[Day 111] The Wall

It was a beautiful, albeit clumsy day with probably a wrong choice. Nonetheless, the impressive Bob Marshall Wilderness makes up for any flaws, suffering, and doubtfulness.

After a breakfast of Oreos, a 2000-foot, six-mile climb initiated the day. The trail has been pristine since the Scapegoat Wilderness — reasonable grades on ascents and descents, cleared of blowdowns, a sweet combination of dirt and underlying rock.

A mile or so from Cliff Mountain, the prime feature of the day, the Chinese Wall, came into stunning view. The Chinese Wall is an escarpment — an extended, steep slope typically found at the edge of a plateau. But, in this case, the wall is a cliff from the edge of jutting mountains. At points, 800-feet of shear vertical exposure drop from the lip to valley floor. I have not quite seen a comparable mountain feature with this length and continuity.

The trail followed along the base of the wall, and I was enthralled with the views. My eye was deep in the viewfinder of my camera. Oh no — my new camera. I was stopped to fill my water bladder at a shallow stream. The hip belt of my backpack was hugging my midsection a bit too tight as I squatted and bent to fill my water. I unclipped, and I heard a splash. Oh shit. I knew exactly what happened. My camera’s weight sagged the hip belt pocket and it popped right out. The next steps were second nature since I dealt with this a few weeks ago. Sadly, this camera has seen less than 300 miles on trail. I am doubtful it’s a goner, but there will be many days of drying out. I beat myself up over it for a while. This trail has been so much drier than the PCT (at least in terms of streams and creeks), yet I’ve managed to get two nice cameras soaked. I’ll have a nightmare of the event tonight, but all I can do is get over it and keep my focus in the landscape.

After about seven miles along the base of the Chinese Wall, trail headed east and hit a junction for the Spotted Bear Alternate, which provides a shorter parallel trail route to the CDT. I was investigating my map, and the CDT appeared to have more escarpment-type features ahead. My gut said take the CDT. But, Jonathan Ley — the notorious mapmaker of the CDT — suggested that the Spotted Bear Alternate was “more direct and more scenic.” In that case, why wouldn’t I take it? The Spotted Bear Alternate, thus far, has been an uneventful, forested, overgrown trail. It’s enjoyable, but not what I envisioned. However, maybe the second half of tomorrow will change my mind. Worst case, the alternate saves me some mileage, since I will have to reroute around the Sidney Fire ahead (more to come on this) which may add mileage. Undoubtedly, I will be back to the Bob Marshall Wilderness, so I’ll tack on the section of the CDT I bypassed to the list, alongside Hoadley Reef of the old CDT track. The southern portion of the Spotted Bear Alternate did reward with some tasty huckleberries close in size to GMO, supermarket blueberries. The stops for berries definitely set back arrival to camp by an hour.

I spent much time today thinking about what’s next after the trail. Do I get a job? Do I hike another trail while I still lack responsibilities? Where do I want live when I’m done — short term and long term? I daydreamed of owning a warehouse with a small apartment built in and plenty of space for a garage band, a full machine shop, vehicle storage, and many other expensive and pricey endeavors. New Mexico has been on my mind. It’s landscape was impactful.

I took dinner before charging the last four miles of the day in approach to Switchback Pass. I was clumsy — tripping every other step, kicking rocks, wetting my dry shoes in a creek less than half a mile to camp. I camped at the base of Switchback Pass, and I’m excited for a morning of climbing tomorrow.

Signing off,

Zeppelin / fReaK (ON a leash)