East Glacier, MT to Lincoln, MT

Photos - click here

DAY 1
We hitched out to our starting point and passed Jared who was walking the road, since finding the trailhead out of town was too confusing for him. We were pretty worried about his safety since he was choosing to hike one of the most difficult trails in the US with a limited set of skills and what appeared to be no support. We contemplated waiting for him, but decided to hike on, thinking that we would catch up with him up the way.

We started our day heading south out of Marias Pass, but as is often the case, the trail was hard to find. We ended up walking up and down the main road for about an hour until we were able to find the trail. It was actually in a very obvious place, but we didn't think to look there since the map depicted the trailhead as being somewhere else altogether. That's rarely the case with maps, but sometimes it happens.

The day was relatively uneventful. We hiked through forest and meadow which was fairly well signed once we were in the backcountry. But things got exciting at the end of the day. First, we caught up with Jared, whom we assumed was behind us the entire time. He took a shortcut to the trail, bypassing us at the trailhead altogether. Hmmm. We felt like idiots for being concerned for him. Seems he can find his way just fine....

Shortly after a thunderstorm loomed in the distance and we were trying to escape the rain. Imagine our luck when there was a backcountry ranger’s cabin only a mile away. It started raining just before we got there, and the cabin was locked and unattended, but we were blessed the cabin had a porch. We took refuge and cooked dinner, seeing if we could wait it out. Sure enough it was a short storm and we were rewarded with dry gear, a deer in the field, and a double rainbow that spanned then entire sky. Amazing.

We still wanted to do more miles so we hiked on, pitching our camp at dusk while a second storm pranced our way, sharing her lightening and thunder in the distance- a lovely preview. Sprinkles started and we managed to get camp set up before it poured- but we didn't have the same luck with the food. Now, we heard that there were grizzly bears in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, so we were taking no precautions. So, it was morbidly funny that Dave and David were surrounded by food, trying to hang food in the dark (we don't dare hike in the dark through griz country), and yelling "hey bear" the whole time to make sure that no random stragglers would come across them in their attempts to hang the food. I took refuge in the tent for about 20 minutes and then came out to help them. The rain had stopped and all three of us were ready to crash.

DAY 2
This day we checked and double checked our mileages and determined that we had an incorrect total mileage for our route. There was an error on one of our resources. In assuming that it was accurate, we used it to plan our trip- only to realize that we were off by about ½ day. Since we were to meet my parents in the next town, this meant either making up some serious miles, or coming up with a creative route alternative- which is exactly what we did. We utilized and alternate valley route that ended up being shorter by almost exactly the mileages that were off.

The route was really beautiful, but on this day it was buggy, muddy, and a horse trail. Now, I love horses, but they are hard to hike behind. In muddy conditions the trail gets damaged, and when the trail dries, it does so with their prints essentially intact, making it an ankle-breaker trail to hike. As if that wasn’t a unique enough dilemma, the trail was wet and the grass was overgrown. This equated to our wet legs being sliced by the hard grasses on the sides of the trail. The three of us, as well as other hikers developed some type of cut/rash on the sides and back of our legs as a result. I’m pretty certain the combination of fecal matter from horses and wildlife on the trail (wildlife like elk, moose, bear, deer, etc) is what generated the added symptom of severe burning on our cut legs. Isn’t that a pleasant thought?

The good new was that there were no serious mountain passes, no snow, and what appeared to be a nice valley trail where we could camp. Turns out, we had to bushwhack about 150 or more feet steeply downhill to reach the river where we intended to camp. Oh well, sometimes maps just can’t capture it all. When we got to the river, there was no bank on our side of the river, as it hugged the hill. There was a place on the other side, however, and we forded the river, created fairly flat spaces for our tents, and set up camp. We were nowhere near trail- completely in the middle of nowhere. So imagine my surprise when on a nearby tree there were ax marks. Clearly evidence that others had done the same, which made me feel a lot less foolish for having to get this far off trail at all.

DAY 3
In the morning we were able to find a tree upstream to cross so we didn’t have to get our feet wet. Despite telling David not to step on the wet parts of the tree, he chose to do exactly that and his foot went out from underneath him. Internally I just freaked out. I’m seeing head trauma, broken bones, maybe even a drowning. Yikes!!! But somehow- don’t ask me how- he managed to catch himself and avert all danger. Lucky, lucky boy. We bushwhacked back up to the trail and looked forward to the new day.

We hiked through a beautiful burn area, accompanied by a twisting creek. It was amazingly beautiful. While I find burn areas to be a little sad, for the most part there is this quiet resilience in burn areas that makes them amazingly intriguing, and I really enjoy hiking through them. One of the best parts of walking through the burn area was that the trail had so much exposure to sunlight, drying it out considerably. It made for much easier walking. Eventually we reached Gates Park, and open field with another Ranger’s Cabin. This time there was an American Flag flying, so we assumed it was manned. Yet when we arrived, no one was there. We took a break there and looked at our route when Ranger Rick strolls in from a day hike. No, that’s not a joke. His name is really Rick! Not only that, but he invited us in and we had Starbucks coffee (as Washingtonians it was a treat!), tea, and a really lovely talk for about an hour. After sharing our time with him and him with us, we parted paths and hiked only one more mile to a stock bridge. We had planned to go farther, but it was so beautiful we couldn’t resist camping there. The mosquitoes were ok, but Dave did find a few ticks on him- just in time- and we pulled them out. After setting up camp, we walked back to the bridge and had dinner right over the river. It was lovely.

DAY 4
This day was AMAZING!!!!!!!!! This was, by far, our most significant wildlife sighting day. Dave woke in the morning and went to the river a mere 20 feet away to get more water. Imagine his surprise when he rounded the brush and was staring right into the face of a momma moose and calf!! They were about 6 feet away from each other. It must have been early for both of them because momma moose didn’t attack him, and Dave didn’t walk away for a good number of seconds- he was just dazed! He came back to tell me and I suggested that we all go to the bridge to watch the two from a distance. This seemed to be a most agreeable arrangement with momma moose. Though she never took our eyes off of us watching from the bridge, she did continue to eat plants, drool (it’s true, they are amazingly horrible droolers!! "Moose Drool" is NOT just a beer!), and to even let baby suckle all while we watched. What a blessed moment! Eventually they wandered up and over the hillside (practically walking right through our camp) and then disappeared. We went back to camp, finished packing up, and started hiking.

I won’t get into long details, but this is how our morning went. Within 10 minutes of hiking, we saw another moose by itself. Three minutes after that, before the moose was even out of sight, we saw a deer. Less than 10 minutes after that we saw 3 elk, and a few minutes after that- another deer. Somewhere in there we also saw a horse camp in the distance. What an amazing morning!

Eventually we reached a signpost warning hikers and stock users that there was a carcass near Circle Creek and that it was being fed upon by a bear. Ultimately, people really needed to steer clear of there. We replenished our water at the nearby creek and then pulled out maps to figure out where Circle Creek was. At this moment another horse camp came through the creek- maybe 10 people on 10 horses, and they stopped to chat. Upon our inquiry regarding Circle Creek, the trip leader informed us that we were sitting right at Circle Creek. Great. Put the warning signs somewhere where you are already in danger, not somewhere where you have a chance to avoid it…. We weren’t expecting that.

After they left, we got out of there pretty darn quick. We saw a sign for Benchmark –a destination point for us- and instead of staying on the route we planned we just followed the sign. In doing so we were immediately greeted with a pretty significant river ford. Ultimately, this was a good thing, since we were going to have to ford the river further downstream anyway. That would have meant the river would have been bigger both because it was later in the day and also because more small streams would have fed into it. The ford was very challenging, and in retrospect if we had stayed on our original route, I’m not sure we could have managed a stronger current.
Just when we thought we had seen all the wildlife we would see, we saw a herd of at least 40 or 50 elk. WOW! Eventually we stopped seeing wildlife, though we did encounter many more horse camps. We stopped near one of them because I had to remove a sliver from my foot, and a gentleman walked but to see if we were ok. We were, and we thanked him, but not until after he warned of a river ford up the way that was probably not passable by people- it was up to his horse’s belly when they crossed. He also looked at my sandals and snickered without speaking. We left it at that, since I didn’t really mind being underestimated- it happens quite a bit, being a sandal-footed GIRL in the woods. Despite those moments, I don’t feel a need to recite my hiking resume to total strangers. That secret knowledge is comfort enough for me.

Eventually we reached a whole host of river fords and opted to give it a try instead of taking the high water route. We hiked and forded for about a mile, crossing about 5 rivers and only had one remaining- but it was just as the horseman said- not passable. I tested it first and got somewhere between 1/3 and ½ of the way across the river, when the current became too strong. In addition, the rocks were unusually slippery. I just stood there for about 1 or 2 full minutes. Deliberating if I could go further. In that short amount of time the river had exhausted me, and I retreated slowly, almost being swept downstream because my muscles were fatigued. We searched alternate crossings and Dave even went in about 7 feet to get a feel for the river. He too agreed it was too strong and too slippery. Darn!!

We quickly retreated the last mile, recrossing all of the other rivers, and high-tailed it to the high-water route. Aside from the mileage where we retraced our steps, this alternate route lengthened our hike by another 3 miles. It was getting late but we were determined to get to Benchmark, where there was food, showers, and maybe a place to get a bed for the night. We all hiked extremely hard and made it to Benchmark before dark only to find that it was a campground and the only amenities were pit toilets, fire rings, and picnic tables. We were sorely disappointed and really confused as to why we thought there would be services there. I guess if you want something bad enough you can wish it to be so, but that doesn’t make it happen. I find solace in knowing we weren’t the only hikers who made that same mistake.
 
DAY 5
Today we woke up and Dave suggested that we walk to Augusta instead of Lincoln. Though it made our mileages longer, it would also mean the potential to spend more time with my parents. So, with burger-on-the-brain we decided to go for it and hiked about 33 miles into town, arriving late in the evening dehydrated and tired. The stretch between Benchmark and Augusta was laced with lakes, rolling hills, a reservoir, various birds, cows, and wildflowers. These were the foothills to the Rockies and they were very beautiful in their own subtle sort of way.

Many people stopped to ask if we needed a ride. We always said no, but the interruptions gave us a chance to talk about our hike and let them know about our website. For some reason we have found that when we tell people it’s a fundraiser- before we even tell them who the fundraiser is for- they seem to cringe and pull away- as if we are asking them for money, or making them feel guilty, or, or, or.... I don’t know, but the best approach has been to just give them a card with our website on it and let them explore it on their own time. We’ve managed a few donations that way, and sometimes even get emails after the fact, which is rewarding.

At any rate, we entered the town of Augusta and lo and behold we walked into a very loud, very large, very cowboy street party. It was the day before the Augusta Rodeo, and this was considered one of Montana’s biggest parties. We had no idea. Now, being smelly hikers with backpacks and hiking sticks that look like ski poles, we got heckled quite a bit. Most people were having a good time, many were drunk, and those that heckled us seemed, for the most part, to be doing it in good spirit. We were only half way through the street party when I decided I needed a standard response to the heckling. I decided upon “I forgot my horse”, which seemed to go over pretty well with people. While we were walking through town we ran into the guy that gave us a hitch part way up the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park. Granted we didn’t know him from Adam, but man it felt good to see a familiar face!! Overall the experience was a little unnerving, but it was all ok in the end.

Since all of the hotels and the campground were booked, we weren’t quite sure what to do, but we met a guy who planned on camping on the Fish and Wildlife Department’s lawn. It looked good to us, was a little bit away from all of the noise, and even boasted 2 picnic tables. There were trucks, RV’s, tents, and more everywhere. Despite where we were camping, we didn’t stick out a single bit. Dave and David grabbed some food and we all ate and crashed around 1pm. I put my earplugs in for the night, but one fell out since I woke up at 4:30 am- the street music was still blaring and the party was still rocking in the distance. Wow.

DAY 6
We were going to leave this day, but when we woke up Dave had something NASTY on his feet. I definitely wouldn’t call it athlete’s foot. It covered his entire feet with large red bumps and left his skin grey and peeling between his toes. If I had a guess I would call it jungle rot. There was another hiker, we would find out later, who got it too- probably from the feet being wet all the time in the marshy Bob Marshall Wilderness. It became aptly renamed as the “Bob Rot”. We ended up calling Dave’s mom, Barb- a very knowledgeable nurse who thought the same, and we decided to take a day off because everything was dirty, it was possibly contagious, and because it wouldn’t get better staying in wet shoes.

Once that decision was made I called my parents to let them know where we were, what we were up to, and see when and where they could meet us. I rarely see my parents and wanted to spend as much time with them as possible since I miss them so extremely much- and lucky for me they feel the same. They decided to leave that day to leave and come to town. Yahoo!!!! The wouldn’t leave until 6pm or so, and wouldn’t arrive until 3am- the drive was much longer than any of us expected, but it was so good to see their faces.

In the meantime, we decided that since we were in town when the rodeo was in town, that we should probably check it out. Dave and David had never been to a rodeo, and I had only ever been to one many years ago, so we were all in for a new or relatively new experience. The events were interesting- a few of which included Bronco riding, bull riding, steer roping, team steer roping, barrel racing, and wild cow milking. There were others, but they’ve since left my mind. The positive things that stand out most to me about the experience was how family-oriented it was, and how much skill and expertise the cowboys had, even though they often made everything look so easy.

With that said, I had forgotten how much rodeos are about controlling other animals, and frankly every even except for the barrel racing made me a little uneasy. I’m really not going to get into a discussion of preferences and politics, but it just wasn’t for me. Still, I’m glad we went. It was a new experience for David and since he wasn’t well read on the subject of rodeos before hand I think he got a lot out of it- including the ability to make an informed opinion about his feelings about rodeos.

DAY 7
This day mom, dad, Dave and I went to Missoula to go to REI since we were having issues with our gear. Our tent zipper had completely ripped, Dave and David’s stove wasn’t working, and we needed a whole host of other supplies as well. On the way there we passed through Lincoln and picked up our maildrops as well as some extremely thoughtful care packages from my friend Chuck and my sister Cindy. Thank you!!! We continued on to Missoula, took care of everything, and then had a late lunch/ early dinner. All told we spent a good 8 or more hours on the road. It could have been a little less if we hadn’t got to talking so much that we missed our turn and headed straight to Helena, but hey- it was a beautiful scenic route.... In the meantime, David got to rent movies for the hotel room VCR- hopefully he got his fix for now!

DAY 8
Today we needed to get moving and hike most of the way to Lincoln. We did a 27 mile slackpack, thanks to my parents, and made exceptionally good time. My dad was able to do a little fishing while they waited ahead of us, and they also helped us with a picnic. We never have fresh fruit and vegetables on the trail so the peanut butter and celery, apple and cheese, cream cheese, and other goodies were a delightful treat. We did encounter a storm that lasted for about an hour, but once it ended we dried off, finished our hike, and headed to Lincoln for some dinner and R&R.

DAY 9
I think we tuckered my parents out the last few days, and my mom had to get back to gear up for a 3 day trip to Colorado to visit her other daughter, my sister, Cindy. We still had 11 more miles to hike to get to our Lincoln cutoff destination, but decided to spend as much time as possible in the morning with parents rather than hiking. The plan was to have them drop us off for another slackpack right as they were leaving town so that our time was maximized. They left at 1pm. I cried. I sulked. We hiked slowly. We finished our miles. We hitched back into town. Blah.

I can’t remember when we saw Zach and Buddha, whom we collectively refer to as Zuddha, but they were in town and we had dinner with them and another hiker, Jason. Jason was a bit bummed out because he just found out he had a job offer as a foreman in Antarctica. What a hard decision. Two wonderful opportunities.... Anyone else would have said “Wow!!” when he told us at dinner. But being the hikers that we are, he got a collective “Oh no!!”

DAY 10
We decided to take this day off to update the website, do a few more chores, and rest, which is pretty much what the entire day entailed. Again we had dinner with Zuddha and Jerome- a Frenchman hiking the trail by himself. He is a crazy-tall man with legs that extend a mile per stride. Ok- not really, but he has since dusted us. It was great talking with him, though. He has a zest for life and has had many unique experiences. The language barrier was a little problematic as his English was thick with his French accent. But hey, I’m just a silly little monolingual American- so God bless him!

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From: http://www.montanascenicloop.com/augusta.htm

Augusta, Montana
Augusta is the home of ‘The Wildest One Day Show on Earth’, an annual American Legion Rodeo, which brings people from all over. The area of this present-day town was settled as Lincoln Gulch, in honor of the President. Gold brought people here, and in the 1860s the small town had log houses, a bakery, whiskey shops, and a store. By the 1880s the boom had run its course and the hopefuls were off to other strikes.

Augusta is a gateway to the immense Bob Marshall Wilderness and adjoining Scapegoat Wilderness, covering a million acres, which offers hikers and backpackers access to the unspoiled, rugged beauty of the high country. Augusta sits on the northern edge of Gold West Country and is a friendly town in a scenic location. There are restaurants, motels, and a full array of visitor services.

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From: http://www.montanascenicloop.com/lincoln.htm

Lincoln, Montana
Just west of the Continental Divide, Lincoln is located on Highway 200, 80 miles east of Missoula and 86 miles west of Great Falls. Helena is 60 miles to the southwest. Just west of the Continental Divide, Lincoln is the perfect stop-over when traveling between Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.

Nestled in the Rocky Mountains, Lincoln is bordered by the spectacular Bob Marshall and Scapegoat Wilderness areas to the north and the sparkling Blackfoot River to the south. Abundant wildlife and majestic, scenic beauty make it an ideal base camp for hikers,fishermen, hunters, snowmobilers, and cross country skiers.

You will find spectacular fishing in the Blackfoot River, alpine lakes, and the many mountain drainages surrounding Lincoln. Your fishing skills can be tested on streams that are home to rainbow, cutthroat, and brown trout. Or you may prefer to hike, backpack, or mountain bike through acres of beautiful country.

Snowmobiling dominates the scene when the snow begins to fall. More than 250 miles of groomed trails and limitless play areas make Lincoln a snowmobiler's dreamland. If you prefer the solitude of winter entertainment, the Blackfoot Valley provides cross-country ski trails and miles of skiing in the back country