Pre-CDT thoughts and musings

HD: My spirit of adventure was reinforced at a young age through my father. From summertime van vacations out west as a child, to outdoor hiking, canoeing, fishing, and hunting – those early, frequent experiences defined my version of “quality time”.

Although my adult life is marked with some notable outdoor adventures, work has constrained their scope and scale until now. This grand CDT expedition is the first of many such planned adventures. I am excited, a little nervous, and somewhat confident at our chances of completing this endeavor. It’s a selfish one; there is no cause, charity, or reason other than we want to do this. We have planned and trained for a while now. All that remains to do is the walking.

MC: I’m ready to play the game and get going. We have been planning this hike for a year now, and I believe our due diligence in the planning efforts will pay off. The resupply boxes are done, the backpacks are packed, all the tickets and initial shuttles are paid for, so now it’s time to start. 

The weather looks a little iffy to begin with in Glacier National Park, a possible snow forecast; however, we have several brick and mortar buildings we are hiking to within the park every other day that could be used to warm up at if things get a bit chilly. But other than the general stores at Many Glacier Campground and Two Medicine Campground, we will be on our own for the first week. 

We head to St Mary’s Visitor Center on Sunday the 16th of June to get our permit for the start of the hike on the 17th, and I’m hoping that process goes smoothly. The recreation.gov website doesn’t allow for permits to be issued if any of your days require a hike from one campsite to the next if it exceeds 16 miles in length, they require you to request the permit in person at a permit issuing location. Three of our days exceed 16 miles in length. I have this weird fear that there is going to be a line out the door at St Mary’s and we won’t get the itinerary we want. The CDT is getting more popular, but most folks hike north bound starting in New Mexico, we are hiking south bound starting in Montana at Chief Mountain border at the US/Canada border. I’m sure my fear is irrational, but I just want the permit portion to be over with. We already have the Yellowstone one (miracle), so this is the last little piece to the puzzle besides hiking 2800 miles.

I will miss my dog Loki. He’s in great hands, but there is sadness in missing five months of his life. He just turned 10, but going on 4, lots of dog energy still!

Anyways, here’s to good enough weather that doesn’t kill us and no death from local wildlife!