At Glacier need guidance

[SunnyWalker]

I m at East Glacier had to bail out short of Pieman'spass due to snow n high river crossings. I wish to move ahead down the trail (sobo) and return here later. Anyone who has input on where I should now start hiking would be welcome. It seems the snow here was at about 5500 feet. I m at a hostel til Sat when a re supply box comes.

[Venchka]

I have been scratching my head since reading this yesterday. This has not been a good year for a SOBO start. Things were looking good until the new snow in the last week.
The following is speculation-I have not done this before. The theory is sound.
Glacier-Yellowstone (or the reverse) is on my horizon. It is about 60 days, give or take a few days. You could jump down to Mack's Inn, Idaho and enter Yellowstone from there. Really nice country. I love Yellowstone, and all of Wyoming for that matter. I would call the Backcountry Office at Yellowstone to verify if the fords of the upper Snake River are safe now, or will be in a couple weeks when you get there. Getting to Mack's Inn or West Yellowstone, MT might be a problem.
Come back next year and finish Yellowstone-Glacier in July-August. Give Glacier a chance to thaw out.
All the best of luck to you! Let us know what you figure out.

Wayne

[Venchka]

Here you go:

Backcountry OfficeP.O. Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190
Email: e-mail us

Or call: 307-344-2160

Permits and Reservations Made Less Than 48 Hours in AdvanceBecause only a portion of the approximately 300 backcountry campsites are available for advance reservations, you may choose to wait until you arrive in the park to reserve your site(s) and obtain your permit. Backcountry permits are available for free if obtained within two days of the start of your trip.
Where to Get Your Permit
During the summer season (June - August), permits are available 7 days a week between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the following locations:

• Bechler Ranger Station
• Bridge Bay Ranger Station
• Canyon Visitor Center
• Grant Village Visitor Center
• Mammoth Visitor Center
• Old Faithful Ranger Station
• South Entrance Ranger Station
• Tower Backcountry Office
• West Yellowstone Visitor Information Center

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisi...ntryhiking.htm

Good luck!

Wayne

[SunnyWalker]

Thanks Wayne. I'll give them a call.

[SunnyWalker]

It might be easier for me to turn in car at a trail town then enter Yellowstone area from the north . . . . Hmmmmm . . .

[Marta]

I'm not familiar with conditions south of here, unfortunately.

In 2008, which was also a high snow year (though not as high as this), one group of SOBOs bailed and went down to that dry Basin area, figuring they'd do that while snow melted and water levels dropped in the mountains.

[Venchka]

It might be easier for me to turn in car at a trail town then enter Yellowstone area from the north . . . . Hmmmmm . . .

West Yellowstone, MT might be the best place to turn in a rental car since there is an airport there. You could then hitch/bus/hike to Old Faithful and pick up the CDT there. I don't have a CDT map in front of me. If there are connecting trails out of the town of West Yellowstone to the CDT, you could do that.
All the best!

Wayne

[Venchka]

Not sure if this helps, but...
Avis has rental offices in East Glacier, MT & West Yellowstone, MT according to GOOGLE.

Wayne

[SunnyWalker]

Yes, I found Avis and others. Still deciding, thanks for all input. Options:1) go south to Yellowstone n st south from there return to GNP later, 2)walk out of East Glacier on CDT to Maria'sPass and on to Scapegoat n the Bob at slightly lower elevation(according to park Ranger), 3)wait around here. So far I am leaning towards number 2 with interest in number 1 . . . .

[Venchka]

Based on memory of reading some SOBO trail journals from last year or before...
There is a river crossing, S. Fork Two Medicine maybe?, south of Hwy 2 & Marias Pass that might be swollen now.
Found one mention, June 24, 2012:

We had breakfast at the Whistle Stop before leaving town this morning. Cinnamon rolls!! I saw the newspaper headline: Grizzly Bear Slaughters 70 Sheep in Two Week Killing Spree. Yikes.Finding the trail out of town can be a bit tricky. We scouted the day before but still had to pull out the GPS to find our way. We entered Glacier National Park for the hike to Marias Pass (Highway 2). The mosquitos were BAD. First I put on my wind shirt, then later I put on my head net. Mike put on DEET.
Crossing Marias Pass we decided to follow Wolf's advice and did not take Elk Calf Mountain Trail (he says it should be avoided at all costs). We took Ley's purple route and hiked down to the South Fork of Two Medicine River. The trail is basically an old jeep road. We didn't take any of the "High Water" trails. We stayed on the road and forded the river MANY times. At one point, the road and the river are the same. At first we thought we should cross but then Mike spotted the road further up on the same side as us. We just had to walk upstream!
Other than people at the pass, we saw no one on the trail today.

June 21, 2010. Photo crossing the Two Medicine river.

http://s196.photobucket.com/user/sha...dt046.jpg.html

Wayne

[Dogwood]

Welcome to the CDT. LOL. Now, you are understanding one reason why there are so many CDT alternates and new ones are continually being devised. There are some major alternates already too. Now, you are understanding why not every CDT thru-hiker does a straight unbroken CDT thru-hike without leap frogging, flipflopping, cutting off of trail miles, etc) Weather!, specifically snow levels. CDT route logistics can be daunting. I(but you are not me) like option 2. I wouldn't be soooo concerned about having a puritanical philosophy either as can be common for the AT. I'd opt for a lower elevation route if I absolutely had too but I also would have gone in this yr on a SOBO CDT thru-hike starting at/near the Can/U.S. border starting in mid/late June knowing I would be hiking many miles over deep snow(basically winter bushwacking over snow), possibly in falling snow, and across sometimes swollen rivers. I would have gone in under these circumstances knowing I would be taking alternates for these very reasons. I might have flipflopped, leap frogged, or started a SOBO later this yr. I would have been perusing CDT thru-hiking trailjournals to see what others have done. Some CDTers do leapfrog around particularly gnarly sections and come back. Others intend to come back and never do. YES, some CDTers head down to the Great Basin in WY and spend about 2.5/3 wks hiking the CDT waiting for some snow to melt. Read the CDT TJs. Look at the CDT elv profiles. Inquire about snow levels this yr.

[Venchka]

Looking at 2014 CDT SOBO trail journals...
We have Zip except for SunnyWalker. Either the only intrepid soul who started SOBO or the only one keeping a Trail Journal.
IF, and it's a big IF, You can get south through The Bob without getting drownded, or even worse, then I say "Get Going!" Apparently, there are highwater trail routings. Use them. Dogwood is right. I reckon any trail with a few miles of the Divide qualifies as a Continental Divide hike.
Bon voyage. Keep your topknot dry!

Wayne

[Malto]

There are alternates through the Bob that will keep to lower elevations. But, I would highly recommend walking below the Wall. Even with snow it is doable. If it were me, I would take the CDT and after Sun River Pass drop down along the Sun River, head long the southern part of the wall to Benchmark. You would skip one section of the CDT but the part along the southern part of the wall would IMHO be the 80/20.

[SunnyWalker]

Thanks for the input, it is a real blessing to hear from you all. After I wrote that last post I thought "Well, there is one more option and that is an alternate. That will be the way all the way to the end of this trail of course. One of the beauties of it. I met with a Ranger at a Backcountry office today and we talked about Maria's Pass and south. I have some river crossings there too of course. However, when will we not? So as of this moment I am still thinking but will probably head off to Marias on Sunday morning. It is real nice to keep it as easy as possible-what I mean is renting a car and all makes it more complex. Just hitting the trail again, albiet a little further down the trail and out of GNP makes it so much easier. I called Benchmark Wilderness Ranch and they are open and all, so that is a good sign too. I am retiring now for the night. Thanks again one and all. I was blessed today to see Mtn Goats down by the road. Better then nothing.

[Spirit Walker]

Sorry I missed your initial question. River crossings in the Bob may be an issue, but the trail is beautiful there under snow. Unfortunately, you're likely to get a lot of mud as well. There's a reason it's nicknamed "the Bog". My advise would have been to drop to Helena and head south, or go to Butte and head north. When we did our first thru, it was also a high snow year and we started at Butte/Warm Springs. We had two rivers in the Bob Marshall we couldn't cross. There is a bridge over one of them now.

The trouble with jumping to Yellowstone is that you are don't want to be in the Winds too soon either. There are many 10,000' passes. We had snow in early August at Cube Rock Pass.

Good news for you is that it's supposed to get hot next week. Snow will be melting fast.