Hello from the retrovolant metropolis of Bozeman, Montana! Now, this city may seem far from the continental division and the adjacent path that is in this important line, but this is where I tell you about a magical thing called Big Sky Cadeo (plus the painters, of course). Beanie Baby and I left Anaconda with a plan and a mission: to cross the Anaconda Pintler mountains in five days, then it scrapes a massive hitch to Whitehall to begin the border of the Big Sky, which crosses the southeast of Montana through the city of Big Sky and crosses some beautiful areas of nature on the road.
The first days of the painters were impressive beyond the believer, and Beanie Baby and I felt that we had encountered a kind of magical and secret mountain range that, in many ways, reminded us of Glacier. Our friends, the outbreaks, walked through the painters at the same time, but going to the north only for that section, and we were excited to cross with the tramilia with which we started the path!
We climbed several small (er) passes in the painters every day, which meant that the elevation gain was quickly added. However, Beanie Baby and I noticed the difference in our bodies, which have become much stronger in the course of a month and a half, and the hills did not feel half of bad than in the glacier. We found the Alpine lake after the Alpine lake hidden among the folds of the mountain peaks, a much appreciated change of the long dry stretches north of the painters.
Beanie Baby and I even arrived at the camp with some of our Sprouts friends (disc and 5’11 «) in Rainbow Lake! It was incredible to see them again and catch up after more than a month apart, we all had many stories of trails to share.
The outbreaks told us that the path was about to get a bit spicy with burns and coatings areas, so we soak up in the beauty of the northern painters while we could and expected that perhaps they were exaggerating the damage a little ahead.
It turns out that the outbreaks did not exaggerate the large volume of recent burns areas in the painters, and Beanie Baby and I walked our first marathon completely on the path, ending walking on numerous farms the last miles. We saw Achilles and French Fry during this section, which have their two small dogs (Annie and Bear) with them. The dogs walked on the day of the marathon with brutal sun and a lot of elevation gain, and I can’t imagine how many steps their little legs took that day! This was our first section to see a decent amount of smoke from wildlife, and it was a bit creepy to see the sun dyed red that is coming over us in a forest section that had already burned by miles and miles.
After leaving the painters to the small «city» of Sula, Beanie Baby and I had a monstrous task ahead: hooking almost 4 hours through Montana at the end of the day so we could prepare to start the alternative route of Big Sky Cadre near Whitehall, Montana. It turns out that it is deceived, it can be done without even exceling the thumb, which is what happened to us that fateful day. Just when we were sitting in the Sula Country store to write a «Missoula» sign, a couple in a RV saw what we were doing and offered to take a walk there. Along the way, we stopped in a garden of sculptures, which highlighted our hook saviors because they are sculptors and artists.
In Missa, Beanie Baby and I ate a huge roll of cinnamon, sandwiches and mangoes next to the river. The hunger for hikers is hitting strong now, and half of our vigil thoughts seem to involve food. Our magical hitch day did not stop at Missa, in fact, it improved even more, since things seemed to fit for us (the path provides)! We met a Missula couple our first day in the painters, and with an incredible kindness they had offered us a place for us to stay at home if we ever needed it. Although we do not take Jeanie and Bill in their offer this time, we received a two -hour hitch from Bill to Cardwell, one of the most surprising and generous acts, Beanie Baby and I have experienced along the way. We are incredibly grateful for all the incredible support and kindness we have received from strangers while in the CDT, we cannot thank you enough for your generosity!
While Beanie Baby and I did Cardwell in time to start again the next day, we ended up taking a zero not planned in Ennis because we were a little exhausted by all trips. We decided to omit a small section of the road that walks part of Big Sky’s cut to meet some of the outbreaks. We camp in Potosi Hot Springs in a beautiful national forest camp and swim in free hot springs there! The next day, we walked along the way and we found some of the outbreaks that led from Bozeman and had offered to take a walk. After a quick stop at the Encible store in Ennis to collect even more of the rebel shoots, we met and went back to the desert!
We enter the nature of Lee Metcalf and began to climb. Much dating immediately, and a short torrential downpour, but the views were beautiful all day and Beanie Baby and we found a small quiet place to establish our store to spend the night. Stretching in the rocks on our camp the next morning, I could see impressive mountains stretching by miles under me.
Eventually we level a little more on the High Lakes path, and Beanie Baby and I took an alternative to the Spanish lakes on our second day in the area of nature. The lakes were impressive, and our jaws fell reaching the pass with a view to them. I even gave a quick dip in the cold water of one of the lakes!
We camp Mirror Lake that night, which was up to his name the next morning. The Alpenglow of sunset on the mountains behind the lakes was incredible, and we saw a bald eagle flying over us while having breakfast!
Our last day in the Lee Metcalf desert involved Trekking on a pass to the Bear basin, which was a great view to see.
We all take a long break at the top of the pass before addressing Big Sky!
Entering the city of Big Sky felt very strange after being in such a virgin and remote desert area, and our seven -shoots garbage group stood out more than most other people in the city.
From Big Sky, Beanie Baby and I continued to find a place to camp that night, crossing the road and moving through Artemis and Prados in what turned out to be more a path for land bicycles than a hiking path. We found a good place to camp and we even saw some huge brown bear prints in the morning! From the beginning of the path, we had more luck and we easily arrived at Bozeman in the afternoon.
In Bozeman, we went to Pizza Sidewall (where Beanie Baby’s friend works), and ate the most delicious salad and pizza that we have had on the way until now! The city’s food always knows incredible after being on his way for so long, and Bozeman has not disappointed so far. Beanie Baby and I can’t wait for our zero adventurer here!
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