CDT - Day 108 - Lemhi Pass M2303.1 to Saddle M2333.6

8/10/15 Day 108 – Lemhi Pass M2303.1 to Saddle M2333.6 7923′

Tent – Nights Spent Alone: 15

30.5, 2140.1 Trip Miles

6:15 to 8:15 pm

Day’s of Snow: 9 – Day’s of Rain: 39 – Days of Hail: 19

# of Zero days: 11

Gila Crossings Final Total: 221

Tick Count: 4 (4 more crawling on me)

Wanted List

Mountain Goat

Grizzly Bear

Sasquatch

Black Bear – SPOTTED

Bighorn Sheep

Velociraptor

Mountain Lion

Beaver – SPOTTED

Unicorn

Wolf

Buffalo

Critter Count

9 Chipmunks

7 Squirrels

4 Ground Squirrels

3 Black Bears

2 PIKA!!!!

1 Whistle Pig

1 Deer

Totals

1) 618 Pronghorn*

2) 434 Elk*7

3) 282 Chipmunks *5

4) 175 Deer*2

5) 154 Marmot*4

6) 120 Lizards*6

7) 116 Wild Horses

8) 102 Squirrels *9

9) 65 Ground Squirrels*10

10) 57 Pika

11) 48 Cotton Tail Rabbits *8

12) 30 Prairie Dogs

13) 22 Horny Toads

14) 17 Jack Rabbit*3

15) 14 Moose

16) 8 Snakes

17) 5 Coyotes

18) 5 Moles

19) 4 Porcupine

20) Black Bear

21) 2 Mouse

22) 2 Fox

23) 2 Rattle Snakes

24) 2 Toads

25) 1 Beaver

26) 1 Badger

27) 1 Skunk

28) 1 Weasel -Long Tail

*259 from car, *2 – 48 from car, *3 – 1 from car, *4 – 2 from car, *5 – 2 off trail, *6 – 1 off trail, *7 – 9 from car, *8 – 3 off trail *9 – 1 from car, *10 – 5 off trail

108 days and about 2125 miles and I finally saw my first bear, well three of them. It was a mother with two cubs. I first saw just one cub. I had my head back chugging water as I was dehydrated. I saw a very black small critter in the corner of my eye. Then I saw two.

I moved to a nearby tree and scanned for the mother. I couldn’t see her any where. Finally she caught up and appeared from the area where the second cub came from. They had no clue I was there. I took video as long as I thought it was safe. They were moving in my direction and I knew Lott and Bailey the dog were in that direction. Finally I yelled and the mom sprinted 50′ and stopped. The cub ran in opposite directions and climbed to the top of two trees.

Mom started back my way and I yelled some more. She did this a few times. The closest cub to me saw mom close by and down climbed so fast, jumped the last 6′ and hit the ground running. It took the other a bit longer to feel safe enough to climb down.

I was thrilled to finally see some bears. They are incredible animals and so majestic to watch.

The rest of the day was typical except missing a water source and having to hike 19.5 miles on 52 ounces of water. I did see a great selection of other critters too. We got rained and hailed on, as well as saw some great lightening.

The hiking itself was beautiful. We hiked in pine forests that had little or no under brush so you could see very far. At times it was quite rocky and was tough on the feet.

We had two guys both over 70 pass us SOBO. They were hiking from car to car. They would park one at each end of a section and then move the one behind forward leaping frogging them as they headed south. So great to see them getting after it.

Scatman

Brand Ambassador for: Outdoor Research, SuperFeet, Ibex, Julbo, Petzl, Dude Wipes, Platypus, ClifBar, Feed The Machine, and Aqua Mira

@scatmanat

Get out there!