{"id":625,"date":"2016-08-30T17:55:23","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T17:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/?p=625"},"modified":"2017-06-28T15:12:08","modified_gmt":"2017-06-28T15:12:08","slug":"sure-looks-like-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/2016\/08\/30\/sure-looks-like-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday, August 30 Sure Looks Like California"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUMMARY:\u00a0 <\/strong>We keep remarking on how much this part of the Montana CDT looks like Northern California\u2014rolling golden grassy hills with forested parks. We had a long, long climb back up to the Divide this morning. The higher we went, the more trees there were.<\/p>\n

We had to consult the Garmin GPS at a couple of junctions in order to be sure of the right way. We were carrying heavy loads of water\u2014it was quite dry and Cottonwood Creek was very tromped up by cows. At the top, hooray, the CDT!<\/p>\n

We were so tired that we simply collapsed for a bit, and unknown to Bill, when he set down the Garmin, it rolled under a bush. So when we got ready to go on, oh no! It had disappeared. We thought maybe it was left by where we stopped for a snack break, so Bill went back to look.<\/p>\n

Almost an hour later he had not returned, but a kind lady from an ATV group that came along volunteered to go get him. When they returned, Bill had not found the Garmin–oh no!\u00a0 But then he looked more closely at the spot where he had been lying down, and there it was, under the bush. Whew! Now we could go on. Tonight we are camped on mountainside.<\/p>\n

DETAILS:\u00a0 <\/strong>Camped on the lawn at the ranch, we could still hear the freeway noise from I-90 nearby, but we were so tired from hiking in the heat that we zonked out anyway.\u00a0 This morning when we headed up, the lights were on in the ranch house, and we could see that the 3 young guys were up ‘n at ’em, too.\u00a0 The ranch roosters gave us a great sendoff–a rousing fanfare of crowing!\u00a0 Our packs are so heavy–a full load of water (thanks to the ranch guys!) and 4 very generous days’ worth of food.<\/p>\n

We headed up the Cottonwood Creek road, talking about how this whole area looks so much like Northern California–the golden, rolling, grassy hills and forested mountains.\u00a0 We were glad we’d brought our own water, though–as we got higher, Cottonwood Creek was running, but it was all tromped up by cows. Yuck.\u00a0 We passed a ranch that seems to have a business making posts and poles–there were logs and poles and posts stacked everywhere.\u00a0 The higher we went, the bigger the trees were, and sadly, the smokier the air was.\u00a0 I guess there is a fire somewhere.\u00a0 Hope it is south of us, not north!<\/p>\n

By 11:30 am, we had reached the junction called “Four Corners” and we were back up top at the CDT!\u00a0 Hooray!\u00a0\u00a0 We did have to get the Garmin out a couple of times on the way up the mountain, when we got to some unclear intersections.\u00a0 We were still on the Ley route, but the Garmin was a help even so.\u00a0 We were both so tired when we got to Four Corners that we just plain ol’ collapsed for a bit in the shade.<\/p>\n

But when it was time to go on, Fixit suddenly looked worried and started frantically rummaging through his stuff.\u00a0 “I can’t find the Garmin!” he said.\u00a0 We carefully searched his entire pack and his pockets–no luck.\u00a0 The last time we knew for sure he had it was back around 10:00 am when we had stopped for a snack.\u00a0 “I must have left it there,” Fixit said.\u00a0 “I must have set it down and forgotten to pick it up.”\u00a0 Megabummer!\u00a0 So he left his pack with me and headed back down the Cottonwood Creek Road to try and find it.<\/p>\n

I sat with the packs and prayed like crazy.\u00a0 This is so frustrating!\u00a0\u00a0 Another loss of precious hiking time!\u00a0 A little while later, along came a whole jolly group of 4-wheeler people.\u00a0 They stopped at Four Corners and got out their lunches.\u00a0 Another CDT hiker–Shortcut–came by.\u00a0 He told me he had seen Fixit, but that Fixit was still looking for the Garmin.\u00a0 Oh no!\u00a0 Shortcut suggested that maybe one of the 4-wheeler people could go back and find Fixit and give him a ride.\u00a0 I had been thinking that, too, and decided to go for it.<\/p>\n

So I went over and talked to the 4-wheeler people, and one of the ladies very kindly volunteered to go find Fixit.\u00a0 I felt obligated to hang out with the rest of them, so even though all I really wanted to do was go lie down (I was so tired), I stood around talking to them.\u00a0 It was interesting, though–they were all retired folks, and two of the guys had once worked at the smelter when it was still operating.<\/p>\n

Finally the lady returned, with Fixit, but no Garmin.\u00a0 I was very much in despair over this, but Fixit did not hesitate.\u00a0 He had been thinking…and he hurried over to the spot where we had collapsed in the shade and started poking around in the plants and bushes till with a cry of triumph, he produced the Garmin!\u00a0 Somehow it had rolled under a bush.\u00a0 Wow, what a relief!\u00a0 And we were both kicking ourselves for not thinking of that sooner.<\/p>\n

Now that Fixit and I and the Garmin were reunited, I cooked us a very late lunch and we finally were ready to go on.\u00a0 The trail was varied–sometimes in forest, sometimes on grassy hilltops, and eventually we reached Cold Spring–very well-named!\u00a0 Wow, that water was good, and it really was COLD!\u00a0 We drank a lot right then and there–felt much better!<\/p>\n

Late in the afternoon, we were sitting by the trail eating dinner when along came the Aussie guy, Shepherd.\u00a0 Like us, he was very tired, but he had the additional anxiety that a bunch of people will be meeting him in East Glacier, to hike the last part of the CDT with him, and at the rate he is going he is not sure he will make it there in time.\u00a0 To add to his “fun”, it looks like when he does get to his next resupply in Lincoln, the PO will not be open, and he will have to wait a day, which will delay him even more.\u00a0 Whew.\u00a0 Fixit and I are glad that we have no such complications.<\/p>\n

We hiked on, along open hillsides with glorious views despite the smoke.\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0 At 7:00 we managed to find a reasonably flat spot to camp, but first had to clear out all the cow pies.\u00a0 Obviously the cows like it here, too!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SUMMARY:\u00a0 We keep remarking on how much this part of the Montana CDT looks like Northern California\u2014rolling golden grassy hills with forested parks. We had a long, long climb back up to the Divide this morning. The higher we went, the more trees there were. We had to consult the Garmin GPS at a couple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-montana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625","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=625"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1050,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625\/revisions\/1050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montybillpct.net\/blog2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}