Continental Divide Trail – Day 101

September 1, 2023
Miles Today/ Total: 29.4 / 1830.4

I slept in a little later today. I’ve been getting up to early and ready before it’s light enough to see. The days are getting shorter now and it isn’t daylight until about 6:45.

I started down the trail past Summit Lake and through the woods. I was surprised when I smelled sulfur this morning and noticed a few steam vents nearby the trail. I thought I was out of the geothermal areas. The trail stayed on top of the mountains all the way to the park border. I passed the Wyoming/ Idaho border on the way – 3 states down, 2 to go.

After leaving Yellowstone National Park the trail started a steep downhill to an abandoned forest road. The road was smooth and well graded and I was able to make good time in the trail. Eventually I came to the blockade built to keep vehicles off the road and the trail joined an old railway grade that is now a snowmobile trail.

The trail wound around the mountains through forest and meadows. I was on this railway grade for about 14 miles. It was a nice smooth walk with very gradual changes in elevation. As I neared 10 miles on this snowmobile trail a thunderstorm moved in and it began to rain. There was lots of thunder, but it only rained for about 25 minutes.

After the rain stopped I took my dinner break and cooked up my food on the side of the trail. After eating I was back on the trail and hiked another 3 miles before looking for a place to camp for the night. This whole area was pretty flat and finding a spot wasn’t too hard. I setup and crawled inside for the night.