Beaverhead

CDT Montana 2016

Day 5, July 10, Sunday

Start 05-100M On border fence Montana-Idaho on Continental Divide, 2 miles from Modoc Creek.

Stop 05-275M, on approach to cross the Continental Divide after spending the morning walking along the Divide in the Beaverhead National Forest

Miles 2 + 5.7 + 7.8 + 7.7 = 23.2

Rain showers in the early morning delayed starting a couple of hours, since I really did not want to break camp and start the day being rained on.

After a couple of miles descended down to Modoc Creek to get water.

The way is steep and far, so do not go down unless you are down to your last teaspoon of water.

The morning was spent following Divide fence-line again like yesterday, except the ridges were so much taller on the “Roller Coaster”.

Wind was strong enough to push me around at times. Dark clouds gathered and passed over, threatening a storm at high altitude. The temperature was bitterly cold with the gusting wind. In the distance I could see the dark clouds passing quickly over were followed by blue sky, so I kept walking and dealt with a little hail.

At mid-day the trail turned off the high ridge and descended down to reasonable altitudes and warmth.

I was so glad to see trees again after spending so much time on top of treeless grassy mountain.

After rambling past several water sources and giving time to get warm the trail proceeds back up to the heights, preparing to cross the Divide again, but not to walk far along fences again.

The climb up went quickly.

Rain and hail started at the crest as I was preparing.to climb and cross the divide, and I ran out of time to complete my goal. Instead I sheltered among trees and prepared for another wet night.

 

Author: Jim, Sagebrush

Jim (trail-name Sagebrush) codes audio software for Windows, Linux, Android, and embedded systems. When not working at sagebrush.com, he enjoys backpacking, which this blog is about.