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
Brand Ambassador for: Outdoor Research, SuperFeet, Ibex, Julbo, Petzl, Dude Wipes, Platypus, ClifBar, Feed The Machine, and Aqua Mira
@scatmanat
Get out there!
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