Lincoln, MT to Helena, MT

Photos - click here

DAY 1
The day started with a high climb out of the valley up to windy open balds which were beautiful. The first climb took me longer than I anticipated since I was experiencing calf cramps and had to stop regularly for ibuprofen and massages. There was no snow this day- it seems we have walked south out of the snow and into summer, but there were intense winds. The next many miles of our hike twisted around the mountain tops above the tree line- the ridgeline walking was wonderful, the views- amazing. We did reach one gap up on the ridgeline that appeared to be a wind magnet, and we encountered winds of speeds we could only guess. But since I had to walk using both hiking sticks on one side of my body to prevent myself from falling over, and since David literally slid while standing still, I’m guessing the gusts were around 45–50 mph, but maybe up to 60 mph.

We hiked most of the day without seeing anyone, but later in the day Jason had caught up to us at a road crossing- Fletcher Pass. Though he had decided to hike to the pass, he also had decided to go to Antarctica and would be leaving the trail right where he had caught up with us. We were sad to see him go, even though we hardly knew him, but it sounded like he was leaving one wonderful adventure for another wonderful adventure- so we were very happy for him as well. We said our goodbyes, hiked on, and eventually crashed.

DAY 2
The next morning we had a pretty normal day of hiking. We hadn’t hit our intended destination the night before, but David saw Zach and Buddha in the morning and they hadn’t either, so we didn’t feel too bad. Apparently they camped only a mile or so from us, but we didn’t see them for the rest of the day, so we figured they had motored on.

The trail passed through what we expected to be a ski area, but there was nothing there but a pit toilet and a few picnic tables. I say that like it’s a bad thing, but really- pit toilets and picnic tables are luxuries in my book!! We continued on after a break, did a lot of up and down climbing, and eventually camped at a junction with our turn off for the following day.

DAY 3
The next morning we were immediately confronted with a herd of cows, bulls, and calves right in the middle of the trail. Now, I have some special feelings for cows. I don’t mind rattlesnakes. I don’t mind black bears. But I DON’T like cows. I personally consider them to be “a thousand pounds of stupid”. Heck, they could sit on you and kill you and not even know it! Humph.

So there they were, in the middle of the trail. Staring. Blankly. Mooing. But not moving. Great. We had to bushwhack around the suckers, but they were in the woods too. So we ended up getting pretty close to quite a few of them, but I think we passed them before it registered in their dim little brains that we were even there....

After conquering that small hurdle, we reached a fork in the road- literally- which was not properly depicted on our map. That’s also where we met Zuddha, who were also trying to figure out which way to go. As with the night before, we only camped about a mile apart, and didn’t even realize it. Today, however, we spent the bulk of our day hiking together, sharing stories, and generally getting to know each other better. In this type of hiking environment where there aren’t many people, it’s great to socialize, but very rare to hike for long durations together- and this will probably be the case with Zach and Buddha as well. Despite that, Dave and I have talked quite a bit about what neat people they are, what good energy they have, and how much we enjoy catching up with them whenever the opportunity permits.

We were all headed to McDonald Pass to hitch into Helena for some 4th of July R&R, but about 6 miles prior we changed plans. Dave, David, and I went into town at Priest Pass instead because my Achilles hurt so bad I was concerned that I would cause permanent damage or snap a tendon. For some reason they have been really bugging me the last few weeks. Usually after a handful of ibuprofen, some stretching, and some time they loosen up, but today they would not stop screaming at me all day. I couldn’t even take full strides because of the tightness in my heel, so we headed in early, planning to make up the stretch when we return to the trail from town. That evening in town we did laundry, ate, rested, and prepared to get our mail drop the next day on our way back to the trail.

NEXT MANY DAYS
We ended up getting stuck in town for a variety of reasons, one of which was a logistical issue and the other a health issue. When we altered our itinerary to be hiking in safer snow, my parents had already sent our mail drops according to our intentions to hike (my fault, not theirs). At any rate, since Post Offices are only legally required to hold packages for 2 weeks, and since our mail drops were planned according to northbound hiking and we are now hiking south, everything was completely messed up. So I pulled out some trusty mail-forwarding cards and had all mail drops sent to Butte. Except...I remembered it wrong. They weren’t sent to Butte- they were sent to Helena. We were planning on a day off in Butte to be able to sort it all out, but now we had to take extra time in Helena instead. Oops. Interestingly, we had all of our belongings and maildrops in the Post Office lawn (we got permission first to loiter...) and a gentleman coming out of the Post Office approached Dave just prior to getting into his car and without a word handed Dave a five dollar bill. Hmmm. We must look bad- and we're freshly showered! Dave's only response was "I've gotta shave my beard." Well, people are good, even if they aren't completely familiar with our situation....

The other issue was that once we were here, Dave spiked a fever and didn’t feel very good. So far he’s had it for over 2 days and just went to the doctor this morning. At this point in time it looks like he just has a little fever or flu bug, but we haven’t ruled out the possibility of some tick-borne disease (especially since Dave found at least 4 or 5 ticks on him in the last 2 stretches- 2 of which had broken the skin, but had not embedded their heads). We’re hoping the fever will break tomorrow and we can hike on, but we’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, the doctors tested his white blood cell count which was fine (yeah!), but held off on the really expensive tick tests since it takes a week to get results back anyway. The people at the clinic were truly wonderful to us, and they even gave Dave a prescription to the antibiotic used to wipe out any tick-borne virus. He will only fill it if he gets worse, since the side effects of this particular antibiotic aren’t the best.
 
          ~ Leslie

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From: http://www.helenachamber.com/explorehelena/

Helena

Cradled in the foothills of the Montana Rockies, surrounded by pristine wilderness, alive with history and culture, lies Helena, "the heartbeat of Montana." This charming, sophisticated and beautiful Victorian city is both the capital of the state of Montana and also the county seat for Lewis and Clark County.

Helena is a unique blend of past and presents, power suits and blue jeans... People from all walks of life can find an environment to suit their lifestyle. The city itself is alive with the community spirit, street festivals, theater, museums, symphonies, state fairs and rodeos. It is the hub of education and health care, a city of timeless treasures and sophisticated services.

Helena's beautiful downtown, with its past rich in history, offers a delightful shopping and browsing experience. In the heart of this area is the Pedestrian Walking Mall, a park-like outdoor shopping area of historic sites and a diverse array of unique shops, coffeehouses and restaurants.