Continental Divide Trail – Day 109

September 9, 2023
Miles Today/ Total: 24.9 / 1982.9

I camped near a creek and despite trying to camp under a pine tree, I still woke up to a wet morning. Dew had settled on most of my gear.

I wiped stuff down and packed up. I started down the trail and within 0.3 miles I had missed a turn and was following a cow path. I backtracked to the missed turn and followed the trail as it started climbing upwards.

Although it was a pretty big climb it was gradual and I reached the top before I knew it. The trail today wandered in and out of the forest and meadows. A pleasant change from the vast meadows of yesterday.

I reached Sawmill Creek Trailhead and talked with some hunters there before starting up to the Red Conglomerate Peaks. This was a steeper climb but still passed through both woods and meadows as it climbed upwards.

Reaching the divide the trail followed the divide and provided a great viewpoint of the Red Conglomerate Peaks – Two massive stone peaks.

The trail then dropped back down off the divide and worked it was through more forest and past several creeks. I filled up my water bottles before starting to climb once again upwards.

I reached Bannock Pass and the trail turned onto a two track road which I would follow for the next 8 miles. This road was all open meadows with no cover. I was hoping we wouldn’t have a repeat of the afternoon storms like yesterday.

The road was actually in pretty good condition and followed the divide line. There were no storms today either. The trail reached the Beaverhead – Deerlodge National Forest and changed to a single track trail. I continued on for a couple more miles and found a campsite in the trees near a small stream.

I setup my tent crawled inside an laid down. It was a hard hike today.