Yesterday we made arrangements with Frank to leave from the Lazy B restaurant at 10 AM. This would give us time to get breakfast before heading back to the trail. There were 8 of us going back and I got to ride in the back of a pickup truck for an hour.
The trail was surprisingly crowded today. In addition to the 8 thru hikers hitting the trail, I saw probably 20 people in a group on horses. I see the poop all the time, but rarely see the horses. At first I just saw the mule train with all their gear but then everyone else wasn’t too far behind.
I saw at least 3 other groups of backpackers too, just out for a few days. It sounds like this is one of the more popular backpacking destinations in Montana. That’s because of the Chinese Wall. It’s a 12 mile long escarpment that the trail walks below.
I got a glimpse of the wall a few days ago but it was so much cooler to see it up close. Because today was a shorter day, I wasn’t sure if I would get to see it. I ended up making it all the way to the end.
I picked a campsite right at the north end with a great view of the wall. It’s a little lopsided, but it’s worth the view.
Tomorrow I get to decide if I take the Spotted Bear Alternate or stay on the CDT. The Spotted Bear is about 14 miles shorter and it’s been cleared of blowdowns. A couple I met today said that a trail crew told them the CDT route was almost clear, with just two miles of bad blowdowns. This is considerably better than I’ve heard from other sobos. My current plan is to start on the CDT, then traverse over a pass onto the alternate. It won’t really save me any time and I think it adds elevation, but it looks cool and I’ll avoid those blowdowns.