The last section took us through the Bob Marshall Wilderness, located in Montana. “The Bob” combined with neighbouring Scapegoat Wilderness and the Lewis and Clark National Forest is the wildest region in the USA (excluding Alaska, obs). 

The trail network was excellent! It was great to be out of the National Parks and be able to random camp. Yay to no permits! 

Going up Family Peak. While “the Bob” is very pretty, much of the CDT route follows valley bottoms. It was great to be back in the alpine. 

Much of the area has been recently burned. While it allowed beautiful views and crazy high fireweed, it offered little protection during the rain (And boy, did it ever rain, we should have brought snorkels. After a few days of a biblical flood, trench foot became a concern). 

Walking along the Chinese Wall amongst a sea of Bear Grass. 

Hello Mr. Caterpillar, the earth says hello.

 A fire singed CDT sign – lots of forest fires, remember?

We ran into hikers with llamas. Now that would be the life…Maybe on the next hike. Just imagine, no backpacks and able to bring fancy food. Bring on the seven layer cheese cake!

Summit of Lick Mountain. As we work our way South, the tree line gets higher and higher. This is at almost 2400 meters! 

We ran into some awesome ranchers. They had us over for some drinks and munchies. They gave us more food to take (including sausages!). When we mentioned that we got 8 holes in our socks that day (“The Bob” turned our clothing into rags!), they snuck a couple socks into our packs. Huzzah!

Leaving “The Bob” for drier country.

The rain soon turned to snow. Goodbye summer. You will be greatly missed! Let us hope for a dry warm fall. Esp in Colorado…

A Miss Allie Strel came down for a visit. Although it was short, we still had a marvelous time!