CDT Part 2 – Day 26 – Marias Pass

8/22/21

Daily Miles: 17

2021 CDT Total Miles: 458

Overall CDT Total Miles: 2531

It rained on and off overnight and was raining when our alarms went off this morning. We decided to give it some time to stop and we just stayed in our sleeping bags. After an hour, the rain turned into just drizzle and we decided to get up.

It didn’t feel very good as we put on wet socks and shoes this morning (we are ready to get to town, just so we can dry everything out). SweetPea’s foot was still sore, and any pressure from the shoe laces hurts, so she left the shoe untied. Walking with an unlaced shoe can be tricky on the trail, especially when the trail is muddy.

Indeed the trail was a muddy endeavor today. With all the rain, the trail was really sloppy and filled with water. Right after our campsite, we got on an alternate that parallels the CDT. Other hikers had recommended it because the coming eight miles of the CDT was reported to have over 700 downed trees across the trail.

The alternate was pretty easy walking (minus the slippery mud) and had a lot of creek crossings. There was maybe one or two that could be crossed by hopping on rocks, but most of them required us to ford. That made our feet pretty icy as the cold drizzle continued.

The sky was mostly very angry looking dark grey clouds, but we did see a small patch of blue sky. Here and there we would see the sun trying to break through the clouds, but then it would get covered up again.

The first ten or so miles of hiking today was a thimbleberry highway…both sides of the trail were covered in thick bushes laden with ripe berries. It certainly slowed our pace, but we seem to be physically incapable of walking by ripe thimbleberries without eating them.

We got to Marias Pass which is on the main road around Glacier National Park. This was the northern-most point of trail for hikers on the CDT last year. All of the CDT miles in Glacier NP were closed last year. So, hikers either started/ended their hike at Marias Pass or they continued up to the Canadian border on paved roads.

We crossed Highway 2 and continued on the trail. As we were taking an afternoon break, we met a northbound CDT hiker named Darma Bum. At this point, we aren’t surprised if we see at least one northbound hiker per day. We had actually expected to see them about a week before we actually did.

In the late afternoon the wind really picked up and it is getting cold. Luckily the sky has cleared more and we expect nice weather to be coming our way.