This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/Ultralight by /u/sohikes on 2024-08-18 15:26:43+00:00.

TRIP DURATION: July 29th to August 12

LENGTH: Around 335 miles

ZERO DAY: Banff (August 9th)

DAYS WITH RAIN/HAIL: 6/15

BEAR SIGHTINGS: 1

GEAR:

VLOGS:

DAILY BLOG

Day 1: 17 miles

Got to Waterton at 1AM and camped at an empty spot at the campground. Only got a few hours of sleep before packing up at 7AM. Stopped by a coffee shop for a quick breakfast before buying some bear spray and a fuel canister. Apparently there were no small fuel canisters sold in town, they only had the medium and large ones. From there I hiked four miles SOBO to the border where the trail officially begins. This was the first time I ever reached this terminus even though I’ve been to Glacier NP three times before. Nice to finally see it. The 6.5 mile climb to Carthew was slow but the trail was nice. I saw probably a dozen people which was surprising. The last 1.5 felt never ending, many false summits. I got to Akamina CG around 6:45. Much earlier than I like to stop but that’s how it is on the GDT. All the tentsites were on gravel which meant I couldn’t pitch my freestanding tent. Had to find another spot on the dirt somewhere. This was a pretty windy campground. The ground was pretty soft so I hope my stakes stay in. My iPhone says I walked 29.5 miles today, I estimate it was probably around 25. However only around 17 of those miles counted toward the trail

Day 2: 21 miles

Woke up at 6am. It rained last night so I’m glad I didn’t cowboy camp. Started the Rowe alternate at 7:30. It’s about 1,700ft gain in 1.3 miles, but the last 0.6 has 1,300. Took me 80-minutes to get to the top, I didn’t think it was bad. There are worse climbs on the Appalachian Trail if you ask me. The ridge walk was wide open, great views. The worst part was going up Festubert. Dark clouds rolled in and there was very loose scree going up. Insanely slow. Got to the summit and then the rain came, I went down as fast as I could but it only lasted 20-min or so before it cleared up. It took me 7hrs and 15min to do this 11-mile alternate. Slow going but I highly recommend if weather is good. I got back to the main route around 3PM. From there it was only 9 miles to my planned campsite (Scarpe Pass). It was nice to be back on a trail after all the cross country travel. I took a long break around 5PM to cook dinner since I had time to spare. Got to the campsite at 7:45. It feels strange to be forced to end my day early, especially with daylight until almost 10PM. But it was a pretty long day for only 21 miles so I’ll take the extra rest. I also realized this morning that I miscalculated how much food I needed for this section. I currently only have 4,800 calories remaining with two more days of hiking. I usually want to have at least 3,000 per day. Unfortunately this means I probably won’t be able to do Barnaby Ridge like I planned. That alternate is tough and slow going so I would definitely run out of food

Day 3: 29 miles

Didn’t fall asleep until after midnight. This year I’ve been finding it very difficult to sleep on trail. Woke up at 5:48 and got moving by 6:15. I had a tough three miles to start the day going up to La Coulotte. At the summit is the beginning of the Barnaby Ridge alternate. I had planned to do it but I did not pack enough food for this section. There’s a good chance I would run out of food if I did this slower moving route so I continued on the main route down towards Castle Mtn Campground. It was an extremely slow moving morning. Tons of ups and downs. However the good news is that the rest of the way was not only downhill but much of it was dirt road. I made it to Castle Mtn a little after 3PM. They had some snacks there so I ate two small bags of chips and drank a 16oz Coke. Many athletes actually drink Coke during their competition because it has easy carbs, sugars, and caffeine to keep you going. I sometimes drink a 7.5oz Coke before long runs. So that 16oz really hit the spot and was exactly what I needed for the rest of the day. They had WiFi there and I found out Jasper NP canceled all my permits due to the wildfires. I guess that means I officially won’t be able to thru hike the GDT. Oh well. Hopefully I can do sections A, B, and C since that would be half the trail. Leaving Castle Mtn it was a quick 3.5-mile paved road walk back to trail. From there all I had was a 1,200ft climb and it was smooth sailing to Lynx Creek CG. The last half of the day only took me 8-hrs to do 22-miles compared to the beginning of the day which took me 6-hrs to do 7-miles.

Day 4: 20 miles

Got moving around 6:30. Nothing significant today aside from a PUD (pointless up and down). Took the alternate route into Blairmore because that’s where all the grocery stores are at. Got in around 12:30 and went straight to a cafe for a late breakfast. From there I got my next resupply at three different stores. The IGA had a poor selection in my opinion, I got a better resupply at the Circle K next door. Walked about two miles down to Coleman and got a room at the Paddock Inn for $130CAD. It’s the standard cheap motel, nothing fancy but it’s on the Main Street. I did laundry and went to The Rum Runner Restaurant and Pub down the street which had very good reviews. There was a line out the door when I arrived and two women in front of me offered to let me sit with them so I did. I was honestly hoping to sit at the bar and watch sports but whatever. They were both from Canada and we talked about a bunch of random things to kill time. The food took a long time to come out because it looked like there were only three chefs. I had a HUGE double patty burger that really hit the spot. Definitely need the calories. One of the women went out for a smoke and came back with a very intoxicated man. This guys face was as red as I’ve ever seen before and I’m Asian. So now I’m sitting at a table with three complete strangers devouring my burger. Interesting situation to say the least. After that I went back to my room to take my second shower and then type this all up. Town days go by too fast. It took me about five hours from the time I got into Blairmore to checking into my room. I’m tempted to zero but I can’t since my hike got delayed due to my flight getting canceled. That means I started a full day behind my permit itinerary which is one of the annoying things about that whole system

Day 5: 21.3 miles

Slept well. Woke up at 8 and went across the street for breakfast. Had a very good chorizo, egg, and rice skillet. After that I went back to my room and chilled out until my 11AM check out. I never leave before check out on trail. There was a free can of Pepsi in the fridge so I drank that before I headed out of town. The first 8-miles kinda sucks. Just road walking combined with following a path made for dirt bikes and ATVs. When the trail picks up it’s pretty great. It’s a recent addition to the GDT called the High Rock Trail. Well built and marked, must have taken years. I think it’s around forty miles so I will enjoy it. There were many ups and downs today which made for slow travel. Made it to Window Mountain Lake CG by around 7PM but I just filled up water and kept going. I honestly kind of regret it because that was one of the best campgrounds I’ve seen so far. There were a bunch of people there also which wasnt surprising since it’s Friday. I’m always jealous of people who hike in groups, it would be more fun and nice to have someone to talk to. Hiking solo sucks on a trail like this. I did a few more miles and stopped at a random spot next to a dirt road at 9PM. My original goal was First Creek CG but I fell 2.5 miles short, oh well. I also realized there’s no way I will make my reservation at Porcupine CG in four days. I would need to average almost 38mpd. My delayed start really screwed up my itinerary but I’m not sure if I would’ve made it anyways.

Day 6: 28.2 miles

Last night wasn’t fun. I kept on hearing loud noises coming from the trees not far from my tent. Sounded like something big was moving in there. It even caused a tree to fall over. Obviously I didnt sleep too well. I never saw what it was though. I started hiking at 6:30 with bear spray in hand until I was a mile or so away. The day was pretty boring until late noon. That’s when I started the climb up Tornado Saddle. The last half mile or so is super steep. Doesn’t help that it’s all loose scree so you take one big step only to slide back down. The Saddle was very windy but had some nice views. On the decent I took my dinner break at a water source. Had some nice ramen noodles. I don’t remember the last time I ate ramen. After I ate it I drank the leftover broth. It had around 1,800mg of sodium which I needed. I also had two packets of LMNT today so I’m well over 4,000. Ended up hiking until 8:45 where I found a great tent site on a ridge. Overall it was a pretty tough day. Lots of ups and downs. On a trail like the CDT I’d probably be at 35 miles

Day 7: 27 miles

Started moving at 6:30. Nothing really happened until 10:45 when I had a grizzly encounter. I was going uphill and when I looked up I saw a grizzly standing there. I immediately made noise and it went away. He/she was probably 40m away. I hiked the next couple miles with bear spray in hand and doing frequent b…

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