Just like town food, I’m always surprised at just how happy I am to sleep in a bed in four walls, regardless of the quality of the bed or walls. One of the cheapest options for room which included breakfast was the super 8 which was also in close proximity to stores. We had a little while to wait before our tents reached Helena, so we were in town for a few days in a row. The room wasn’t bad and also had a fridge so we could do a little grocery shopping.
We discovered WinCo foods–a store with one of the biggest bulk food selections I’ve ever seem, and started drooling. We spent almost 2 hours in that store picking just the ride amounts of just what we wanted to send ahead to East Glacier and to carry with us for our stretch out of Helena. At the checkout and on the way out the door, Martha “Pretzel”noticed our packs (and overall appearance) and asked us if we were hiking the CDT. Being an AT hiker, she immediately offered us rides and invited us to her house for dinner the following night to meet Trevor “Snags”, her partner and also thru hiker. After eating grilled bratwurst and veggies at their beautiful home, we knew we had made a couple good friends. We accepted Trevor’s offer the next day to play a round of disc golf at his home course and we got to feel a little bit like locals for a moment. I’m so glad we met these awesome people.
Okay, we got our tents. I bought a base layer top. We got our supplies packed. At this point we were camped at a mountain biker campground across town. Trevor and Pretzel arrived at around 6:00 a.m. to take us back to the trail. In all of the planning and waiting for tents, we had stopped keeping an eye on the weather forecast. A cold weather pattern started moving in the night before and the valley was soaked in a cold drizzle. Trevor and Martha drove us to MacDonald pass to resume our hike. We started up the mountain into the cold, cold morning.
Climbing the mountain from MacDonald, we were fully suited and our rain gear and grateful for the incline to warm up our muscles. The first few miles weren’t bad within the shelter of the forest. We crested the first climb and entered a meadow which was now draped in fog, and pelted by blowing sleet. Somewhere through the fog was a cell phone tower and our next landmark. We hurried as fast as we could to the communications building at the tower’s Base and dashed around the corner to shelter from the wind. Our current elevation was 7,140. According to the forecast for nearby mountain peaks, temperatures were expected to be below freezing and to be in the teens or low 20s with wind chill. We left the shelter of the structure and rushed across more exposure until we reached the tree line. We stopped and regrouped. This weather was going to win. We took an honest evaluation and decided that we were not fully equipped for this sudden shift to freezing precipitation. Even more exposure with higher elevations lay ahead. For now, the only option was to hike back to the highway and hitch a ride back to Helena. From there we could do one of two things: gear up further and carry winter weather equipment, or wait it out. After the descent we stood back at the highway, shivering, trying to thumb a ride, and feeling a little defeated. A couple in a pickup truck traveling the opposite direction took pity on us and told us as we climbed into the truck that they turned around just to give us a ride back to Helena. We really needed that pity ride.