CDT2025 Book 2 Chapter 4 – the Pintler Wilderness

People taking the Super Butte cutoff lamented missing the Pintler Wilderness.  I can see why.  This is a pretty old post now, so it’s going to be more of a photo dump as some of the details have gotten hazy. The Pintler mountain range was pretty hard in general, a big difference from the sort of rolling hills and grassy cow fields in the Helena and Butte area.  Kind of a nice change.  Kind of really hard and buggy.  But as a bonus, midway through, we switched to the next set of maps!  I’m now in “southern Montana/Idaho”, or as some call it, the “Montanaho Roller Coaster”.

 

Day1 – Seymour Lakes and Bear Spray

I started hiking up from the campground to Upper Seymour Lake pretty early. I wanted more daylight because I knew they were going to be some elevation games. At Upper Seymour Lake, when I was putting my pack on, I heard a strange hissing sound. I realized it could have only come from my bear spray, and instantly smelled and tasted pepper. I had sprayed myself putting my pack on.

Fortunately, it mostly went on my back and the pack itself and not on my hands or face. I managed to rinse out some of the pepper and orange dye but things were a little burny.  My back felt like it was on fire.

I powered on and got up to a pretty high pass and took a break for lunch. This was the spot where the so-called Anaconda cut off, the section that bypasses Butte, rejoins the trail. While I was eating lunch, a group of hikers came by. I had met them on the day of the Llama Drama, so it was good to catch up. I mentioned what had happened, and one of them said that they had a tiny bottle of Dr. Bronner’s soap that they were looking to get rid of anyway. The trail provides.

Day2 – the short day

Day one climbing up into the mountains took a lot out of me so I made day two a short day. My body was telling me I needed a break. I also had some bad news from home, one of our sheep was very sick and not likely to live much longer. It was a pretty emotional time for my wife and I.

Day3 – out of the high stuff

Eventually I left the mountains behind, and the Wilderness too. Walking got easier, the trail was on more ridgelines and through burn areas. A lot of people hate burning areas because, well, they’re burned, but I like them because you get much more open views and you can see the land in the process of recovering. Nothing is static out here.

The other nice part about being on Ridge lines is you tend to be in the drier sections. This sucks for water carries, sometimes you will carry water for 15 miles. But it also means there are fewer bugs. There are probably also fewer chances for a bear encounter, as there’s just less of everything up there.

The downside is that dead trees tend to fall over. So there are frequent spots where you have to navigate up and over fallen trees, or around them if you can’t scramble over them. Nothing too gymnastic, but it does slow you down and break your rhythm.

By mid afternoon, it looked like it was going to rain. That’s the new pattern now, clear skies most of the day, with building clouds and some thunder in the afternoons. As it started to rain, I took shelter and a Grove of big pine trees and ran into a couple that was out hiking with their horses. They had three along with their dog. We hung out for a bit while it rained, and then they gave me a beer, and then I took off and did another mile or so up to the top of the ridge. By then, the weather had blown over, and the skies were blue again.

Day4 – all downhill through the burn

This day was a lot easier. According to my phone there was about 1,000 ft more of descent than ascent over the 20 something miles. It was still a lot of ridge walking and burn stuff, so I made good time without it getting too strenuous.

Two southbound hikers caught up to me and passed me, saying nothing but a grunt on the way by. That’s what happens when you’re old and slow like me, nobody cares. I ran into a couple of different Trail Crews. They all follow the same pattern, or seem to. There will be a handful of guys sitting around on the ground with their tools and hard hats, while usually only a single woman is standing and either working the chainsaw or about to.

I ran into two Northbound hikers the first of which was of the particularly repellent nobo type. Every sentence seemed contrived to relay his northboundedness, from commenting on my choice of gear, to warning me about the towns I sent my resupply to. He insisted that there was not much in North Fork Idaho, despite me telling him that my mail drop was there. I later found out that this particular fellow had made some outlandish claims about his hiking mileage to the point of not being trustworthy.

There was a backcountry skiing cabin setup at mile 24 that included a porch and a privy. I made for that. When I got there I saw that someone had left two beers, so I had them with my dinner. Less than a mile from there along mostly flat ground was a highway rest area, which according to my phone had both water and power available. After dinner, I pushed on there and ate snacks while my phone recharged. Once the sun set, I went back across the highway and tinted in the parking lot.

It was a pretty good day. I smiled a lot. I think at this point I’ve been on the trail long enough to realize that it’s not something you just knock out, but also something that will be done when it’s done. I guess I allowed myself to enjoy the idea of vacation.

Day5 – coasting into North Fork

Started hitching at 7.  Got a ride at 9.

Only place here is the store and PO.  No laundry or shower.  The laundry is in town, 22 miles away.

Lark, Handy, Stormy and Strict rolled in.  They’re camping here, free, with shower and laundry.  Somehow.  Frustrating, I had just asked about it.

Picked up my UrSack, a heavy duty material bag that’s supposedly bear proof.  And 2 lbs lighter than my can!

Bounced my bear can, down jacket, gloves, and food bag to West Yellowstone.  Close enough to think about.  Probably 17 days away.  It’s been hot.

At some point, you realize, thers no more bear poop on trail.  Or sage, or mint.  or that grouse peeps can fly away.  Time flies.

I hitched out at about 5:00. Strangely, or not, the person that drove me back up to the trailhead was the same woman who had driven me down in the morning. First she was on her way to work, then she was heading home. Very nice lady. She’s seen a lot of changes up here during and post covid. Lots more people. I hiked up along a dirt road with a few others and we camped at about 5 miles in.