PNC Days 69-71 – Westbound

In the last three days, we left the GDT and started walking west through the Rockies towards our canoe. This section went through Blackfoot & Ktunaxa ɁamakɁis ancestral lands.

Day 69 – GDT Mile 156 (PNC Mile 1,404.2) – Steep ups & downs

At 5:30 am we were woken up by wolves howling. It was really neat. We were camped at Tornado pass with rocky peaks above us, which made a cool echo. I went and got the bear bags, then Tim made the coffee like usual. When we were drinking our coffee, the wolves started barking. They had a very low pitched howl/bark compared to coyote’s yipping. The first challenge of the day was climbing up to Tornado Saddle. There was no trail. The south side was scree (small, loose rocks), but the north side was grass which was easier. We saw a family of sheep. The rest of the day had steep ups and downs. It was hard to get a rhythm. The ups were slow and the downs were slow. We saw another family of sheep later in the day too. -R

Day 70 – PNC Mile 1,427.4 – Mount O’Rourke

Today we departed the GDT and headed west towards the Columbia River. The GDT follows the Continental Divide as closely as possible, but the divide is often too steep or rocky for a trail, so the GDT is usually on one side of it or the other. Where we departed we were on the east side, and we were headed west. Renee mapped out a route before the trip that went up and over a peak called Mount O’Rourke, then descended to a mix of trails, gravel, and dirt roads that we’ll follow to the river. We were nervous for the Mount O’Rourke portion of this segment. It is not on a marked trail (just across rocks up and over the mountain), and the mountains along the divide have been intense. Sure enough, when we got to Mount O’Rourke we saw that it was just as big as its neighbors. Just getting to its base involved climbing up a steep rock face, and from there, already well above tree-line, there were another 2,000 feet to the summit.

At about 1 mph, we slowly ascended, being careful not to slip on the rocks and scree. Eventually we made it high enough to spot another path across the mountain that would get us over the divide and down the other side without summiting. We were all for it. We cut across, still moving very slowly and carefully, and eventually descended to easier terrain. We both decided that despite the challenge, we definitely want to do more mountain-climbing on shorter trips in the future. 20 miles after Mount O’Rourke, we made it to the town of Elkford, where we bought groceries and set up camp in the municipal campground. As we were checking in the host didn’t charge us and explained that until today there had been a bear trap set up in the tenting area because of a nuisance black bear… maybe we’re safer in the wilderness! For dinner we had Ethiopian-style lentils and rice. Yum! -T

Day 71 – PNC Mile 1,454.4 – Lynx!

This morning we left Elkford at around 8:30. We hiked snow mobile trails up and over a pass, which was our last big climb of the hike! Some parts of the snow mobile trail were nice to walk, but other parts were steep with big rocks. Tim slipped and fell over on one steep downhill section. Eventually we made it to a gravel road though, and the going was super easy. It’s all downhill to Canal Flats (and our canoe) from here. In the late afternoon we could hear and see a thunderstorm hugging the big mountain peaks above us. The sky got crazy dark, but we never had to put on our rain gear. This was our third day in a row with afternoon thunderstorms. In the evening as we were thinking about looking for a place to camp, we spotted a Canada lynx walking towards us down the gravel road!! We stared at it, and it stared at us. Eventually we started walking towards it, and it walked off the road and down the hill. It was super cool!! We have now seen a mountain lion, a lynx, and bobcats—are we missing any other North American cats? -R