Lincoln, MT
Dammit Al Gore, we believe you already! Now turn off your infernal global warming machine! I'll never drive a car again, just let me hike the Bob!
If you'd asked me before this trip what parts I was looking forward to, I'd've said "Glacier, the San Juans, the Winds, and the Bob." And now the entire Lewis and Clark NF sections of the Bob Marshall Wilderness and Scapegoat Wilderness are closed thanks to fires, so I won't get to see the Chinese Wall, a 1000-ft shere cliff on the Divide that goes for miles and miles. Thanks a lot global warming-warmer winters-pine beetles-wildfires vicious circle. I talked to rangers at the office in town for hours this morning, but they're still working on putting together an alternate route. I met a sobo hiker yesterday, and his route hit the road way west of Lincoln (Lincoln is already ~30 miles west of the Divide) so I dropped from an earlier pass and walked directly into town in case I'd have to take that route. Turns out I'm gonna walk lower trails that are east of the closed trail in the Bob, but still in the L&C NF, but there's a route due north straight out of Lincoln, so it shouldn't be too bad.
In slightly more happy news, I have a heel blister and serious ankle tendon pain, it's hot as hell, my headphones only work in one ear, and the zipper on my pack is breaking. No, seriously, I hitched a ride out of Darby with a cute little Rexburg, ID Mormon girl (no, normally I do not get rides from small girls with their infant child in the back seat), the Ananconda cutoff put me 4 days ahead of schedule, I met cool guys in Helena that gave me a can of bear spray and a ride back up to the pass (I started talking to one of them at a street corner after I think he was laughing at me because I was talking to myself), my package got to Lincoln on time despite only having a couple days to get here, my parents are coming to meet me in Glacier, and the road I walked from Stemple Pass was again (the third time this has happened) part of Adventure Cycling's Great Divide bike route, so I again met cool mountain bikers riding across the country.
Finally, a good story is that when I was hitching out of Dubois back in Wyoming, a truck passed me with a cab full of people, an RV camper on the back, and towing a boat. Since the cab was full and the windows were down, I yelled "I'll sit in the boat!" They stopped and said "OK, get in." But it would've been a really long and windy ride, so they let me ride in the camper. People are cool.
If you'd asked me before this trip what parts I was looking forward to, I'd've said "Glacier, the San Juans, the Winds, and the Bob." And now the entire Lewis and Clark NF sections of the Bob Marshall Wilderness and Scapegoat Wilderness are closed thanks to fires, so I won't get to see the Chinese Wall, a 1000-ft shere cliff on the Divide that goes for miles and miles. Thanks a lot global warming-warmer winters-pine beetles-wildfires vicious circle. I talked to rangers at the office in town for hours this morning, but they're still working on putting together an alternate route. I met a sobo hiker yesterday, and his route hit the road way west of Lincoln (Lincoln is already ~30 miles west of the Divide) so I dropped from an earlier pass and walked directly into town in case I'd have to take that route. Turns out I'm gonna walk lower trails that are east of the closed trail in the Bob, but still in the L&C NF, but there's a route due north straight out of Lincoln, so it shouldn't be too bad.
In slightly more happy news, I have a heel blister and serious ankle tendon pain, it's hot as hell, my headphones only work in one ear, and the zipper on my pack is breaking. No, seriously, I hitched a ride out of Darby with a cute little Rexburg, ID Mormon girl (no, normally I do not get rides from small girls with their infant child in the back seat), the Ananconda cutoff put me 4 days ahead of schedule, I met cool guys in Helena that gave me a can of bear spray and a ride back up to the pass (I started talking to one of them at a street corner after I think he was laughing at me because I was talking to myself), my package got to Lincoln on time despite only having a couple days to get here, my parents are coming to meet me in Glacier, and the road I walked from Stemple Pass was again (the third time this has happened) part of Adventure Cycling's Great Divide bike route, so I again met cool mountain bikers riding across the country.
Finally, a good story is that when I was hitching out of Dubois back in Wyoming, a truck passed me with a cab full of people, an RV camper on the back, and towing a boat. Since the cab was full and the windows were down, I yelled "I'll sit in the boat!" They stopped and said "OK, get in." But it would've been a really long and windy ride, so they let me ride in the camper. People are cool.
sent the sd card and business cards to east glacier. hope you get them.
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