Blog Entry 2, 2010

6/14/10

Segment 5, Interstate 15 to Bannack (Medicine Lodge) Pass: Beaverhead Mountains of the Bitterroot Range.
Trail Angel Mike Strang helped us scope out the Trailhead at Bannack Pass, the ending access to Segment 5, on Wednesday, 6/9, so that we could know exactly where we would be met on Sunday. He then rode with us to the beginning Trailhead at Monida Pass, and took our vehicle, “Big Yuke,” back to Lima.
We started with Segment 5 because the word we got was that the CDT in Idaho would not yet be passable. It turned out to be a strenuous 5-day hike, for a variety of reasons, including a lot of snow to hike through. Wednesday turned into an extremely windy day, so after covering the first several miles, we set up our tents at angles to the wind. The line of this part of the Trail is really three lines, the Great Divide itself, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Idaho-Montana border.
We understand that this Segment is on BLM land, so there is no cut tread, just a series of signs to indicate the CDT. Unfortunately the signs are few and far between, and seem to be missing at critical points. We are grateful for the Benchmark maps and for our GPS, and I am most grateful for Pem’s orienteering skills. The trail goes straight up from each low point and straight down from each high point most of the time. We did not do what the guidebook suggested, hiking our own switchbacks, we just hiked up and down and up and down.
On Thursday we saw a few antelope and lots of evidence of elk. We commented on the fact that a few years ago, whenever one would see an antelope one would see a dozen or more close to each other, but these days, a lone antelope is what is usually seen. The wind continued but we were becoming accustomed to it.
It was amazing to view “the world” from the top of the Divide for so many days. The views were spectacular.
We think we did not use the Trail as we should have past the calcium carbonate quarry, (no signs) but went past the quarry on the other side and didn’t actually see the quarry until we were past it.
On Saturday evening when we were searching for a camp site, we saw the pick-up point off in the distance below us. We realized that we were well below the ridge of the Divide, and probably just traveling parallel to the Trail. On Sunday morning then, we hiked toward the stream crossing where we would be met rather than struggling back up to the ridge. We were met by Mike and soon after we crossed the stream. By mid-afternoon we were back in Lima for a rest day.