one of the biggest smokestacks in the world and is now a state park. Google it for some interesting infoI did this for milesand then some of thissweet coyote fence!this guy George gives water to hikers at his hunting camp

Day 118 8/25 31 miles

Today was relaxing. Just crushed miles all day and the trail didn’t have anything too spectacular for us but at the same time was pretty easy. While QB and I were taking a little break this morning Spirit came bombing by. We hadn’t seen him since near Breckinridge so we talked for a few minutes and then leap frogged with him a couple times today. At some point this afternoon we caught up to Griggs and walked with him for a few hours. We hadn’t seen him since he passed us climbing up the Argentine Spine. He’s been staying on the official route and absolutely crushing this trail, the only reason we caught him was because we took the shorter Anaconda route and he took the Red(official) route going to Butte. We moved right along while hiking with him but the 3 of us missed a turn and went a half mile the wrong way before realizing our mistake and doubling back. In everybody’s defense the turn really wasn’t marked all that well. Queen B and I walked a couple more hours before finding a campsite. While we were eating gummy bears or whatever, Bones, who we last saw near Breckinridge, walked up with a headlamp on. He was trying to catch Spirit but decided to camp here also.

Day 119 8/26 23 miles

The trail was a bit bland today. Easy but bland. Although it’s been enjoyable, this whole section since Anaconda has been somewhat dull as far as the CDT goes. We walked a soft dirt path for awhile through a lodge pole pine forest and then joined a dirt road for miles. We walked in and out of the forest and over a few open meadows until we got to MacDonald Pass. Everything was all good today except for one mile that had tons of blowdowns that we had to walk over, under or around. A total nuisance. At the pass we put our thumbs out and the first truck that went by turned around and picked us up and took us into Helena. Hitchhiking with QB is pretty easy. Ted, a retiree and avid hiker, along with his dog Trip, took us all the way to our hotel and even offered us a ride back to the trail on Monday. We’re planning to take a day off here tomorrow and enjoy the capital so we took care of our resupply tonight then went to dinner downtown before crashing out for the night. a view of the valley from MacDonald pass

Day 120 8/27 0 miles

Took the day off today to enjoy Montana’s capital city, Helena, and possibly our last zero on this trail. Helena is a nice little city rich in gold mining history. At one time it had the highest concentration of millionaires in the world living in it, or something like that. Queen B and I took a nice little walking tour of the city this morning and it was cool. First of all we switched hotels to one closer to downtown so while we walked there we explored the State House and ran a few other little errands. The other day one of my trekking poles got stuck closed to the point that it was rendered useless. So we had to go to a gear shop and instead of selling me new sticks, they let me borrow some pliers and with a little bit of effort I fixed the stuck one. We also checked out the St. Helena Cathedral, the original governor’s mansion, and a really cool art museum but the name is escaping me right now. It was a regular good old fashioned walking tour of a state capital on a nice 95 degree day. Today also included McDonald’s for breakfast, pizza, gigantic burritos, and ice cream. It was a very enjoyable day off.the State House Red Sox nation is everywhereis this creepy?the original governor’s mansionSt. Helena’s Cathedral, I’m not against incredible architecture. This building is impressive.QB beautifying the sidewalk with a chalk mural

Day 121 8/28 20 miles

This morning we got breakfast down the street and looked over the upcoming section that includes a potential fire closure and reroute situation up ahead. After breakfast we went back to the hotel and noticed some of the other hikers had fresh haircuts. These guys bought clippers in town so we borrowed them and I gave QB a haircut. Not really, I just shaved the lower half of her head, I guess that’s all the rage these days. We then started back to the trail and got two relatively quick hitches back up to MacDonald Pass around 11. Back on trail we met up with Mac, Appa, and JPEG and hiked with those guys for most of the day. At some point we were in Ted Kaczynski’s old neighborhood(the Unabomber). The FBI seized his whole cabin though so there was no sign of the weirdo. This section is pretty dry and very smoky due to the wildfire up ahead. We took an alternate to the west of the trail that had a better water situation. Once back on the official trail we made it to a water source and shortly after that found a place in the pines to camp. This is an old train tresses and looked extremely apocalyptic possibly what the unabomber’s cabin would have looked like, as this was in the area where the lunatic lived JPeg, QB and Mac

Day 122 8/29 31 miles

Today was a hot, humid, hazy, and smoky day to walk to Canada. The water sources were very limited but luckily we came across caches twice. There’s some awesome person in the area that stocks caches at both Stemple Pass and Flesher Pass and because of them I didn’t dry up today. Due to the weather and a bunch of short steep climbs it was a tough day to conserve water. We hiked with Mac and Appa this morning until those guys took a different route towards town. As of right now there’s a big wildfire up ahead causing a trail closure and a reroute so hikers are taking a few different routes to get down into Lincoln. Queen B and I got to Flesher Pass tonight and instead of going to Rodgers Pass(where the trail is closed), our plan is to walk the road from here to connect with the reroute a little earlier. This plan will eliminate some of the highway walking around the closure that will be inevitable. Wildfires and trail closures are a pain in the ass but also part of the hike and not really all that big of a deal for us compared to the people who are living up here and who are actually affected by the fires. Anyway after a long hot day we found a spot to camp about a quarter mile from the road and we’ll be walking that for awhile tomorrow before getting into Lincoln.lots of hikers along this ridge, I felt like I was in the desert in on the PCTa large group of hiking enthusiastscool house!moo!!! I drank a bunch of this gigantic cow’s water

Day 123 8/30 13 miles

Holy smokes!! It’s been a super smoky morning as we walked down from Flesher Pass and even smokier here in Lincoln. We started walking down a trail that Queen B invented, following power lines steeply down to a road after a mile or two. Once we got to the road we walked along it for about 6 miles, took a left and walked another 6 miles to the point where the reroute cuts north. At this point we hitched into Lincoln and we’ll start back here tomorrow morning. We’ve got a big section coming up going through the Bob Marshal Wilderness so we’ll take care of a few chores in town this afternoon and hit the trail hard tomorrow. The sun looks crazy in the smoke, don’t even need eclipse glasses

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Posted on August 19, 2017 by endlesspsummer

Hiking, Thru hiking, travel

adventure, cdt, continental divide trail, hike, Hiking, Idaho, Montana, mountains, thru hike, Thru hiking, thruhike, thruhiking, travel, traveling

Day 99 8/6 30 miles

Yesterday after eating burritos at Mack’s Inn in Island Park we walked a couple miles on the highway before getting to the Sawtell Resort campground. Included with a cheap tent site was full use of their hot tub, pool and showers. Along with a couple southbounders, Magpie and Schweppes, and a pair of section hikers, Margo and Jasper, we soaked in the hot tub for a couple hours. I really hope they change the water in that thing after they let 6 stinky hikers stew in there for hours. After our soak I got a plate of Lo Mein at the Chinese food place across the street and called it a night. This morning we ate breakfast sandwiches then ice cream sandwiches at the little grocery store and began walking. The first ten miles were a dirt road walk that climbed up towards Sawtell Peak. Then we followed what wasn’t much of a trail at all for about 5 miles, more of a bushwhack, through tons of wildflowers next to a creek. At some point during this bushwhack we crossed into Montana for the first time and then walked along the Idaho/Montana border for the rest of the day. Once we got away from the creek the trail climbed through a forest and up on a ridge. We walked into an awesome sunset along the ridge but there was no place to camp up there. Luckily the moon was full and we are so far west that it stays light out until 9:30. Eventually we dropped down but the only decent spot to camp was right on trail. Oh yeah I saw a coyote puppy or maybe even a wolf puppy this afternoon jumping around and stuff, it was at the top of a hill probably about 50 yards away and I really wish I got a better look at this little rascal.Bushwhacking through buku wildflowers as you can tell from these pictures, I walked into an awesome sunset tonight

Day 100 8/7 25 miles

Today was rather uneventful. We got a later start than usual since we hiked late last night. The trail went up on a ridge this morning and then through forest for about a dozen miles before we stopped at Arduous Lake for lunch, not really fit for swimming though. After lunch we walked through a burn for hours and then had a nice climb up to a pass right before Rock Spring where we broke for supper this evening. I don’t want to say it was boring, I enjoyed myself and everything but it might have been the most uneventful day of the whole trail. We did see a couple of big sheep dogs barking at us shortly before we found a spot to camp but other than that didn’t see much wildlife and no other hikers. It has been a good section for birds of prey though, lots of cool hawks.delicious icy cold water at Rock Spring

Day 101 8/8 16 miles

We pretty much just crushed the trail all morning and into the afternoon to get to Interstate 15 where we got a ride into the town of Lima, Montana. This is a tiny little town and the motel there was full of mostly southbound hikers who are filming a documentary or something. Jan’s Cafe across the street was renting out little cabins so that was cool, we got one of those for the night. In town we finally caught up to 3 hikers who we last saw in Chama, NM and have been just ahead of us for months; Moaglee, Little Spoon, and Kibbs. After we took care of some town chores a bunch of us went out for supper at Peat Cafe where you can cook your own steaks. The place was cool and the concept of cooking your own steak must work out especially nice for them since they don’t have to pay a cook plus nobody sends their food back. We ate our steaks then resupplied for the next section at a gas station. I’ve been eating all crap on trail and that’s what gas stations specialize in.school bus for snow days that way you can’t send your food back
Day 102 8/9 21 miles

This morning we had breakfast with Moist at Jan’s Cafe next to the cabins. He had been hiking with Mac and Appa when we last saw him down in the boot heel and got off trail in Winter Park but was about to rejoin his buddies. Mac and Appa walked in the restaurant and were shocked to see that their buddy had come back from the proverbial dead. B and I put a beating on breakfast then walked out to the interstate and put our thumbs out. We got the rare big rig to pull over and drive us the 20 miles back to the trail around 12 o’clock. Once back on trail we walked on dirt roads through desert for a couple hours until the trail climbed up on an open ridge. There were electrical storms all over the place so we took an alternate that kept us low for a few more miles and hopefully the T and L would subside. This worked out for us for awhile since we didn’t get struck by lightning but on the bushwhack up to the ridge I had to walk through all kinds of nettles that made my legs itch like whoa. The ridge was a roller coaster of steep ups and downs for about a dozen miles before eventually dropping down into some pines where we could camp. I ran into 3 southbounders today including ‘One of Us’ who I first met in Northern California on the PCT in ’15. On the left is Idaho, on the right Montana. Or the other way around This rainbow started in Idaho and ended in Montana with the trail in the middle

Day 103 8/10 29 miles

For some unexplainable reason I tossed and turned all night and barely got any sleep. Insomnia has been, without a doubt, the most frustrating and difficult obstacle I’ve had to face on this trail so far. I ended up getting a couple hours of sleep and didn’t start hiking until close to 9am. My first half dozen miles were miserable, I was exhausted and dragging ass through tall grass and constantly stepping on fresh cow pies. The trail then steeply climbed a few thousand feet and Queen B and I must have both caught the eye of the tiger or some other rush of adrenaline because we both bolted up that pass. The rest of the day my body felt pretty strong and thankfully the trail wasn’t too fierce. A good amount of dirt road and some long slow climbs and descents with wide open views. After seeing absolutely nobody all day we came across a group of 8 sobo’s all within a quarter mile of each other(rare to see that many people hiking together). Among them was Salt Lick who I met in ’15 in the California desert, it’s got to the point where every time I see a hiker coming my way I wonder if we’ve already met. QB and I walked a few more miles into the sunset and down towards Deadman Lake where we set up for the night just out of reach of a thunderstorm in the distance. Just when I thought this trail couldn’t get any weirder, we come up on all these huge white cliffs

Day 104 8/11 29 miles

I thought I would be pretty sluggish today after another lousy night’s sleep but I got my mojo back right after climbing the steep trail to a pass from Deadman Lake. We then descended and followed the trail onto rolling plains for awhile. This afternoon thunderstorms moved in right before we had to climb up on to an exposed ridge so we found some shelter in a few pines and waited about a half hour. Perfect timing. The clouds moved through and the 3 or 4 miles up on the ridge went smoothly. We saw Moaglee and Little Spoon doing the same thing, chilling out and waiting for the storm to pass. Up on the ridge we had some pretty sweet views and saw a herd of pronghorn bolting past us(I thought these were the same thing as antelope but I guess there’s a difference). We dropped down from the ridge and everything was nice and peaceful for awhile and then out of nowhere we had this super cold rain for a couple hours. Whatever. It cleared up and we found a nice spot to camp in some pines by Morrison Lake. Howling The sky hazy from distant wildfires About 15 super fast pronghorn

Day 105 8/12 25 miles

Finally some rest. Slept like a rock last night. This morning we got up and just cruised all day. The trail was mostly rolling dirt road up high on an open ridge but there were some good climbs in there. We saw a little red fox jumping around in the grass either playing or looking for mice and stuff. When it saw us it took off into the woods. Too bad because the last time I saw a fox it came right up close to play, probably expecting a frisbee toss or something. Once the trail turned off the dirt road onto actual trail and started up towards Elk Mountain I saw what I thought was a black dog. It wasn’t, it was a little black bear cub following another cub but this one was cinnamon colored and both were following a cinnamon colored sow. At first I thought it was a black bear cub hanging out with his grizzly bear friends, but I’m pretty sure this doesn’t happen. After this cool little bear sighting we got up over 10,000 feet on Elk Mountain and then just cruised downhill about 12 miles to Bannock Pass. Sam, the owner of the 4 room Leadore Inn, drove up to the pass and brought us down into Leadore(population 105) for the night. To get here from Bannock Pass we drove down gravel rt 29, the last unpaved highway in the country, supposedly. In town we grabbed some burgers at the town restaurant and then hung out in yard at the inn with Moaglee, Little Spoon, Kibbs and Lux. To see more pictures of this trip feel free to follow my insta @endlesspsummer QB crushing miles

-Endless

PS All My Love!!!

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Posted on August 13, 2017 by endlesspsummer

Hiking, Thru hiking, travel

adventure, cdt, continental divide trail, hike, Hiking, Idaho, Montana, mountains, sunset, thru hike, Thru hiking, thruhike, thruhiking, travel, traveling, travelling

Day 88 7/26 7 miles

After sleeping in this morning in the comfortable guesthouse at the 3 Peaks Ranch I enjoyed a substantial breakfast with some much needed fresh food. Cereal with milk and bananas for a change(instead of the off brand dry lucky charms that I’m always eating on trail) and fried eggs with cheese on bagels. Plus grapes, lots of fresh delicious grapes. We hung out for awhile with some of the Nols staff and then Nina took us into Pinedale to resupply. In Pinedale we got pizza and grilled Nina on all things Nols and she told us about her fascinating job as a cowgirl, super b.a. After pizza we grabbed milkshakes and then Nina dropped us off at the trailhead. Queen B and I hiked for a few hours on the Seneca Lake Trail that led back to the CDT. We found a sweet spot to camp near Hobbs Lake and enjoyed the sunset with a view of the mountains while we ate dinner. QB and Nina and a whole buttload of horsesSeneca Lake

Day 89 7/27 29 miles

Today was awesome. Honestly it might have been the most scenic landscape I’ve ever walked through. I could try to describe it or you could just look through the some of the pictures below but the camera never does the scenery justice. I had heard the Winds would be pretty impressive and they definitely lived up to the hype. The beauty of the Wind River Range rivals anyplace I’ve ever walked through before. We passed Seneca Lake early this morning and then walked through a landscape of snowy jagged peaks in every direction and crossed countless icy cold rivers. Eventually we descended into a the Green River Valley and before we camped had awesome views of Square Top Mountain. Green river really is green!

Day 90 7/28 30 miles

Today started off with a moose sighting. There was a great big bull moose eating grass or something right across the river from where we camped last night. We walked through the valley that contained Green River and the Green River Lakes for half a dozen miles this morning and views looking back were incredible. Square Top Mountain dominated the horizon above the snaking Green River that is literally bright green, there must be some minerals in it or something that give the water it’s unique color. After passing all this water the trail climbed steeply up to Gunsight Pass, this might have been our steepest climb in Wyoming to date. On the north side of the Pass we got a nice view of the Grand Tetons (I think) in the distance. The CDT doesn’t go through the Tetons but I’ll most definitely make it a point to come back and traverse that park some day. After lunch QB was leading the way and had a close encounter with another moose and then we both had close encounters with about a million mosquitoes. The forest we were walking through led to a huge open meadow and it was something of a mosquito hell. I put on long pants, my rain jacket, and head net and not only was I still managing to get bit now I was walking around in a sweat box. It was annoying. On a positive note we saw a massive bald eagle this afternoon and this was definitely a confirmed eagle sighting (usually if either of us see a large bird in the distance and don’t know what it is, it’s an eagle until proven otherwise. We’ve had many unconfirmed eagle sightings). After walking across some fields with views of the massive Tetons we found a pleasant place to camp for the night.tough to see in this picture but this was an awesome moose sighting, first thing we saw this morning.ol’ Square Top crossing Clear Creek, coldest water everQB climbing up Gunsight Passand me at the topBlame it on the Tetons!

Day 91 7/29 29 miles

There was nothing all that remarkable about today except I’m pretty sure we saw a grizzly. Plus lots of birds of prey. The trail was rather tame all day following fields, snowmobile tracks and gravel roads. Shortly after lunch we were walking down a dirt road through a burn area when we saw grizzly bear running in the opposite direction about 50 yards away. Now I’m not 100% sure it was a grizzly but if it was a black bear it would have been the blondest black bear I’ve ever seen. This was a little alarming but it wasn’t a dangerous situation just a gentle reminder to continue to be aware. After a full day of hiking we got to Togwottee Pass and started to hitch towards Dubois. This is the first paved road the CDT passes in 180 miles. After a little while a couple in a pickup towing a boat pulled over. Walking up to the truck I recognized the voice of Joe Castiglione announcing a Red Sox game on the radio, I knew this was a good sign and the couple drove us all the way to town. St. Thomas’s church has a free hostel in Dubois for hikers and bikers, it was awesome. There were a few other hikers there that we hadn’t met yet and also 3 cyclists riding cross country. The hostel had a kitchen so QB and I whipped up some spaghetti with meat sauce since we both had been talking about pasta for about a week. Dubois is a cool little town and it was really nice of the church to let us crash there. We were walking towards a view of this thing all day, whatever it ismy favorite kind of hitch, the back of a pickup truck

Follow me on insta for more pictures @endlesspsummer

-Endless

PS All My Love!!!

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Posted on July 30, 2017 by endlesspsummer

Hiking, Thru hiking, travel

adventure, cdt, continental divide trail, hike, Hiking, hitchhiking, mountains, sunset, thru hike, Thru hiking, thruhike, thruhiking, travel, traveling, travelling, Wyoming

Day 79 7/17 9 miles

Enjoying some much needed sleep this morning, I didn’t get out of bed until close to 9:30. Just in time to put a good beating on the Days Inn continental breakfast. Then I returned to the room to continue sleeping until checkout. Queen B and I spent the bulk of the afternoon resupplying and relaxing inside an air conditioned McDonald’s with free wifi and a steady flow of double cheeseburgers and vanilla ice cream cones. Even though we sat out the heat of the day the temperature was still close to 90 when we got back on trail around 5. The trail cuts through the city of Rawlins and then follows rt 287 for a few miles before joining a dirt road out in the open range paralel to the highway. We ran into Buddy Backpacker and his parents Andrea and Dion who were hiking south for a section. I saw these 3 briefly last year in Colorado and we met Dion again way down in the boot heel of New Mexico a few months ago. We walked on, enjoying a nice sunset and found a place to camp as it was getting dark. People in Rawlins keep deer as petsstill living inside an REI commercial

Day 80 7/18 40 miles.

We knocked it out of the park today! The trail was flat, hot, dry and treeless all day. It was ideal for big miles. Early on we decided we would aim for 40 and were relentless in our pursuit. Honestly though it wasn’t all that difficult. The trail through the Great Basin is made for cruising. You have to go long distances in between water sources and since there’s no trees there’s no place to take breaks in the shade. Might as well just keep walking. There wasn’t any other people out here but we did see some wild horses and about a hundred antelope. I’m not sure if the horses are actually wild but I didn’t see any fences or cowboys and the hoof prints didn’t look like they were shoed (plus my friend Speed said that BLM has something like 10,000 horses). We walked through the sunset and as it began to get dark we hit 40 miles and called it a day.this all day long!QB going all Clark Griswold across the desert there’s antelope in this picture, there so fast and skittish it’s hard to get a good shot of themWalking into a beautiful Wyoming Sunset

Day 81 7/19 32 miles

There really is no sense in taking our time through the Basin so we tried again for 40 today. The skies were mostly overcast all day and this provided some decent shade and was good for hiking. Yesterday the heat was borderline oppressive but today it was much cooler and rather comfortable. I saw more wild horses again and tons of antelope(those things are fast!). Around 30 miles in we came across an awesome water cache stocked by Hawkeye and stopped for supper. I was feeling really good after we ate and definitely had ten more in me but Mother Nature had other plans. About 20 minutes later, the clouds that were providing shade and keeping us cool all day suddenly got really dark and suddenly we were enveloped on all sides by thunderheads. There was lightning in every direction and it started to pour. The only move was to quickly find a lower lying area and quickly set up camp. This wasn’t a passing storm, there was heavy rain with thunder and lightning for about an hour, and then there was an incredible sunset and a faint rainbow visible from my tent. More of this today but with a few more trees here and thereWild Horses!! Run Faster!! Run Faster!!!it looks like this weather is starting to change on usthen it stormed like whoa!

Day 82 7/20 36 miles

Today might as well have been two separate days, at least it felt that way. It was mostly blue skies, with a few clouds, a slight breeze and hot until about 6:30. We even came across the Sweetwater River and jumped right in. So nice to cool off after a few hot days in the desert. We stopped to eat dinner around 6 and had some big time thunderheads looming directly in our path. There was another crazy electric storm just a few miles ahead of us and we were the highest points on a flat plain. Continuing forward was not an option. We could have either retreated backwards and found some lower ground to camp on but instead we audibled. Looking at the map we decided to cut West down to a river and then stick between a river and a road that went all the way to South Pass City(this isn’t really a city but more of a historical area along the lines of Plimoth Plantation or Sturbridge Village). We had resupply boxes waiting for us in SPC and this was our next destination. Taking this route we figured we could go along the edge of the T-Storm and avoid trouble. It was crazy! For the most part we stayed out of harm’s way but were right on the edge of a couple different storm systems and more than once had to stop and hunker down for a few minutes. We had to cross a river, crawl under a few fences, and were cutting across what was probably private property but it seemed to be the safest and only option. After a couple hours we were out ahead of the danger and were not only happy that we didn’t get struck by lightning but were also able to enjoy some incredible skies for the last hour into town. There was a remarkable double rainbow as well as bright orange, yellow, pink, purple and dark gray sky in all directions. This was a truly incredible experience, I’ve never seen such an intense sunset. Wyoming has the best sunsets! It was dark by the time we got into SPC and found a spot to set up. I’m relieved to be able to sleep in tomorrow since the store where I’m picking my package up doesn’t open until 9.

-Endless

PS All My Love!!!Walking towards Wind River Range in the distanceswam here in the Sweetwater Riverthe sky got so crazy!I swear there was a perfect full double rainbow but when it was visible my hands and phone were too wet to take a picture escaping!Getting through the T-Storm safe and sound