Saturday, June 26, 2004
Rain, Mud, and a Daring Move
06/26/04
Last night I had barely closed my eyes when I heard raindrops falling on my spinnaker cloth ground sheet. I thought to myself, "It's not really raining until I feel a drop on my face." When I felt one on my eyebrow, I convinced myself that it wasn't really a drop, even as the staccato on my groundsheet increased. What it finally took was Spur saying, "Cupcake, you are getting wet."
I put up my tent around all my stuff. It's great having a floorless structure that allows that flexibility.
It rained softly most of the night.
We got a late start because of the late in-camp time last night and the rain. It was not too cold though.
We soon made it to Highway 2 and Marias Pass, a place famous for all kinds of things. An Amtrak passenger train was passing just as I neared the tracks at the pass. I can only imagine what the people inside thought about the sight of a seemingly lone hiker wandering near the tracks on a rainy morning.
At Marias Pass, there's even a Teddy Roosevelt memorial obelisk.
We gathered under the covering for the doorway of the pit toilets, our only option to get out of the rain.
Marias Pass does have a phone, so Apple Pie, Spur and I all got in a round of PocketMail. Leaving the rest area, we set out into 7 days in the Montana Rockies. Benchmark Ranch is an outpost at the end of a long road, and, at 8 days from E. Glacier, it's our longest resupply stretch.
The maps offered a variety of routes through the first few miles of this section. We chose the middle route, dispite its many pointless ups and downs.
We missed the trail for the middle route, and ended up on the low route, which involved walking along a river and numerous river crossings. And mud. I enjoyed the day of hiking.
What is the daring move? Once again I am attempting to sleep out. I has not rained since 3PM and we even got some sun during dinner at 7PM. Camp tonight is on a modest bluff of sorts above a creek. I am tucked under the limbs of a large tree in a flat area wrecked by horses.
Spur continues to talk about moving on. We are looking for a solution.
