Pacific Northwest Trail - Just Getting There

 

"Gotta drain the vein."

Wednesday, July 1, 2015: Sixty hours on a train... 

The train departs Baltimore mid-morning, stopping at Washington's busy Union Station and then proceeding into Virginia. I did not select the most direct route, but whatever, I'm in no hurry. I notice that we have entered the Shenandoah Valley, and when we pass through Waynesboro, I recognize some sites from a year ago while passing through these parts on the Appalachian Trail. At the time, I thought the A.T. would be my one and only thru-hiking adventure. But something happened along the way, and here I am, back for more rewarding torture. 

I'm on the Cardinal line, connecting New York and Chicago. It's the scenic route, and I'm enjoying the views of the New River Gorge in West Virginia, where I went on a white water rafting adventure or two back in the day. 

Just after dark, I am in Kentucky, a place near and dear to my heart, which I still consider "home." Around midnight, we stop in the Ohio River town of Maysville, where my forefathers settled only a couple decades after Kentucky became a state. We reach Cincinnati, and the annoying lady sitting next to me departs. A young fellow took her seat, who recently graduated high school and is heading to Bismarck to work alongside his father as a diesel mechanic. We talked awhile, and I told him he could call me Fitty. He said he is Buttons. I slept only a few hours before daybreak, just north of Indianapolis. 

Thursday July 2, 2015: Layover in Chicago, and more train time...

Riding on a train from the east coast to the Rocky Mountains seemed like a great new adventure, and for the first six hours or so, it was kind of cool. I can only say that it's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. 

Around 10am, the train mercifully arrives in Chicago, where I have about four hours to waste. This is the rendezvous point for me and my two mates. Spaceman Spiff, a fellow Marylander, was to arrive earlier on the Northeast Line, along with Marathon, who was coming from Cleveland. It was Marathon who had first suggested this adventure. I had met him a few times last year on the Appalachian Trail, and while somewhat of a character, I thought he would be an O.K. or at least tolerable hiking partner. Anyway, the PNT is probably not the best place for a solo thru-hike, in my opinion, for a variety of reasons. He also collaborated with Spaceman Spiff to form this unlikely trio. I'd met Spiff twice on the A.T., first at the Terry Adams trail magic cabin in Maine's 100-mile Wilderness, and then on the very last day when I was descending Katahdin as he and some others had stopped for a "safety meeting" on the way up. 

My two mates meet me outside the station in downtown Chicago, and we exchange pleasantries. Spiff does not remember either of our meetings last year, not too surprising given the circumstances. We walk around a bit, and Spiff purchases a device and some liquids for smoking vapors, an e-cigarette, used for "vaping." This is a bit of an odd group, Marathon being 20 years younger than me, and Spiff 10 years younger than Marathon. But if the A.T. taught me anything, it's that once we're thrown into the wilderness and facing the same bullshit every day, none of that stuff matters. Marathon and I have gained back all of the weight we'd lost from hiking 2,200 miles last year and need of this type of physical activity to get back into form, even though Marathon has run a couple marathons in the off-season. Spiff is still skinny and the only one of us still sporting a beard.

From Chicago, we board the Empire Builder for another long train ride. I learn that there will be a fourth member to this party, a kid named Alex from Wisconsin who learned through social media and the PNT forums that we would be doing this. So when the train stops in Milwaukee, he hops aboard and we all meet for the first time. Alex recently graduated from a digital cinematography program at Northern Michigan University. He plans to document this entire adventure out west for a documentary project for his portfolio. I'm sitting next to Alex on the Empire Builder as we get acquainted. It's his first thru-hike attempt, but he has much outdoors experience from his years in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the U.P. One thing I notice, even though we have yet to so much as lace up the hiking boots, Alex is already kicking out hiker stench like he's been out there a week. Soon enough, we'll all smell like that and none of us will notice.

We all hop off the train in the Twin Cities after dark for a quick stretch. On my second night of trying to sleep on a busy train, it goes much better. Tomorrow, I'll get to sleep in a bed at a Montana hostel. 

Friday, July 3, 2015: Sixty hours on a train, day three...

After a better than expected sleep, I awaken refreshed as the train chugs through North Dakota. I'm amazed at the number of deer roaming around on the distant ranch lands. We stop for a stretch break in Minot and say goodbye to Buttons, who will be meeting his dad here to begin his new job.

The western part of North Dakota morphs from lush prairies and into parched and rocky areas known as the Badlands, so dry and desolate. Montana is much of the same.

It is another long day on the train, and the Empire Builder is running behind schedule. Amtrak borrows these tracks from freight lines, and frequently we must wait. We finally arrive at our destination, East Glacier Park, around 8pm. It's a half-mile walk to Brownie's Hostel, and we need to hustle to get there and check in before the staff leaves.

Finally!

Brownie's is the perfect place to regroup, featuring a store and bakery on the first floor with private and semi-private rooms above. Not all of us have reservations, and after some discussion with the manager, we're able to rent the women's dorm which had not been booked for about $20/person. We have six bunks for the four of us. We enjoy pizza and beer from the store, and I grab a shower for the first time in several days, probably the last for a while.

Alex had made arrangements to meet up with a PNT hiker from England. We meet Matt, the fifth member of our tribe. He flew into Seattle and took the train a few days before us. He's anxious to get hiking, as are the rest of us. We need to get transportation to the PNT's eastern terminus, near Chief Mountain at the Canadian border, about 60 miles north of here. We can pay $60/person for a shuttle or try our luck at hitchhiking. Alex has prepaid the shuttle fee online. Additionally, none of us have back country camping permits for the first few days through Glacier National Park, and we'll need to go to one of the three ranger stations where we can take care of this.

We're all pretty excited to start this journey and to see what the trail has in store for us.

Saturday, July 4, 2015: Change of plans, the first of many...

It's the Fourth of July, and the first day of our adventure... maybe. We get fed and packed up. We still need our permits for probably three nights in the national park. None of the three ranger stations are convenient. Two are on the east side of the park, Two Medicine and St. Mary. Logistically, this makes our day difficult. We decide to hitch to Two Medicine, the closer of the two. But hitchhiking in a predominantly touristy area is never a sure thing. We meet a fellow hiker, Rainbow Brite, who rode her bike here from Los Angeles to begin hiking west to the Pacific. A couple hours go by and it's past noon now on this absolutely beautiful day. This is when the first of many "Plan B"s gets hatched.

Looking back now, I think it might've been my idea. Here we are in this beautiful place, Glacier National Park. Why not just hike through GNP along the Continental Divide Trail to the place where it meets up with the PNT? Somehow, everyone agrees this is a good idea. The only real debate comes from the purist perspective; we would be skipping the first 20 miles or so of the PNT. But we would more than make up for it by adding a bunch of new miles at the beginning. Why does the PNT not just do that anyway, start at the train station and eliminate the need for the expensive shuttle? Alex is okay that he wasted 60 bucks on a shuttle ticket.

So here we go, a 10 mile day hike over a couple mountains to Two Medicine with hopes of arriving before the ranger station closes. We got a few extra groceries at the store for the extra days before our first resupply option. We immediately can't find the trail head and turn back after walking up the road a bit. This will become the norm on this thru-hike.

I knew the first week or so would be physically tough. I'm out of trail shape, and my food is heavy. What I forgot to factor in is the altitude. After we get misdirected for a second time, we find the correct route up the mountain. I was so fatigued and could not catch my breath. The other guys, decades younger, get far ahead of me but always wait until I catch up. I put myself on a reward system, "get to the next switchback and you can catch your breath for 20 seconds." It is brutal.

Okay, I'm exhausted.

There are so many scenic vistas, and Alex takes many opportunities to capture photographs, time lapse, and video. With the great measures he takes to get the perfect picture, I suggested the perfect trail name for him... "Money Shot." The name sticks.

Getting the "Money $hot"

We descend into Two Medicine Lake much later than expected, everyone overestimating abilities and readiness. The ranger station is closed to back country permitting until 8am tomorrow. We're looking for a free place to camp and hang around the camp store, but there are no free tent sites, and it's getting late. We set up our five tents at a camp site in the front country campground, and I put the $20 fee in an envelope at the kiosk. After a warm afternoon, a chilly breeze ushers in light rain overnight.

Sunday, July 5, 2015: Government bureaucracy...

At the Two Medicine Ranger Station, our plans to hike through GNP are quickly squashed. There are no campsite vacancies between here and there, and we're unable to get the permits we need to hike through. We go to the store to hang around, eat, and brainstorm. Plan C is hatched. In 10 minutes, the shuttle driver, a retired ranger named Chris, comes by the store, and we each pay $15 for a ride to the Saint Mary Ranger Station. Maybe they can accommodate us with a route out of there. We pitch in to cover Money Shot's shuttle fee, after having talked him out of taking the shuttle in the first place.

By noon, we arrive at Saint Mary. It's much more mainstream and touristy than Two Medicine. The Going-To-The-Sun Highway passes through here for folks who are driving through the park. There is a resort near the park entrance. Chris drops us off there; he can't drive us to the ranger station because we don't have park passes to enter the park by vehicle (more government bureaucracy). After a few hours of studying maps and talking with junior rangers at the permit desk, we have a plan, but not a great one, and the rangers discourage us from trying it this late in the day. All of us heed their advice except Spaceman Spiff. The ranger writes "Route Not Recommended" on his permit. He takes a free shuttle into the park to a place called "The Loop," where he can connect with the CDT. We tell Spiff we'll meet at Polebridge at the other end of the park in four days.

As for the rest of us, well, we'll be spending another night camping in a pay site, this time at the Saint Mary Campground. We did get permits that will get us through the park in three nights. But here's the kicker... we'll be starting from Chief Mountain after all, a couple days later than if we'd just done it in the first place. We laugh at ourselves.

We make arrangements for Chris, the shuttle driver, to meet us tomorrow for the drive up to Chief Mountain. We find a place near the resort for burritos and beer and then set up camp for the night. Our British friend Matt still needs a trail name. He finds a stick in the woods and carves it into a nice walking stick. Money Shot learns that if you're using Heet for a home made beer can stove, be sure to buy the yellow bottle and not the red one. Rookie.

Matt, Marathon, Spaceman Spiff, Fitty Shrimp, and Money $hot

Next Chapter: Pacific Northwest Trail - Glacier National Park