Day 140- Blown Away

Saturday September 01, 2018

Atlantic Creek CG(2939.8) to Reynolds CG(2964.9) 

25.1 Miles

Total Miles: 2653.4

Elevation: 4,700 ft

I really have been enjoying g our last few days on trail. I slept in until 6:30 this morning. Today was another short day, with fairly easy terrain. We even took the time to make hot coffee before leaving camp. I’m not used to have so much extra time everyday. I actually found it hard to relax this morning. I was in my usual rush to get the hike started. Almost immediately after leaving camp we began our only real climb of the day. As soon as we left the trees behind the wind really picked up again. I was glad I left my rain jacket and pants on, they provided just enough protection from the wind. 

Hike out of camp

We hiked up to Triple Divide Pass. It is the only place in the country where water coming off of the peak reaches three different watersheds, The Pacific, The Gulf, and Hudson Bay. I thought the climb was very well graded and the hike up was stunning. I don’t usually stop while hiking uphill, but I couldn’t help stopping to take pictures. The cloudy sky and fast moving must made for some great shots. 

Angry looking sky wasn’t a good sign

Z taking in the view 

Big glacier

Triple Divide Peak

Triple Divide Peak to the right

View back the way we came

Top of the Pass

Group selfie at the top of Triple Divide 

The rest of the day was spent going down into the valley and then hiking to St. Mary Lake. Once again I had nonstop views and I struggled to keep up since I kept stopping to take pictures. 

Z heading down the switchbacks

Hudson Bay part of the Divide 

So cool the way the light was breaking through the clouds to light up this ridge and peak

Sour Straws looks so small

Fall colors really coming in 

We walked through an old burn zone. The only nice thing about walking through it was there were no trees to block our view. We crossed several streams and creeks today with the assistance of a bridge. Most of them were suspension bridges. I strongly believe they copied the blueprints for these bridges from Indiana Jones. I had fun hiking across them in windy conditions. 
A rule we all followed

Z pausing to take a picture 

We took a few long breaks throughout the day. We didn’t want to get to camp super early. We also wanted to have enough time to enjoy camp. I figured we would get in around 6-6:30, but we managed it by 5:30. As soon as we dropped our packs and set up camp we immediately got the fire going. We gathered plenty of wood and made some S’more and hot dog cooking sticks. I made mine out of green wood and slightly sharpened a point. While we waited for the coals to get hot enough to cook the hot dogs we ate a few s’mores. A married couple from S. Carolina was camped at the same site as us. We made small talk over dinner. We must have looked and acted half starved. After the fact we laughed about how we had just eaten for three hours straight. The hotdogs cooked over an open flame were amazing and the S’mores were a nice treat. 

Preparing the fire

Slight view of St. Mary lake

Cascading waterfall 

Gushing waterfall 

Piñata crossing wobbly suspension bridge 

We saw lots of day hikers 

For such a short easy day I sure am tired. I’m also sure that this is the first time in a long time that I’m going to bed with a full belly. 

Also wanted to wish my Uncle Tom(BFG) a very happy and wonderful 75tg birthday. Happy birthday Uncle Tom. 

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

- Maya Angelou