Day 82 Mile marker 1903.9

25.3 miles

This morning saw my first encounter with a grizzly bear. Walking through open grasslands I could hear a bunch of cows making a ruckus. I became clear why. I grizzly was lurking on the edge of the bush line as the cows moved along the edge unbeknown to me at the time. As I approached I caught sight of something large moving from the tree line into the grassed areas quickly realising it was a griz. 

Luckily there was some distance between us, maybe 20m. Calling ‘Hey Bear’ I caught its attention but it still hadn’t sighted me. Calling a second time, we locked eyes and recognising I was a human it crashed back into the scrub moving away. In coming days I would learn from other hikers that this was the same area a hiker was charged by a grizzly protecting a kill. 

The cows on the other hand were not scattering. They were all moving down the trail in the direction I was headed and we ended up sharing the trail for at least a mile. If I got too close they would move ahead, kicking up dust in front of me. Eventually, the trail passage opened up from a narrow corridor through the trees into a meadow allowing the cows to disperse off the trail and onto some new feed. 

Shortly there after Fish Creek had to be crossed. It was low and wide with nothing immediately in front like rocks or logs to allow a dry crossing. I scouted up and down for a narrower section with stepping stones but couldn’t find any. Determined to maintain dry shoes I sat on the bank with my pack still on taking off my shoes and socks off for a barefoot crossing. So early in the morning it was chilly for sure and my feet were numb once on the other side. It didn’t take long to dry and warm my feet and put everything back on. Dry shoes!!

It was a cruisy hike to Lake of the Woods before reaching a long section of blow downs that had not been maintained. Super annoying. 

Like most days at the moment, as soon as the sun is high in the sky it becomes incredibly humid and hot. This is tiring to say the least, energy sapping and the sweat pours off soaking clothes. Water was in short supply but desperate for a refill I was forced to grab some from a beaver dam. These are never the best water sources as they are typically full of sediment. Surprisingly I put my filled bottles up to the sun and they looked relatively free of floaty things. Still without a filter I put a chlorine tablet in each bottle and would have to wait a minimum of 30minutes for the chemicals to work their magic. While I have drinkable water with the chemical treatment the downside is the pool water taste. 

Around midday I’d reached a junction between the Red Line and an alternate Aqua Line. They were the same 6 mile distance with the Aqua Line promising views across to the Grand Tetons. The Aqua Line also cuts off a section of fire affected area that the Red Line follows. 

Finding shade at the junction I stopped for lunch and to hydrate. Electrolytes were the order of the day with the humidity. The air is so thick you could cut it with a knife. You just know that storms will build at some point and want to rain. What I’ve found with storms though is unlike home they don’t really bring a cool change and cooler air. The storms tend to dump rain in short bursts which only seems to add to the humidity. 

I chose to hike the Aqua Line for the Teton views. It would be on roads but would be fast. The promised views didn’t really appear. It was cloudy with haze off in the distance and I could just make the Teton mountains out. Those views were really only offered for first 2 miles before disappearing behind closer hills. 

Half way along the Aqua Line I came across a freezing cold spring. I would loved to have dipped a bottle and drank it immediately to quench my thirst and thought about doing so. The thought of getting ill quashed this idea and I settled for splashing my face to cool down. Having to chemically treat at the moment any cold water collected now would be warm by the time I could consume it. 

Approaching the end of Aqua Line clouds built and thunderstorms started in the distance. By this stage I’d reached Leeds Creek which beavers had damed making for a wide and wet crossing. Again I took my shoes off to keep them dry. I needn’t have bothered. 15 minutes later the skies darkened overhead and unleashed a torrent of rain as a storm cell came directly overhead. 

Lightning flashed and thunder boomed. Heavy droplets started to fall, intermittently at first, then in a torrent in no time. I took refuge under some pines and to buy some time to throw on wet weather gear and deploy my umbrella. 

Several bolts were really close with a split second between flash and boom. I waited it out for 10 minutes under tree cover to see what the storm cell was doing, counting time between lightning and thunder. While it was still bucketing down with rain the cell over head was moving off and away. 

I had a choice, wait for the rain to clear while sitting it out and getting wet for who knows how long or keep moving forward and getting wet just the same. I would be wet either way. I kept moving. This is where the umbrella comes into its own, keeping the top half of my body and pack dry. 

I’ve found that these afternoon storms will throw down a lot of rain, and hail at times, but tend to clear quickly. I was on the money. An hour later the rain cleared and I was 2.5 miles ahead. It was close to 6pm and this gave me opportunity to have some dinner on the side of the trail before moving onto camp. 

I was aiming for a hill top that was said to offer spectacular sunset views over the Grand Tetons. 

By 7 pm I reached my destination. Alas with the same cloud cover there was not going to be a sunset to view tonight. Maybe I’ll catch a sunrise instead. 

No sooner than I’d pitched my tent and hung my food bag that it started to rain again. Tucked up nice and warm in my sleeping bag writing this now.