It is fall here! I started feeling it three days ago. The flowers are almost all gone, and instead, there are a lot of fruits. I benefited from going through the endless fields of Huckleberry and Thimbleberry, eating at least 200 of them a day for the past few days. Squirrels are busy eating and collecting as many pine nuts as they can. I saw a lot of mushrooms and nibble marks on some of them. The direct sunlight doesn’t have the same intense heat as it did a few days ago. I realized that it’s only a month from the fall equinox. As the season changes, I need to change too. Instead of hiking 30 miles or more a day, I will slow down a little bit in Glacier National Park.
Something about the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area made me feel whole, peaceful, comfortable, and at ease. Perhaps it’s because I was surrounded by trees and there was a lot of water. Even though there were some extended burned areas I had to walk through, the trail followed some rivers and old-growth forests. On the second night, a deer came to visit me at my camp, walking around and eating plants as I ate my dinner. I admire their gentle eyes and strong hind legs.
On day 2, there was a split to take a cut-off called Spotted Bear Pass route, which takes about 20 miles off. I just followed the official CDT. As soon as I turned into the official CDT, I only saw old human prints and mostly fresh deer prints. I felt a sense of remoteness and solitude, which reminded me of Anaconda Wilderness, where I didn’t see people for days. I ended my day at Lake Levale. It’s been forever since I finished my day at a lake. It was so nice to bathe in and I felt like a different person!
The next day was strange. I started off seeing beautiful morning lights on the walls, then I made a mistake! I took a wrong turn and didn’t realize it for 0.9 miles! My mind was off somewhere since I don’t usually make such a mistake, and the fact that it took me a while to notice it. I was upset about it all day! I tried not to ruin my day for just one mistake, and still, I couldn’t talk to myself with compassion for a while. Eventually, I felt fine and realized that hiking 20 miles in a burn area, feeling uneasy and uncomfortable, had something to do with it. Although I took a wrong turn, I made it to a lake where I planned to camp for the night. The next morning, the fog was lifting from the surface of the lake as the morning light hit the mountains. I heard birds, and otherwise, it was so quiet.
From there all the way to East Glacier, there were so many berries! The bright red thimbleberries painted the path as if they were celebrating me, primarily following the red line, the official CDT. Soon, huckleberries also surrounded me. It’s a celebration! Mother Earth is giving me the sweetest gift to greet me for the last 100 miles to Canada.
I entered Glacier National Park- the last crux of the entire CDT. From there, I will be walking into Canada. It’s unbelievable I’ve come this far.
The funny thing is that I just started feeling like I could walk effortlessly in the last few days. I thought I practiced hiking a lot, and I’ve gotten better at it. Just like anything else, I came to realize that the more you do it, the more you learn to do it better. I’ve been walking since I was a year old and yet, still learning. I’m excited to keep learning how to tread the earth gently with care, even though the trail may end soon.
