This stretch of trail took us into the Purcell Mountains, and we crossed the border from Idaho into Montana. We walked through Ktunaxa ɁamakɁis ancestral lands.
Day 51 – PNT Mile 1008.3 – Bonners Ferry cont’d
Tim woke up early this morning to do some work meetings with Germany, we made a stop at the laundromat, ate some papoosas for lunch, and then started hitching back to the trail. The nice family who gave us a ride into town yesterday just happened to drive by, and they offered to drive us to the trail even though it was 15 miles (one direction) out of their way! Wow! Thank you! Tim is in love with Idaho and really liked Bonners Ferry. The mountains are beautiful, and the people are super nice. We hit the trail with fresh shoes, our third pair of the trip. I am interested to see how they work. Our first two pairs were Altra Timps, but these Hoka Mafate Speeds were on sale. Tim has hiked in Hoka’s in the past and liked them, so I thought I’d give them a try. They do not have as wide of a toe box as the Altra’s. Our legs have started to scab over from the 6 mile bushwhacking a couple days ago. We had two small sections of bushwhacking again today, but the great news is that there is no more bushwhacking ahead! Yay! The trail went up, up, up today. We found a beautiful place to camp on a peak above the trail with a great sunset and amazing views. -R
Day 52 – PNT Mile 1033.4 – Grouse!
We have been seeing grouse frequently since we started this hike on the Olympic Peninsula back in June. They are cute birds that are reminiscent of chickens. They are easy to accidentally startle while hiking down the trail, which always leads to being startled yourself as they take off from a hidden spot right next to the trail flapping away loudly. We realized today that we have watched just about the entire grouse life cycle over the course of the hike so far. In June we constantly heard male grouse making mating calls which sound a lot like a purring cat. We saw them puffing up their chests and fearlessly walking back and forth on a visible spot even as we approached quite close to them on the trail. Later we spotted occasional eggs on the ground near the trail — it seems like grouse lay their eggs on the ground, and sometimes they choose bad spots. We’ve also seen indentations in dusty parts of the trail made by grouse taking dust baths on hot days. For the last week or two when we have startled a grouse it tends to be accompanied by a cohort of 1-10 cute baby grouse scurrying all over the place and flapping their wings to take off. We’ve seen plenty of grouse before, but it was neat to connect that 52 days outside has been enough to watch so much of a grouse’s life story.
The trail today took us out of Idaho and into Montana. Idaho has been great — it was sad to say goodbye. But, we know from the CDT last year that Montana is amazing too, so we’re excited about what’s ahead! -T
Day 53 – PNT Mile 1062.8 – Montana
Montana greeted us with a short rainstorm today. It was our first rain since western Washington. Yesterday we had a big climb from 3,000 feet up to 7,000 feet. Today we descended back down to 3,000 feet. Tomorrow we’ll ascend back up to 7,000 feet. This seems to be a trend lately. We climb up over mountains and then descend down into river valleys and repeat. The views were beautiful and the hiking was mostly easy today. We are camped down by the Yaak River tonight. -R
Same message as last time guys. Stay safe! Sounds like you have had some great weather.
How have you learned the names of the ancestral lands? Often I google the names and have learned a little about nations, people and languages I didn’t know existed. You guys rock!!!
The Pacific Northwest Trail Association provides a free map set for the PNT which includes an overview map of the trail and the native lands that it traverses. In addition, the navigation set includes page-by-page land acknowledgments to help trail users understand the native history and continued presence on the landscape as they hike.