{"id":571,"date":"2016-08-04T00:13:56","date_gmt":"2016-08-04T00:13:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/?p=571"},"modified":"2017-05-30T15:09:29","modified_gmt":"2017-05-30T15:09:29","slug":"a-run-for-the-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/2016\/08\/04\/a-run-for-the-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Thursday, August 4 A Run For the Road!"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUMMARY:\u00a0 <\/strong>We packed up by headlamp this morning, determined to do the 24 miles to the road, and get to the Grant Village backcountry permit office before they closed at 4:30pm. The first 8 miles, we were on the Snake River trail, through burned forest where only smaller plants had regrown. (Tough going with trek poles!). The second 8 miles was the Heart Lake Trail, which was miles of forest regrowing after a fire, but the poor young trees were so crowded that none of them were doing well.<\/p>\n

Heart Lake was awesome! It had a real beach. If we were not making a run for the road, I would have stopped right there. Then the last 8 miles\u2014a “hot spring trail”\u2014lots of hot springs, all different colors. We hitched a ride to Grant Village and were in the backcountry office at 4:20, only to be told, “We can’t issue permits after 4pm. Come back tomorrow.” Groan! So we got food, and camped at the backpacker campsite.<\/p>\n

DETAILS:<\/strong>\u00a0 We got up a bit before 5 am, in the dark and got dressed\/packed up by headlamp.\u00a0 It was very cold–I could see my breath, and there was frost on the plants as we started hiking at 5:45, when there was barely enough light to see the trail.\u00a0\u00a0 Our goal was to make it to the Grant Village backcountry office (24 trail miles plus hitching a ride) before they close at 4:30.\u00a0 Fixit is way faster than I am,\u00a0 and I was sure he could do it, but for me, I would have to “push it” all day.<\/p>\n

The 24 miles actually divided very nicely into three 8-mile segments.\u00a0 The first one took us along the Snake River Trail.\u00a0\u00a0 Most of the time we were up high above the river, and the trail was mostly pretty level, but it was also very rocky and we were going through a forest fire zone where the regrowing plants hung heavily over the trail, making it tough going (for me).\u00a0 I had prayed and asked God to give me the strength to do well at the hiking today, and I felt that I did fine going through all those rocks and plants.\u00a0 We stopped for breakfast at 7:30, when the sun finally made it down into the river canyon.<\/p>\n

By Snickers time (9:45) we had finished the first 8 miles and started on Leg #2–the Heart Lake Trail.\u00a0 This time, it was 8 miles of walking through a “regrowing” forest of small trees, just the same as we see back home when we hike on Mt. Vision in the Point Reyes Nat’l Seashore.\u00a0 The little trees are the regrowth after the awful fires in Yellowstone several years ago.\u00a0 But just like the ones on Mt. Vision (also regrowth after an awful forest fire), the little trees are insanely crowded together, and none of them are doing well. It’s a very sad sight.<\/p>\n

Sometimes the trail went through a meadow with bushes, where I did my best to whoop and holler in case there were any grizz around.\u00a0 Then we’d be back in the forest again, where the little trees were packed so tightly together that I don’t think a grizz could squeeze between them.<\/p>\n

After so many miles of no views, it was wonderful to reach Heart Lake!\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0 It has a real BEACH!\u00a0 And the CDT trail actually follows the beach!\u00a0 If we were not trying to make it to the backcountry office (and Canada!) I seriously would have just stopped right there and said, “This is it!\u00a0 We camp here!”\u00a0 A bunch of Boy Scouts were at the beach, and we spent a few minutes telling them about what we were doing.\u00a0 They were amazed and wanted to take a picture with us.\u00a0 But we had one more 8-mile leg ahead of us, which I would call “The Hot Springs Trail.”\u00a0 We passed lots of hot springs, all different colors, and even though it was a very warm day, they were steaming.\u00a0 Again, if we had not been in a hurry, I would love to have spent more time looking at them!<\/p>\n

Part of this last 8 miles included a really big climb, and it was such a warm\/hot afternoon that I just ran out of steam before the end of it.\u00a0 I had been pushing myself hard all day, and trying to do a long hill with no shade in the heat, was just too much.\u00a0 I finally said, “Fixit, you’d better just head for the road and try to hitch into Grant Village.\u00a0 I don’t think I can make it in time.\u00a0 Wait for me at the backcountry office.”<\/p>\n

So Fixit took off, and I plodded on.\u00a0 But when I finally reached the road, he was still there, trying to hitch a ride.\u00a0 The problem is, he’s not very good at hitching–when we need to do that, it’s me who gets us a ride.\u00a0 So I took over, and though many cars went by (it is a busy road), after 15 minutes we got a ride from a sweet young Asian couple, who actually turned around in order to help us out!\u00a0\u00a0 Wonderful!\u00a0 They dropped us off right by the backcountry office, and we were walking in the door at 4:20.<\/p>\n

But oh bummer….the nice older couple who run the office told us very sadly that they were not allowed to issue any permits after 4:00, even though they are open till 4:30.\u00a0 They thought that rule was stupid, but they have to obey it.\u00a0 “Go get a campsite,” they said, “and come back in the morning.”\u00a0 Bummer!\u00a0\u00a0 We had hoped to get our permits and hitch straight back to the CDT.\u00a0 And there was another complication, too.\u00a0 Our next resupply is at Old Faithful Village, and now by the time we get there, it will be Sunday, and the post office will be closed.\u00a0 So that means TOMORROW we have to get to Old Faithful Village and get our box.\u00a0 Yikes!<\/p>\n

So we went over to the information office and asked about getting a bus from Grant Village to Old Faithful Village.\u00a0 Turns out there are no busses.\u00a0 Oh no!\u00a0 That means hitching, and technically we aren’t supposed to be hitching a ride in the park (though we did today).\u00a0 But the lady at the info desk said, “The college kids who work here in the park hitch rides all the time.\u00a0 You’ll need a cardboard sign…if you can find some cardboard, I’ll lend you my Sharpie pen to write with.”<\/p>\n

So we went to find some food and some cardboard.\u00a0 First we stopped at the store for cold drinks and ice cream, then we went to the Grill for burgers & fries.\u00a0 I asked the lady at the Grill for some cardboard, then we went back to the info desk, borrowed the Sharpie, and I made a sign.\u00a0 Then we walked over to the campground, got a spot at the biker\/hiker campsite and got to meet 3 bikers who are riding across the USA.\u00a0 They plan to finish in Astoria.\u00a0 It was fun talking to them.\u00a0 Actually, in the campground there were several “adventure tour” groups who all seem to be having a great time of it.\u00a0 They get to hike, bike, canoe, and all sorts of stuff.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow’s logistics look awfully tricky–I prayed that everything would work out.\u00a0 It is weird to be in a car campground–so much noise and smells.\u00a0 It will be great to be back on trail (I hope!!) by tomorrow night.<\/p>\n

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SUMMARY:\u00a0 We packed up by headlamp this morning, determined to do the 24 miles to the road, and get to the Grant Village backcountry permit office before they closed at 4:30pm. The first 8 miles, we were on the Snake River trail, through burned forest where only smaller plants had regrown. (Tough going with trek […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wyoming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":986,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571\/revisions\/986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}