CDT - Day 117 - Trail Side Camp M2623 to Trail Side Camp M2656

8/19/15 Day 117 – Trail Side Camp M2623 to Trail Side Camp M2656, 6349′

Tent – Nights Spent Alone: 15

33, 2375.0 Trip Miles

Day’s of Snow: 9 – Day’s of Rain: 42 – Days of Hail: 19

6:10 am to 7:45 pm

# of Zero days: 12

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

7 Chipmunks

4 Squirrels

1 Cotton Tails

1 Elk

Totals

1) 618 Pronghorn*

2) 448 Elk*7

3) 328 Chipmunks *5

4) 188 Deer*2

5) 154 Marmot*4

6) 139 Squirrels *9

7) 120 Lizards*6

8) 116 Wild Horses

9) 76 Ground Squirrels*10

10) 69 Pika

11) 51 Cotton Tail Rabbits *8

12) 30 Prairie Dogs

13) 22 Horny Toads

14) 18 Jack Rabbit*3

15) 14 Moose

16) 9 Snakes

17) 5 Coyotes

18) 5 Moles

19) 4 Black Bears

20) 4 Porcupine

21) 3 Toads

22) 2 Mouse

23) 2 Fox

24) 2 Rattle Snakes

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 – 6 off trail

I slept great last night. You don’t here me say that much if ever.

The day as a whole was uneventful. No real views or much to look at. It was mostly dense forests and a few meadows. Even the critters seem to be vacant. I saw more on the dirt road towards the end than anything.

The bull elk in the morning was pretty sweet. He had a big rack and took off at full speed when he saw me. He made quite the racket as he went too.

We passed two 50 something women doing a SOBO section hike. At dinner a guy in a van from Washington state stopped to talk to us. We were parked on the side of a dirt road. We talked a bit then when he came back he stopped again and gave us each a Busch Light. They were ice cold and the perfect after dinner refreshment.

The big climb of the day was called Thunderbolt Mountain. Chance or fake as that is the name of the model bike I ride and I had been thinking all day how sweet it would have been to be riding the trail today instead of hiking it.

Tomorrow will be a in and out into Helena to resupply. Tomorrow also means 14 days to go!

Scatman

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Get out there!