Days 7-13: (The Lew)

MC: I would like to make a correction from the last post, we were not in the Bob Marshall Wilderness for 14 days, we were in the Lewis and Clark National Forest for 14 days, the Bob was like 4 days total.

Our time in the Lew can only be described as grit building. Coach Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions would be proud. Our days were long, walking through glacier snow melt mixed with localized rain, resulting in what can only be described as “greasy” mud, as we attempted to navigate the trail in front of us. The terrain at times was stunning, but marred by the dozens of miles of scorched forest from previous years’ fires. We call the ghost trees matchsticks, because they still stand but their bark is pure white with burn marks throughout. 

Then came the weather. There is something purely depressing about being sleeted on while pitching a tent, realizing there is literally nothing you can do about your current situation, except put the tent up quicker. That night was spent in a sleepless state, as the 45mph winds gusts howled all night in the 36 degree rain/sleet strewn environment outside our little Zpacks Triplex tent, which withstood the elements! The next day it was still raining and 38 degrees, but the wind calmed down and we didn’t get hiking until 11am. We still made our 20 mile goal that day, and walked until almost 9pm. 

But we saw elk! About 30-40 of the them in a herd, probably the high point of the week’s events. And mountain goats high up on the Chinese Wall doing their acrobatic walking.

Our impending zero day could not come sooner. We had been hiking for seven days in the straight up wilderness. We would take a day off of hiking at Benchmark Wilderness Ranch, which is where we shipped our resupply boxes. Benchmark was a little gem, taking you back in time, as the cabin we rented was powered by propane to include the lights. It was cozy and glorious. We were able to charge our electronics at the main office/home of the owner, which was powered by generator. Darwin the owner was gruff, but warmed up to us. He even gave us apples one morning, which after eating a lot of dehydrated meat, you enjoy immensely. We sat outside all day on our zero day, having an all day fire in the fire pit, washing our clothes by hand and hanging them out to dry, and organizing our newly acquired resupply boxes. It was a good day, and a place I will remember for a long time, thinking back to frequently. But alas, the south part of the Lew was coming, with terrain that had fewer miles and more dramatic elevation change, lovely. Onto round three of our journey.

HD: Drectly south of Glacier National Park, there is a vast wilderness area with millions of acres of national forest land. The mountains are rugged and isolated. We spent most of our time hiking in the Lewis Range of the Sawtooth Mountains, walking over 140 miles without crossing a road, a powerline, a house, or a bridge.

Days 3 and 4 saw some pretty terrible weather. We arrived at our high altitude campsite early in the afternoon of day 3 on the northern edge of the Chinese Wall, a 2000’ vertical cliff face that extends for about 30 miles. It started sleeting and snowing 30 minutes before we arrived. We set the tent up in the sleet and hoped the winds wouldn’t pick us and our tent up! We cooked in our tent – bears be damned – and survived the night. 

Things generally improved after the storm, although our feet were wet for the entire 7 days. Wool socks saved the day, and our prune-like feet finally started to dry out on the last day.

This was a difficult stretch that I may reflect upon fondly in the future, but in the moment – I’m really glad it’s over. Hopefully this hard start leads to enjoyable days in the near future.