Absolutely exhausted beginning the path of the continental division

This morning I woke up as soon as I could. I knew I was going to take everything I had to get up and move. The last days I felt ridiculously overwhelming. I honestly felt like this for a couple of weeks. But lack of sleep, all trips and big miles, they definitely hit me yesterday. I was exhausted!

So this morning, I let sleep a little later than normal. I surrounded around 7 am and began to pack. Of course, this choice would cost me a high quality day light today. But even sleep I felt exhausted, so I knew I needed what I could get. When he was packed and moved, they were around 8 am.

I knew that my day was going to start with about 10 miles of road walking. You can walk from the East Glacier back to the path. There is a real path, which I took last year that connects the city at the beginning of the path. But I was humorous to walk along the road this morning and keep the things simple. I packed everything and I am definitely stressing the weight of my package at this time. I am trying to do five days between East Glacier and Lincoln, which is more than 170 miles. My package is ridiculously heavy at this time. So my mission for the day was to eat as much as possible!

I started my day with one of these chocolate croissants with seension that Randy got me the other day. That was absolutely delicious. Then, after walking for an hour or so, I saw a family car pass. Yesterday I had said goodbye to Randy and he returned to cut Bank to see his son. But apparently I wanted to leave this morning just to say goodbye for the last time. I talked to him for a few and then continued along the way until I reached the path once more.

That next hour or so was incredibly exhausting. I had no caffeine this morning, which surely played an important role. I have had a lot of caffeine in recent days. And, in general, I am the type of person in normal life that does not drink coffee at all. And along the way I have been doing about 50 milligrams of caffeine per day. But I have been making more than 200 mg the last days while trying to return from all sleep deprivation.

A small 10 mile walk to start the day.

I decided to knock down a little caffeine while walking along the road. I definitely needed something to increase my energy. He felt as if he were walking in Movedizas Arenas or in a dream. Taking into account that he only had a couple of hours a day, he was too tired. And I need to average 36 miles basically every day during the next 5–6 weeks. So increasing my energy was a necessity.

The caffeine definitely helped, and after another hour I went through a path. When I checked the map, I realized that I could actually return to the CDT in this previous location. Otherwise, a mile would go down and then return to the forest, adding one mile completely another. This path before the CDT, although it allowed me to climb a little earlier. There was a bathroom in the parking lot, which is always a blessing. And then I was officially back in the forest on the CDT.

I like that I am actively doing all incorrect things when it comes to brown bears. Being alone, moving quickly and probably distracted. It is easy to get distracted when walking for 15 hours a day.

Once again, I spent the day going down the memory lane. Each turn and turn of the path seemed so familiar to me. It is crazy how familiar the path of the Apalaches and the Pacific Crest Trail this year. Although I walked the PCT in 2022 and the AT in 2023. So being in the CDT, which I just walk last year, has been a trip. In truth, I was here 14 months ago starting this path. Being back here as soon as it has been a bit amazing. And every rock and root feels memorable for me.

It was a really quiet day while I was going through the forest. Honestly, I don’t hope to see anyone today. I think that the healthy mentality I am trying to maintain is that the next five weeks will be some of the most lonely I have experienced on the road. I know that the universe always gives me exactly what I need. So, in reality, I hope that the next five weeks are filled with magic and delight. But at least I’m anticipating loneliness so that I don’t rock my world when it hits me.

At this time of the day, I was about 15 miles and I felt much better than this morning. I was still quite tired, but the caffeine helped a lot. And I was eating as much as I could. The crazy is how much I wanted to eat. He had packed around 3500–4000 Cal to keep at hand during the course of the day. That way I could eat as much as I would like. And I was surprised by the fact that I crushed most calories at 2 pm. This has been happening from time to time on the way. It seems that sometimes my appetite is small and I end up reaching the city with so much food. Or I am just this voracious hunger without hunger that cannot be satisfied. That is exactly what was happening today. And it definitely makes me a little nervous that I will eat all my food long before arriving in Lincoln.

Some excellent views as I approached the Bob Marshall desert today.

Sometimes the path was incredibly covered and thick. These path sections always make me a little nervous due to the animal population here. It is one thing to find Grizzly bears and other animals. But it is something else when the path is so covered that you really can’t even see them. They are the type of animals that I would like to see in advance so that I can react to the situation. I spent much of the day singing and talking to myself to calm my nerves.

During most of the day, there was almost no elevation gain. I was just doing really small ups and downs. But mainly only sailing through valleys and grass -covered fields. And walking through pine and land covered with the forest. As the day progressed, although I finally began to approach the next remarkable climb. This would be about three increases in total, staggered one after another. I waited at least to reach the top of the first climb. Then you may find a place to camp nearby.

Sometimes in Montana, elevation can be quite steep. That is certainly something that I blocked from my mind before starting the CDT again the other day. This climbing of the later day caught me from time to time. But at the same time, he felt really good. Although it is difficult, I love elevation gain. There is simply nothing better than climbing a mountain. Obtaining that good burn through your body and its blood flow avalanche is quite surprising.

After spending all day without seeing a single soul, I had a little surprise towards the end of the day. Suddenly, I heard someone ahead! I can only imagine that she was also talking about herself like me. It really is one of the safest methods to prevent animal encounters when you are walking alone. At least then the animal knows that it will come well before arriving there.

This hiker was called Blue Moon and she recognized me while we crossed the paths. I told her that it was really exciting to see her and that she was the only person I have seen all day. She told me that I hadn’t seen anyone in the days! Which I think is madness taking into account that it goes north. But sometimes you can walk within 20-40 minutes of another person and you never know. If you simply take breaks at the same time, then you will never reach each other. It was really pleasant to talk to her briefly before continuing south, and she continued north.

From there, I continued towards a guard station. This section of the Bob Marshall Wilderness actually has a lot of stasons of rangers/guards. I remember that I hid under some of them during the rain the last time I was here. And the one I spent right now was a really amazing cabin with a water source.

He felt good to be out of the road and return to a path.

Last year we stopped and had lunch there and dry our socks. This time, I didn’t even take a break there. But I found a couple of people on horseback that stopped in the cabin. They really had an adorable corgi with them. The dog was running around the horses and was covered with mud. It is so little and low to the ground that must be absolutely destroyed by the mud. The path has been quite wet sometimes and I have had to navigate around the clay wells. But when you are a small dog, you probably end up covered. It was really nice to see those people and the dog made me smile. Then I continued for that climb to get to the camp to spend the night.

I really enjoyed this next climb. Especially because when you went up to the top, they opened you in par. I love when you can look forward and see where the path goes even a mile more or less in front of you. I got up and got on the top and then stopped briefly to eat a couple of things. Do not plan to have dinner at the camp in Grizzly Country. So I need to alter my routine a bit. Which is difficult to do when you have been configured to routine for nine months! I had a couple of sandwiches and took out some more things to eat during the next half hour. But when I arrived at the camp, I would be keeping all my food and did not ate anything else.

Towards the end of the day I went to the top of a mountain. Then he descended to a valley to find camping at night.

The sun began to wear, and made me feel a little anxious. It is crazy to think about how comfortable I have become without hiking. And yet, as soon as it enters an environment, like the Pardo country, that comfort can be completely dissolved. The idea of ​​night hiking no longer sounds beautiful and playful. It sounds incredibly scary and dangerous. I am not worried about bears or even mountain lions typically. But brown bears are not like no other animal. They are huge and can be incredibly aggressive. The idea of ​​surprising one while night hiking really scares me.

I had a place in the camp in mind that was marked in distant. Everyone had commented that the place was really great, and there were tons of space. And I suppose it made me feel good to see that there was no comment on the problems of animals in the area. Maybe just some too friendly deer. When I arrived at the store site, I hoped there could be some northern towers there. But that was an impossible dream. However, this place was perfect, and I settled my store in a good ground and pine patch. I suppose that since I am not eating in the afternoon, my night routine has simplified a little at least.

Given that I slept today, I didn’t do it so badly.

I got into my store and then put all my things located. Because I was a little anxious for the Grizzlies, I even had the energy to place and do some edition for a while. I am usually too tired once I got into my store to do any type of writing or video work. But this is my first campaign night in Grizzly Country again. So I think I will definitely be more to the limit tonight than on any other night. I went to bed for an hour or so and did some video works. Then he managed to fall asleep for a while. But at midnight, I was awake again, anxiously listening to the silence of the forest. There were some deer, but I never heard anything bigger. Finally, at some point after midnight, I fell asleep for the last time and left for a few hours.

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