This is how you start a trail — Adventures With Samson-The-Bear

On 6/21 I did 6.1 miles to Gable Creek Campground. On 6/22 I did 10.7 miles to Poia Lake. On 6/23 I did 24.4 to Reynolds Camp Ground. On 6/24 I did 25.1 to Atlantic Creek. On 6/25 I did 25 miles to East Glacier.

Listen to "North" by Phoenix. This is as far north as I'll get on this trail. It's a restart of an epic trail.

Ohhh man it feels good to be back on trail! I would have felt great starting anywhere but starting in Glacier NP is beyond awesome. I was off trail for about 2.5 weeks and had a blast. I spent a week getting all of the logistics straightened out for a southbound hike. I had previously spent months thinking about going northbound and at the time figured I would play Montana and Idaho by ear, since I planned on being trail savvy by then, so now that I'm starting in Montana I had to do a lot of planning in a short amount of time but I think I got it figured out... I hope.

I was able to spend the rest of my time off trail playing with my nieces and nephew (most kids like me because according to my exs I'm just a large child), I was also able to take a trip out to DC and get some climbing and hiking in and I was able to knock a few items off my DC bucket list I wasn't able to do before I left for the Camino. Of course I stopped in at Port City and said hello and caught up with the crew over a few beers. I was suprised how much I missed DC and how good it felt to be back in my old city. As amazing of a time I had off trail I could feel myself getting antsy and wanting to get back on. My thru hike is now what is called a flip flop since I flipped up mid hike, but I like to consider myself a southbound hiker who just happens to have already hiked NM.

To get up to the Canadian border in Glacier NP isn't super straight forward. I took a bus from Cincinnati to Chicago and then took a 32 hour train ride to East Glacier. I met up with Fluffy at Union Station as we had been bouncing SOBO logistics off of each other while we were off trail and decided to start together at the border. When we walked into Union Station I saw someone who had a light weight backpack and looked like they choose to be homeless so I went up to then to say hi and it turns out it was Silent Bob who I hiked sections of both the AT and the PCT with. He is starting his SOBO hike the same day Fluffy and I are. It was both random and not surprising to see him on the train out to East Glacier with us.

We got lucky with our permits since our friend Joe Dirte (there is an "e" on the end of it to church it up) got up here early and snagged us permits (glaciers permit system is not the best system in the world for thru hikers) so we were very grateful to have that already taken care of. We spent the night reviewing maps and looking over potential detours and caught up with each over some beers.

We got a hitch up to border on the 21st which is super cool to start my southbound hike on the summer solstice. Our hitch was actually a friend of Fluffys who he met on the AT and now works at Glacier. Our distances we hike through the park each day are dictated by out permits, so when we enter the park we know where we will be every night. The first day was only 6.1 miles, it was a downpour so it's probably best it wasnt a long day. In the distance, I could see the base of some large mountains but the fog had everything socked in. Right before camp we saw a large black moose foraging in a meadow which was a cool treat. The next day I got up and the skys were clear. To my amazement we had actually camped under a mountain we couldn't see. We took off down the valley starting in awe of the peaks and ridgelines surrounding us. I had seen so many pictures of Glacier NP in magazines and movies but being here is more beautiful than I can imagine. In the valley we were passing wild flowers and bear grass (it's called bear grass because when it starts to grow its about when the bears come out of hibernation and when it dies back is when they usually go into hibernation).

As we started the assent up our first pass we came across a huge roaring waterfall called Dawn's Mist. It was a 40 foot fall raging with al of the recent snow melt. We continued up the 3,000 foot climb to Red Gap Pass getting a grand view of the valley floor below. On the other side of the pass we got spectator views of the next valley that had dozens 100 foot waterfalls coming off all of the steep rock faces. We passed a few snow chutes on the switchbacks down the pass but the snow was soft and I didn't bother to get out my ice axe out. We ended up doing another short day to Poiga lake where our permit has us stopping. We got to the lake by 230pm and had a lot of time to kill. I had a stroke of geniousnes and I decided to go swimming in the lake filled with snow melt. After I stripped down I walked out into the lake and drove in and had a holy a experience as I submerged my body sending my system into shock. It actually felt euphoric (or maybe that's just what dying feels like) and I quickly got out and took advantage of the sun to dry myself off.

On 6/23 I celebrated my 33rd birthday. It's the third time I've spent my BDay on trail and unfortunately no one woke me up with donuts and beer this time. The first 9 miles were chill as we meandered through a dense forest popping out occasionally to go through fields of wildflowers and around pristine lakes. We hit Many Glacier which is an outpost in the Park and has a backcountry hotel which caters to people who shop at LL bean but dont want to get their shoes dirty. After Many Glacier we made our way towards Piegan Pass. The weather had been nice but the pass was in a bowl that was concentrating the clouds and as we climbed up the pass it dumped rain and hail on us constantly and I got chilled to the bone. It was a hard climb and we had a lot of snow fields to cross. Some were tricky and if you fell you bought a 1 way ticket down a 200 foot snow chute so even though we were being pounded by the weather we were lazer focused on our foot work as we crossed the half dozen chutes. The weather was holding strong and never let up. We couldn't see the tops of any of the mountains near by and kept moving to stay warm. After the pass we descended quickly into the valley which was nice to gain a few degrees but the rain followed us on the other side. We were able to catch glimpses of the glaciers around us and then crossed the going-to-the-sun road. After the road we made a B-Line for camp where we quickly ate and setup our tents. It was a wetter birthday than I had hoped but wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world

The next day we had an easy morning as we hiked the valley following saint Mary's creek and then along the edge of saint Mary's lake passing numerous raging waterfalls. We then went over the ridgeline to another drainage system and crossed the Belly River. Our goal for the day was to go over triple divide pass. Triple Divide mountain next to the pass is a spot where depending on where the water rolls off the mountain it goes to the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, or Hudson Bay. The climb was hard and it didn't help that I had a fever. It was slow going and the weather was constantly changing from driving rain to sunny skies. I finally made it to the top of the pass around 430 and took in the views. It almost looked like the Swiss alps on both sides of pass. JD and Fluffy cracked some beers but I just headed down the other side trying to get to warmer air as my body was super unhappy.

The last day in the park was great. We had two large climbs before descending back to East Glacier. We had blue bird skies and my fever broke the previous night so I had extra energy for the climbs. We passed through fields of flowers and numerous lakes. Glacier is truley an amazing place.