Day 135: Back on the Red-Line CDT!

September 2: During the night, it became surprisingly cold and I laid in my sleeping bag, reluctant to start the day. I wound up not getting on the trail and hiking until about 7:40am. Definitely a lazy start to the day!

The day's hike was largely uneventful. The biggest excitement for me was that I finally reconnected with the main, red-line CDT! I was back in Guthook territory! It took me 11 days (with no zero days!), but the Super Butte Cutoff was finally over!

The morning was cold enough to form some frost on this boardwalk.

 

Much of the day followed gravel roads. There was some real trail in the morning--a continuation from the trail I had reached last night--but it didn't last long. I reached a trailhead and continued the rest of the day mostly along gravel roads, but fortunately they weren't particularly busy or problematic.

The route took me under I-15, which if I had still planned to go into Butte, I would have tried to hitch a ride south into town. As the weather was great, however, and I was able to resupply in Whitehall, I pushed onward. My days of good weather were numbered. I couldn't be wasting them by goofing around in town for no good reason.

I passed under Interstate 15, which if I wanted to go into Butte, this would have been a good place to get a ride into town since it headed due south into the city. (Not on the FedEx truck, however, since that was heading north.)

Sometimes during the day, I noticed smoke drifting through parts of the sky. It wasn't very bad, but it was still there. Late in the day, I noticed what appeared to be a couple of slash piles that had been burned recently, and I wondered if it was connected with the smoke in parts of the sky. Coincidence? On the other hand, I was a little surprised that they'd be burning slash piles at all with wildfires burning out of control not far away. Did they have time for that?  Maybe the sites I saw weren't slash piles--just small fires that had been extinguished? I couldn't really know for sure. If it was a slash pile, the evidence had burned!

I passed a few of these small burned areas, but they were so small and limited in size, it made me think that they burned a slash pile and it wasn't just an out-of-control wildfire.

 

I wasn't on the red-line for long, however, before I took a small alternate that led toward the Lowland Creek Campground--which, according to Guthook, had toilets and a water pump. It was really the water I wanted, but I was happy to use the toilets while in the area. As an added perk, the route was 1.8 miles shorter than taking the red-line the whole way then walking off trail to the campground.

The water was definitely a necessity, however, since it was the last reliable water that I knew about for nearly 20 miles. I wouldn't have access to water again for nearly 24 hours! So I definitely needed to fill up.

Water at the Lowland CG came from this pump. =)

It was tempting to stop at the campground for the night. It was already late in the day when I arrived, and I had already completed over 20 miles when I reached it. The small fee for the night wasn't a hardship, but the weather was still excellent and I was in a good mood and wanted to keep going while the weather was so pleasant. I did stop to cook dinner at a picnic table near the water pump--use and abuse the water while I could!

After dinner, I pushed onward another 40 minutes--about 2 miles--near where the alternate route I was following reconnected with the red-line CDT once again.

Somewhere along this stretch, I realized that I had no topo maps to follow! The Azena maps I had downloaded weren't working for some reason, and since I entered a new state since I last used Guthook, I  had apparently forgotten to update my settings to download the topo maps for Montana. So I had neither the Azena maps that I had been using for the Super Butte Cutoff nor the topo maps on Guthook. Hiking a trail without topo maps is like hiking naked. It made me feel very exposed!

As soon as I could find a strong enough cell phone signal, perhaps I could download a topo map. Until then, however, I'd have to live without it. =(

 

 

 

Well, that's a trail I hadn't heard of before....

Some of the clouds looked colored with smoke, but where was it coming from?!

Day 134: Leaving Whitehall

Sept 1: I took my time getting out of town. My spot at the Whitehall Town Hall had been quite cozy so I wasn't especially motivated to leave, but leave I finally did. At around 7:20am.

The smoke from the day before had largely cleared during the night, and I hoped it would stay away for the rest of the day. (It would.)

On my way out of town, I stopped by the grocery store for a couple of items I had forgotten to purchase yesterday evening, and then I followed the paved road west out of town.

I started by using walking directions provided by Google Maps, but my GPS and maps included a different route that split off several miles away which I estimated cut off about 10 miles of walking--quite a substantial shortcut! Even better, this other route followed little-used gravel roads. Definitely a shortcut worth taking!

The first few hours, however, were along a moderately busy paved road under the blistering sun. Eventually the route ducked under I-90 once again--the third time I passed under the Interstate. Shortly thereafter, the road became gravel and few vehicles passed me after that. It was a much improved experience!

The third (and last) time I'd pass under Interstate 90.

The trail, however, started heading uphill, climbing higher and higher. Even this wasn't entirely bad, however, as it meant I got away from the wide-open fields for crops. Now there were small bushes and trees to provide shade when I stopped for a rest. There wasn't a lot, but it was better than nothing which is about how much I had before. And the amount of shade opportunities increased the higher I got in elevation.

The fully-loaded pack I carried was pretty miserable heading into the mountains, however, so I grumbled about that. There was always something to complain about--one of the things about long-distance hiking is that there's always something to complain about. Which can be a blessing when you feel like complaining about something. =)

By the end of the day, I covered over 20 miles, and my GPS recorded over 4,000 feet of elevation gain which also meant the ambient air temperature was quite a bit cooler than it would have been had I stayed in Whitehall for the day.

Near the end of the day, I finally reached a real trail! No more road walking! At least for the time being. I had no doubt there would be more roads in my future, but this gave me a chance to set up camp off a road near Halfway Creek.

Near the end of the day, I finally reached a real trail again!

Too bad I wasn't be in town to see the Suicide Squad!

These crosses marked a death on the road, but I preferred to think they were people in vehicles who managed to get themselves killed and not pedestrians who were walking along the side of the road and were hit by vehicles! But there was never any information about that, so I could only guess.

See my shadow walking over the highway bridge over the railroad?

I didn't have super detailed maps of the area, so it was nice finding this at a trailhead along the gravel road. It wasn't perfect (it was meant for motorbikers, not hikers), but it had a lot of information that I didn't have before.

Looks like a tree bashed in this gate at some point!

Day 133: Heaven in Whitehall

August 31: I woke up and hit the trail at what I thought was about 7:00am, but when I checked the time upon setting out I was shocked to see that it was already 7:20am. How did that happen?! Where did the extra 20 minutes go? I never did find out....

The morning was really smoky! It turned the sunrise into a very reddish sun.

The first 1.5 miles of the day, I followed trails--real trails!--through Lewis and Clark Caverns SP, more-or-less parallel to the highway I had been following. It was a bit more rugged with ups and downs, and with the twists and turns, the trail added an extra half mile to my day's hiking, but it was also on actual trails which was a huge improvement over walking along the highway so it was a no-brainer for me.

The rest of the day was just one long road walk. Highway 2 eventually led into the small town of Cardwell, which had a very nice gas station convenience store that I hit up for a cold drink and a couple of snacks. The sky had been very smoky all morning--much much worse than anything from yesterday--and the clerk behind the counter confirmed that a new wildfire had broken out somewhere nearby the day before. He wasn't exactly sure where, but that was where all the smoke had been coming from.

Out of Cardwell, I continued my road walk--passing an old campsite for Lewis and Clark. According to Google Maps, the campsite was located just north of where the trail crossed under I-90, just outside of town. Highway 2 then turned into Highway 69, which followed parallel to I-90 the rest of the day on my way into Whitehall.

Reaching I-90 was a milestone of sorts for me. The western end of it ends right in Seattle. I was just one road away from Seattle! If I wanted to quit the trail, this would be an excellent place to do it. Some of the motorists passing by might even be on their way to Seattle and I was just one long hitch from home.

But I had no intention of stopping my hike. I was too close to the end! I had to keep going, and going I did.

Interstate 90 had 80 mph speed limits.

I arrived into Whitehall at around noon and found the town hall where, allegedly, hikers were allowed to camp. I poked my head in and saw a young woman manning (womanning?) the front desk, and I asked about the rumors that hikers could stay there....?

She said yes, absolutely, and asked me to wait a moment while she got the mayor to give me a tour.

Mayor Mary showed me around the place. The town hall used to be where ambulances were housed, so there was a giant garage and small corner of it was set up for hiker use. There was a hiker box, a few chairs, and space to sleep. She also said I could sleep outside in the back on some grass, although with all the smoke in the air, perhaps it wasn't the healthiest of options. There was also a washer and dryer to clean clothes, a bathroom with a shower for cleaning up and wi-fi to get online. The place was a paradise!

She also introduced me to her pink bicycle--it was her personal bike that she brought to the town hall for hikers to use to get around town. I asked if it had a lock in case I wanted to lock it up while I was grocery shopping or something, and she looked at me like I was crazy. "Nobody's going to steal this bike. Everyone knows it's the mayor's bike. And it's bright pink."

In hindsight, it seemed like a stupid question. =) And if someone was stupid enough to steal it, the mayor probably was on a first-name basis with the sheriff. Nobody would dare steal the mayor's bike and get away with it!

Whitehall's Town Hall

Mayor Mary said that she was surprised to see me. I was the first hiker who had dropped in over a week and she thought maybe the last of the thru-hikers had finished going through town. Nope, I was still plodding along, but I was also probably near the back of the pack. I really needed to get a move-on and finish this trail before the snow started flying.

The tour finished, Mayor Mary went back to running the town and I settled in. I started a load of laundry going and took a shower, then decided to head out for an early dinner on the pink bike. I had no problem riding around on a bright, pink girls bike. Nobody would mess with a homeless-looking guy riding a pink bike. I felt pretty sure about that.

Whitehall wasn't a large town, but I did a Google search for restaurants in town and noticed an A&W not far away near an exit for I-90 and thought, yes, I needed that. The last time I borrowed a bike on a thru-hike, I rode it north to Canada and stopped to eat at an A&W. It seemed fitting to repeat the experience. I wouldn't be riding north to Canada--but I would have to ride north to I-90 during my hike to Canada. Close enough!

So I headed off. I was a little disappointed when I arrived at the A&W and saw that the dining room was closed. Stupid COVID-19! So I rode the bike through the drive-thru instead. I really wished there was another thru-hiker around to snap a photo of me. I must have looked awesome riding my pink little bike through the drive-thru of the local A&W. I wondered if previous hikers had done the same or if I was the first.

I ate lunch outside in the parking lot, then headed off to the grocery store to do some shopping.

Eating dinner with my A&W fries and pink bike. =)

 
Originally, my plan had been to resupply in Butte. Maybe take a zero day. But the weather forecast for the next week looked very good and it seemed a shame to waste it hitching into town, taking a zero, and hitching back to the trail. Butte was just a day or two away, but I didn't know about Whitehall back then. I didn't realize I could do all my resupplying in Whitehall and easily be able to skip Butte altogether. And as long as the weather was good, I really didn't want to slow down with hitches and zero days. Nope, better to push onward!

So I picked up enough food to get me all the way to Helena where I planned to do my next resupply. My laptop was waiting for me at the post office in Butte.... I wasn't sure what I should do about that. Ship it ahead to Helena.... except I expected to arrive during Labor Day weekend. The post office would be closed on Sunday and Monday. Well, I'll figure that out later. For now, I'd just leave my laptop sitting in the post office in Butte.

Then I headed back to the town hall where I settled in for the rest of the night, mostly watching Netflix shows on my phone and reading my Kindle. I was in heaven!

The first 1.5 miles of the day I could follow real trails through Lewis and Clark Caverns SP.

Then it was road walks the rest of the day....

Jefferson River

Arriving into Cardwell.

While it's true that Lewis and Clark did camp nearby, don't think that they endorsed this particular campground. I'm pretty sure the campground didn't exist when L&C passed by. ;o)

Passing under I-90

Whitehall--just 6 more miles away!

Passing under I-90 a second time....

But what about the guns?! That's what I want to know!

Day 132: Lewis and Clark Caverns

August 30: I woke up particularly early to hit the trail this morning. I had been looking at maps and realized that I wasn't especially far from Lewis and Clark Caverns SP, Montana's first and most visited state park. I had been there once before years ago and it was well worth the visit. It wasn't on the most direct route to Butte, but I calculated that it would add a mere 4 miles out of my way to visit and it was, I felt, well worth an extra 4 miles to visit. And it would break up the long, miserable road walk.

So I was up and walking by 6:40am. I was still following the highway north with the endless open fields so despite the early morning hour, it was easily light enough for me to see. In the trees, I wouldn't have been able to get such an early start. Not anymore. Plus, the busy highway wasn't quite as busy at 6:40am as it would be later in the day. And it was cooler. Definitely worth an early start!

There was a restaurant in town that served breakfast, but it didn't open until 7:00am so I decided to skip it. It had been tempting, though. A real hearty breakfast would have hit the spot.

Part of the reason for my rush was that the website for the caverns warned that tickets were sold on a first-come, first-serve basis and that they often sold out early, so I wanted to get there and get my tickets ASAP. I was in a race! A race for a ticket!

The first 9 miles of the day continued down the same highway I spent the whole day yesterday hiking. Being so early in the morning, it was cooler and less busy than yesterday, but I knew it wouldn't stay that way.

Near where the highway crossed over the Jefferson River, I spotted a crop duster flying around and felt a little envious. That looked like so much fun, flying around in that little plane so close to the ground. It would have been exhilarating to go for a ride, although I'm sure the person flying it probably was pretty bored by it since they had to do the job regularly.

The shortest path to Butte would have been to turn off onto Highway 359, the junction of which was just north of Harrison. That's what most thru-hikers doing the road walk were doing. As far as I knew, I was only thru-hiker who decided not to take that junction, however, and continue on Highway 287 until reaching Highway 2, which conveniently passes right by the entrance for Lewis and Clark Caverns SP.

This highway was less busy than Hwy 287--thank goodness for small favors!--although it was still a paved highway with plenty of traffic. I followed this highway for another 6 miles before reaching the entrance of the park at 11:30am.

The road walk continues....

That's pretty good for me. I made excellent time--over 15 miles before noon! I basically took no stops except one for about 5 minutes for a snack break and walked the whole distance almost non-stop. I checked in at the visitor center where I paid $4 for a walk-in site at the campground in the park and $1 for a can of cold soda. There was also an entrance fee just to enter the park, although I didn't write in my journal how much that cost.

While checking in, the lady at the front desk asked if I was a thru-hiker. "Well, yeah, actually! Does that mean other thru-hikers have been stopping here?" I had kind of thought I was the first who likely did.

"Oh, no--definitely no other thru-hikers have stopped here. But I live in Whitehall and there have been a lot of you guys passing through this year."

Ah, well.... That was my goal for tomorrow night. Then she told me that the mayor of the town was allowing thru-hikers to sleep in the town hall for free if I needed somewhere to sleep and, allegedly, it even included showers. 

Really? Sweet! I wasn't sure where I'd be spending the night tomorrow night, but if this rumor could be true, that would be awesome. So she gave me the address of the town hall.

The visitor center at Lewis and Clark Caverns SP

After paying the camping fee, entrance fee, and for the cold Coke, I headed down to the campground to drop off most of the stuff in my pack. My pack was heavy! At this point, my plan was to basically do a day hike to the cave entrance, get a ticket, tour the cave, then walk back to the campground. Basically, I only needed a few snacks, water and a camera. I could travel fast and light!

The actual cave entrance was located a few miles up a paved road, and I considered trying to hitch a ride to the cave and back and save myself the effort of walking. I'd still have connected footsteps from Mexico to Canada--strictly speaking, I didn't feel like it was cheating to get a ride to the cave entrance. But I actually wanted to walk. There were a couple of different trails leading from the park entrance to the cave entrance--actual walking trails--which seemed like they'd be a pleasant change from the road walking the last few days. And I wanted to include the route on Walking 4 Fun so by walking, I could keep the whole route together and make people virtually walk several extra miles. =)

I took the 4.4 mile route to the cave entrance where I was, in fact, still able to purchase a ticket.

I had a real trail that I could follow to the cave entrance! It felt great being back on a real trail again! Never saw anyone else on it either. Pretty much everyone else just drives up the road to the cave entrance.

There were two tour options, but I didn't really know what the difference between them was and asked. They told me that one of them required quite a bit more walking and dexterity than the other and wasn't recommended for people in poor health and whatnot.

"Well," I told the woman, "I quite literally just walked here from the Mexican border, and already walked 20 miles to get here today. I think I can handle the tougher option." Her eyes about popped out of her sockets when I told her that. I was quite possibly the first thru-hiker who ever bothered to make a stop here.

Anyhow, I signed up for the more "difficult" classic tour at 1:40pm, which was about a half-hour away. I used the half hour to scarf down a bunch of snacks. I was starving! I was so hungry! I hadn't really had a real lunch yet. So I wolfed down as much food as I could in the time before the tour was scheduled to start.

The park ranger who sold me the ticket suggested that my pack might not be ideal in the cave. There are some tight squeezes and nothing but the smallest of backpacks are recommended. So they let me store the pack in their employees-only area which lightened my load even further for the actual tour.

At the designated time, a group of us were ready to go and another ranger showed up, asking us where we were from. He took one look at me and said, "You must be the guy who walked here." Apparently, word was getting around! =)

Anyway.... the tour lasted about two hours and was absolutely awesome! If you're in the area, I can't recommend it enough. My photos really don't do it justice. Lots of rock formations, tight squeezes and even a rock slide to go down. Good times! My biggest mistake was forgetting that caves can be cold inside. It was so hot outside, I had left my jacket back at the campsite so I was a bit cold inside with nothing to do but hug myself to stay warm. I survived well enough, but a light jacket would have been nice. They actually warn people of this before entering the cave, but most people have a car parked nearby. I couldn't exactly run back down to the campground and grab my jacket then run back up before the tour started. Even if I could do that, it certainly wasn't worth the effort. Nope, I'd just suffer from a little cold.

The cave had all sorts of wonderful formations to admire!

After the tour ended, I retrieved my pack and walked over to the gift shop where I bought a few postcards, then took a different trail about 3.5 miles back to the campground.

While cooking dinner, the camp host came by to make sure everyone had paid for their sites. I showed him my receipts and he told me that I was only the fourth person he'd ever seen use the walk-in site. And I had noticed that the site seemed brand-spanking new. The bear boxes looked like they could have been installed the week before. The tables and overhead structure for shade looked like they were built the week before. There were four sites for hikers and bicyclists, but I think they might have been added just this season. The campground had been here for eons, but until this year, I don't think they had any walk-in sites available. And being in the middle of nowhere, they just didn't get a lot of people walking in! Or bicycling in! And, apparently, I was only the fourth person to ever use the site.

The thing I liked most about the walk-in sites was that they couldn't be reserved in advanced. The rest of the campsites one can make reservations for and they're often sold out months in advance--which wouldn't have worked for me. But the walk-in sites were first-come, first-serve, and being the only person who walked in... no problem! =)

It was a great site, too! I had access to bathrooms, which even included showers. Clean drinking water, bear boxes and even electricity right there in the campsite. I was set! I could charge my devices all night long.

Anyhow, we chatted for a few minutes before he moved on to check everyone else had paid.

I took this photo while hiking back down to the campsite, which is peaking out from that small hill in the foreground.

Later in the evening, some RVers from nearby approached me and asked if I was interested in some leftover food they had for dinner. I had already eaten dinner and brushed my teeth, but out of curiosity I asked them what it was. It was something with shrimp, however, which I had absolutely zero interest in so I used the whole "already ate and brushed my teeth" excuse to get out of it. Which was true.... but if they were offering me a giant cherry pie with ice cream and whipped cream, I probably would have had it and brushed my teeth again. =) I appreciated the offer, but turned it down.

And the rest of the evening I spent watching Netflix shows on my phone and reading my Kindle before calling it a night. A good day, indeed!

Mural in Harrison

Sunrise!

It was gonna be another really hot day....

The Jefferson River is the route that Lewis and Clark followed through this area. It occurred to me that if Lewis and Clark were still alive today, they would probably recognize the area. Sure, there are roads and infrastructure that would be new for them, but the mountains and river probably hadn't really changed that much since they passed through this area.

Six more miles to the caverns!

This was where I saw a crop duster flying over the fields, but I never did get a good photo of it.

Along the way, I passed this seemingly useless bridge to nowhere. I'm sure there's a story to the bridge, but I don't know it!

Highway 2 was much less busy than Highway 287 which was nice, but there was basically no shoulder to walk on which was not nice.

Looks like the railroad is about to get some new ties installed!

Lovely stone work by the CCC in Lewis and Clark Caverns SP.

So visitors don't kill their dogs by leaving them in hot cars, there's a doggie prison for them instead while their owners go on cave tours.

No dogs in the doggie prison during my visit. The park actually wasn't that busy. This late in August, it was probably considered the off season. (The cave closes completely for the season at the end of September.)

The jerks!

Just kick a thru-hiker while they're down, why don't you?!

I never saw any bears, but I did keep all my food in camp in the bear box except while I was cooking dinner!