Continental Divide Trail – Day 102 – 103

September 2-3, 2023
Miles Today/ Total: 12.2 / 1842.6

I was going into town today so I got around pretty quick snd was on the trail just at it was getting daylight. It rained a little last night and everything was still wet this morning.

The trail was now following the Continental Divide and it began climbing up the mountain ridge. It climbed gradually upwards for about 2 miles before leveling out in a high plateau. The trail wound through forest and meadows on its way to Targhee Pass.

As I neared the pass the trail became muddier and more traveled by horses which had really chewed up the trail. It began its descent toward Targhee pass and I struggled to keep out of the mud.

I reached the pass about 11:40 and stashed my bear spray in the woods. The Madison Motel had a recent issue with bear spray released in their motel and no longer allowed bear spray inside.

I walked out to the highway and began to hitch for a ride. It took about 30 minutes and a family from Kansas City picked me up and took me into West Yellowstone. My first stop was the Laundromat to wash my clothes. They also offered showers and I opted for one of those as well.

Finishing my laundry I headed to get some lunch. Pizza sounded good and I found a place near the grocery to eat. I had mozzarella sticks and a small pizza and devoured it all. I then headed to the grocery store and bought my resupply.

It was a little after 3:00 by now so I headed to the motel and got checked in. I started out by laying out my wet gear to dry and then taking care of some bills I needed to pay. I spent the afternoon updating social media, packing my food resupply, and arranging to send my camera in for repairs.

As dinner rolled around I headed to Three Bear Lodge where I had steak and potatoes for dinner. I also had an Apple Brown Betty for desert (a local favorite). It was really big and I was only able to eat about 1/2 of it.

Back in the motel I spent the evening planning the next few days and some additional planning for my Te Araroa trip. I crawled in bed about 10:00 and soon drifted off to sleep.

Sunday morning I was up early, took a shower, and headed to the Timberline Lodge for breakfast. The food was good, but the serving size was a little small for a hungry hiker. It was raining and was expected to rain all day so I went back to the motel and booked another night. This would give me time to get my camera packed up to ship back and who wants to hike in the rain when you can stay in a dry motel?

I went to the Yellowstone Museum and checked out their exhibits and was able to kill part of the morning. I spent the rest of the day searching for things on the internet and watching YouTube videos.

For dinner I headed to the Branch Restaurant and had a delicious Bison stroganoff. I came back to the room for a few minutes and the Motel offered S’Mores this evening and I spent some time chatting with other guest and Garrett – the motel owner.

I finally went back to my room about 10:00 to wrap up the night.