The Lodge at Many Glacier

I am frequently asked about town stops on the Continental Divide Trail.  There are so many options that hikers in the planning stages typically want to get as much input in regards to trail towns as possible.  To this end, I’ve created my take on CDT trail towns.  This is in no way meant to replace Yogi’s CDT Handbook (and in the text I reference things she has said in her book and maps she provides).  Yogi is a friend, I used and loved her handbook so visit her website and see if her Handbook is for you.  Without further ado…CDT trail towns presented in a south bound order.

Arrival-Montana-Glacier National Park

I arrived in East Glacier in time to get the shuttle to Many Glacier.  I got my permit in Many Glacier at the Ranger Station.  I was going to camp in Many Glacier that night and get the shuttle to the border the next morning but it was yucky out.  My next plan was to get a cheap cabin at the Swift current Motor in and leave a resupply package there but in 2007 it didn’t open until the 17^th so instead, I stayed at the expensive (but on my Dad’s tab) Many Glacier Hotel.  The Ranger (I had an awesome Ranger, Mark W.) let me keep my resupply package at the Ranger Station.

The next morning I caught the shuttle to the border…it was a thru hiker party.

Many Glacier, MT:  Spread out and potentially expensive but if you’ve just spent two days in rain and cold and it’s still raining, then staying at Swiftcurrent might be nice.  In 2007 the price for a cottage without a bath was $50.  Depending on the time of year you are hiking, you might want to stop in at the Lodge on the walk into “town”.  Have the front desk call the Swiftcurrent to see if they have rooms and to see if the restaurant it open.  It’s a little bit of a walk to find out that it’s not open yet.  If the Swiftcurrent restaurant is closed, The Many Glacier Lodge has a restaurant and a bar (eating at the Bar is cheaper).  The Lodge also has a large fire place in the lobby so if you show up soaking wet, it’s a good place to dry off before you get lunch/dinner.  We ate lunch (we only hiked 8 miles that day) at the Lodge and the Swiftcurrent restaurant opened for dinner so we ate there for dinner. 

Two Medicine, MT:  I think I ate 8 hotdogs for dinner there.  They were good.  You could hike 2 different routes that meet back up right before you cross the bridge to get to Two Med.  I took the shorter route.  I am glad I did, there was a ton of snow the other way (Dawson’s Pass). 

At the store, you could buy dinner and snacks for the 10 miles to East Glacier here.  I can’t remember if I did that or not.  It was a decent store for a tourist trap and like I said, only 10 miles to East Glacier.  As for camping here…let me tell you the hiker/biker sites are sub-optimal…ok they suck (I don’t typically use that word but it pretty much sums it up).  They are all really gravelly.  The better option (in 2006 this worked, but not in 2007) is to talk with the camp hosts (in 2006, they were nice…not too friendly in 2007) and if you are with a good number of hikers, ask if you can use the group site.  It is much, much nicer camping. 

East Glacier, MT:  I rather liked East Glacier.  I stayed at the Backpacker’s Inn (behind Serrano’s) one time and at a hotel (maybe the Circle R) that was recently upgraded.  They were definitely different experiences.  I think the Backpacker’s Inn could be a ton of fun with other hikers (it was in 2006) and really convenient to Serrano’s Mexican Restaurant (eat there) and the Glacier Park Trading Post (store) and the Trails End Saloon/Tavern where hikers have been known to live it up in the past.  I sent a resupply package to the Trading Post but also bought a few things there since they held my package.  They were super nice when I was there.

What did you think about Glacier National Park? 

CFI's Yale Crew 2008

10 Resources for Getting into Trail Work

As many of you may know I am now working for the Pacific Crest Trail Association as their Southern California Regional Representative.  I love hiking, trails (especially the PCT) and I am honored to be an advocate for one of our National Scenic Trails.  Many people ask me how they can get involved with trails and how they could have a job like mine.  I have listed 10 resources for people looking to break into trail work, trail maintenance, and/or trail construction.  Without further ado…

1. Professional Trail Builders Association:  whether you are looking for a job or resources, this website will give you a great starting point.
2. The Student Conservation Association:  if you are 15 or older, you can get involved with this Conservation Association, check out their programs, opportunities to earn education awards and opportunities to live and work outdoors. 
3. The Rocky Mountain Youth Corps:  if you are 16 or older, you have the opportunity to be on one of the Corps Crews, living and working outside, earning an education awards and having a great experience.  I have worked with the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps (RMYC) before and they run a great program and support their crew members. 
4. Southwest Conservation Corps:  another opportunity for those 16 and older.  Southwest Conservation Corps (SCC) has a few offices in southern Colorado and Arizona and offers the opportunity to live and work in the outdoors.
5. The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative:  this is where I worked seasonally for two summers.  They have many options from volunteering, to becoming a volunteer peak steward or applying for one of their field positions.  If you are looking for experience, the Outdoor Leadership Intern (OLI) might be the position for you.
6. The Los Angeles Conservation Corps:  according to their website the LA Conservation Corps’ primary mission is to provide at-risk young adults and school-aged youth with opportunities for success by providing them with job skills training, education and work experience with an emphasis on conservation and service projects that benefit the community.”
7. The California Conservation Corps:  if you are between 18 and 25 this program could be for you.  Even though they tout “Hard work, low pay, miserable conditions…and more!” as their motto, their mission is “protecting and restoring California’s environment and responding to disasters, becoming stronger workers, citizens and individuals through their service.”
8. The Continental Divide Trail Alliance:  this is the youngest of the three major organizations advocating for the three north/south National Scenic Trails.  They have a volunteer program that grows every year.  If you are in the Rockies, check out their “Get Involved” page.
9. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy:  the ATC runs tons of trail projects each year.  To find out more, or to plan a volunteer vacation, check out their “Get Involved” page. 
10. The Pacific Crest Trail Association:  did you really think I wasn’t going to mention the PCTA?  Of course I am!  Whether you are looking to volunteer or searching for a job, the PCTA may have something for you.  Looking for volunteer work?  Click on the “Volunteer” icon on the right hand side bar.  Looking for season work?  We usually post seasonal (and full time) job opportunities on the left hand side bar, but just to be safe, check out our “employment” page. 

Bonus:

1. The American Hiking Society:  AHS runs many volunteer vacations.  In many instances you may end up working with one of the groups I mentioned above as many of their vacations coincide with projects that the SCA, PCTA, ATC etc. are running.  The AHS site give people a nation wide view of possibilities.
2. The US Forest Service:  The USFS has many opportunities for volunteering in your local forest.  Just look up your local forest and look for volunteer opportunities.  If you can’t find them on the website, give the Ranger Station a call, the should be able to point you in the right direction. 

Any resources I am missing?  Please let me know…

Mt. Massive 2009:  The Event That Changed My Life

As you know, since you are reading this, I was blogging about my experiences and life on Mt. Massive in 2009.  At some point my pen stopped writing, my keyboard stopped tapping.  There was much to be said, there was nothing to be said. 

August 19, 2009.  It started out as a regular day on the mountain.  We decided to get an early start since we’d be working up higher than usual.  We left camp at 5 am.  We did our usual stretching circle and then hiked, and hiked, and hiked.  The crew was far ahead of me.  On this particular day we had 7 Rocky Mountain Youth Corp, Joe, myself and Loretta from the Forest Service all at the worksite.  We had one person who stayed at camp, sick. 

I wasn’t feeling too great.  My stomach was hurting and I was hiking slowly.  I wasn’t sure if I should turn around and go back to camp but when I got to our tool cache, I figured I’d continue the last  half mile to the worksite, drop off my tools and assign myself a project that I could do at a very slow pace.  That way I’d at least get something done. 

Lunch time came and I couldn’t eat, I had no appetite.  I did manage to take a nap and before I knew it, lunch was over.  Hannah and I went up higher above the lunch site to work on delineating the trail.  We were working on the ridgeline, kind of near where the North Halfmoon Trail and the main route connect.  It was 1:45ish when my life changed forever.  We were 15 minutes shy of the end of our work day.  A military helicopter crashed 100 yards from my group, just on the other side of the ridge. 

Many of us had wilderness first aid certifications and immediately ran over to help.  We ran over scree and talus at a 40 degree slope.  We did a quick safety survey and entered the scene of the accident.  We innately split into groups and started caring for our patients and sent a search party out to locate 2 more soldiers and aid them in whatever way we could. 

We called in a Flight-For-Life helicopter to help evacuate our patients.  We did everything we could do.  We were 4 miles from the nearest 4-wheel drive, dirt road and we were at 14,200 feet in elevation.  We exhausted our medical supplies, capabilities and ourselves. 

I won’t go into the details but I will say that on August 19, 2009 our nation lost 4 great American heroes.  We lost four men who were willing to give their lives to protect the unalienable rights that many people, myself included, exercise and possibly take for granted everyday. 

I take solace in the fact that I was there with them in their greatest time of need.  I am glad that I can offer that to their families.  Unbeknownst to them, these four men and their families have made me more appreciative, understanding and empathetic towards those in the military.  I can better understand what they go though and the sacrifice both the servicemen and servicewomen and their families make in the name of our country, our safety and our freedom.  It doesn’t matter how you feel about war, regardless, you should support the troops.  Our troops put their lives on the line for you.  So now I am that woman who approaches random uniformed service people in the airport (or other public places) and shakes their hand and says “thank you for your service to our country.”  Then I walk away.  I encourage you to do the same.  My only regret is that I didn’t start doing this sooner.  Maybe I would have randomly thanked these men. 

My thoughts are constantly with their wives, children, brothers, sisters, parents and friends.  I think about everyone in the 160^th out of Fort Campbell.  I think about the hikers who were out there, trying to summit Mt. Massive and answered the call to action.  I think about Nate, the Flight Nurse and about Pete, Laraine, Joe, Rob, Max, Adam, Alex, Hannah, Fred and Loretta.  I think about Natalie, Jesse, Brian, Rodney, Mizzou, Mississippi, the guy who gave up his sleeping bag and tent for first aid supplies, Freida and Dustin and the other hikers who were there that day.  But mostly I think about Chad, Terry, Rob and PJ. 

Here is a slide show of my time with the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps.

Mt. Massive 2009: Rocky Mountain Youth Corps

Jessie, Nigel, Meredith, Hannah, Sarah, Jennie and Hannan

August 2^nd found me at the Mt. Massive Overflow trailhead meeting up with a crew from Rocky Mountain Youth Corps (RMYC) and Joe.  This crew was comprised of 6 women, Sarah, Jennie, Hannah, Meredith, Jessie and Lauren, and 3 guys, Hannan, Nigel and Pete.  10 of us began hiking in (Nigel didn’t join us for a few days as he was at a family reunion).  It took us about 2.5 hours to hike into base camp. 

We set up, ate and then headed back down to the trailhead.  We had to make a second trip because we had a lot of food (we were packing in for 10 days).  On the way down, Joe ran into a man who seemed to need help getting down the trail.  I caught up with them and walked with them as well.  The man seemed tired and wobbly on his feet.  We stayed with him and made sure he got to his truck and he was fine (I later saw him in Leadville at a restaurant). 

After getting to our truck, Joe and I went to town, ran some errands, I got a calzone from High Mountain Pies and we hiked back in. 

August 3^rd found us quarrying rock, lots and lots of rock.  We also got stormed off the mountain.  We managed to get about 8 hours of work in so it was a good day but we like to get a bit more done if possible.  This day also found one of our teammates discovering that this job wasn’t for her.  It’s a tough situation but we want our crew to have a good experience and this was just a bit much (2.5 mile hike to the worksite each day at 13,500 feet in elevation) for someone right out the gate.

August 4^th found us saying goodbye to Lauren and Pete (who hiked her out).  We continued to quarry rock at the work site and looked forward to the next day so we could begin building structures.  Quarrying rock happens to be one of my least favorite jobs so I was excited to build. 

From August 5^th through the end of the hitch on the 11^th we mostly built structures, we build 3 tier walls, a mono wall, a section of crush fill retained by rock, a 5 step stone staircase and started (and half completed) an 8 step stone staircase.  There was also a bit of tread scratched and we started to re-contour the current trail (since we’ll have to restore it in a few weeks). 

Over all, we had a good hitch.  We met some really nice, fun people, I got to hang out with a bunch of BMW’s (burly mountain women) which is always refreshing and we had some fun at camp playing games, listening to music, playing guitars.  We didn’t quite get as much done on the trail as I was hoping but that’s usually the case as I have high aspirations for each group. 

The next hitch we’ll get a new group from RMYC (Pete will be their leader) and we’ll also get to work with Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC).  Hoping to get the entire reroute done before the VOC get’s in for their long weekend.  I’d love to have them doing the restoration work as I think they could really get it all done.  I think it might be tight to get all of the high priority work done this summer, but I think it’s doable, just have to keep the end goal in mind, keep everyone safe and have some fun.  It’s a tall order but someone’s gotta do it. 

Mt. Massive 2009:  Todd, Chris B., David and Becky

Becky, David, Todd and Joe littering a rock across the tundra.

July 15^th we started up the trail, Joe, Me, Todd, Chris B. and Laraine from RMYC.  We had just chatted with Chris from the Forest Service who was out putting up a new sign encouraging people to fill out a permit at the self registration box at the trail head.  They are free and are a good way for the Forest Service to get an idea of the amount of usage the Mt. Massive Wilderness is getting. 

We made our way up the trail, established camp and made dinner.  On the hike in, we noticed some vandalism, writing in blue marker, on one of the new signs that had been put up in the last year or so.  It got me pretty steamed to see that vandalism on the sign.  There is no excuse for that, none. 

On the 16^th and 17^th we mainly quarried rocks, lots and lots of rocks.  This is probably one of my least favorite things to do.  It is a necessary evil.  It’s so much easier to quarry with 4 people and since Chris was only going to be working with us for 2 days, we needed to take advantage of his strength and quarry.  It would make setting the rocks much easier later. 

On the 18^th, it was just the three of us, Todd, Joe and me.  Chris B. had to leave and it was great to have him on the mountain for even just a few days.  Thanks Chris!  Today we set a bunch of steps.  It was very tiring but felt good to build things and create stone steps. 

After a few more days of building with Todd and Joe my friends David and Becky (a husband and wife team) hiked in on July 22^nd.  It was great to see them again as I hadn’t seen them in quite some time.  I originally met them while they were hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and kept running into them while I was doing weekend hikes.  We ended up keeping in touch and now they are in camp, ready to help us build the new Mt. Massive assent trail.  Great people!

The entire hitch was great.  We all hiked out on July 24^th and even though David and Becky were only there for 2 nights, one work day, it was a great way to end the hitch.  They did a great job setting the rest of a two tier wall.  Kudos also have to go to Todd.  Todd is a teacher who volunteered to work with us for the entire hitch, all 10 days.  He did a great job of building stone staircases and monowalls.  He was also great to have in camp with us and taught me a thing or two about cooking (as he went to culinary school).  We couldn’t have gotten as much work done without the help of everyone so thanks Chris, Todd, David and Becky.  I hope to work with you again soon!

Section of old trail restored by CDTA volunteers

Mt. Massive 2009:  Continental Divide Trail Alliance

On July 9^th Joe and I met up with the Continental Divide Trail Alliance (CDTA) crew.  There were 12 people comprising their crew:  Randy, Mark, Wiley, Skip, Cooper, Aaron, Time, Clare, Colleen, Elizabeth, Ted and Ben.  All seemed very nice and enthusiastic about being there with us. 

Having just had such a wonderful time with our last group I was a bit apprehensive, how would the CDTA folks measure up?  What would it be like to work with adults again?  What about working with people that I just met as opposed to the Overland group who we had gotten to know over a long period of days? 

Luckily, the CDTA group was a wonderful, fun group of adults.  We had a chef in camp, Tim, so I didn’t have to do any cooking or helping in the kitchen tent (I think I did get a little spoiled).  Had to do a few dishes but with so many people, the job sharing was easy. 

On the 10^th we hiked up to the work site.  It’s a long hike up there and my neck hurts.  I noticed the pain when I rolled over last night in my sleeping bag and then again pouring milk into my cereal.  It should make trail work a ton of fun when I can’t move my neck so much (sarcasm).  At the work site we got a few steps put in and finished up a set of stairs that the Overland group started. 

On the 11^th we decided to do some restoration work at the upper end of the Willow Resto area.  It was a bit nicer of a hike (read: shorter) and with my neck still hurting, I was ok with a shorter hike.  I also ran in to my friend, trail name Mom, as she had hiked to the summit on the 10^th and was camped out not far from our stretching area.  She heard us and came out for a quick hello. 

We ended up putting in a good number of grass plugs (transplants) and re-contouring 100 or so feet of old trail.  We also fixed some tread on the new trail so it’s a bit easier and more sustainable for walking.  Unfortunately, we got stormed off early so work got a bit curtailed.  Fortunately, that meant that I could relax and chat with our volunteers since we had more time in camp. 

We ended up having a great evening full of storytelling and laughter.  It was great to be with the group and it was great to have some spirited, strong women around.  I always feel fortunate when I have the opportunity to work with strong women in the field, and this was no exception. 

Overall, CDTA was a great group to work with.  They all have a great spirit and I hope our paths cross again. 

Sanborn Western Camps

Mt. Massive 2009:  Sanborn Western Camps

Our first group of the season met us on Monday at 10am at the Mt. Massive trailhead.  We are working with Sanborn Western Camps (a boy’s and a girl’s camp) who have a leadership program that includes doing trail work with us. 

We hiked in the 3.5 miles to camp in 2.5 hours, let them set up camp, went over base camp rules, groover rules (no peeing in the groover) and some other important information.  We hiked up to the first restoration area (resto area) so the kids could see where they would be working and there would not be as much nervous anticipation in the morning, no kids worried about how far we had to hike. 

There were quite a few firsts going on here.  First, it was the first group of the season.  Second, it was the first time Joe and I had lead together.  Third, it was the first time I was leading a group who I had worked with in a previous year.  Fourth, it was this kids’ first time doing trail work. 

Kids are interesting, they are hard to read at times, they seem tired, then they seem to have boundless energy, they need to be reassured but they need to be left to work things out on their own.  They want to assert their independence but they constantly want your approval.  I know I was the same way at 14 or 15 years old.  The kids were an interesting juxtaposition on their own. 

I do give them credit, for some of them, this was way out of their comfort zone and some of them did very well and worked really hard.  One young man, Zach was an incredibly well-natured gentleman who was ready, willing and able to accomplish any task we asked.  Others worked hard but offered comic relief like Max.  Still others like a young lady named Blayne seemed to redefine how I would come to see them.  Blayne brought make-up with her.  I didn’t wear make-up at 14 so I think I had a perception of 14 year olds wearing make-up, but when she was digging in the dirt and mud, planting transplants, digging up plugs of grass, she worked hard.  The highest compliment that I think I can pay someone is to tell them that they made me rethink or re-perceive a previous perception, thought or view point and she did that.  

Now the other kids that I didn’t mention from the group we also good kids, Ben, Jacob, Elliot, Annie, Gracie and Shannon, their counselors:  Collette, Kevin and Bea.  It’s just that a few things stick out when you are with a group.  Annie and Shannon did do a great job getting the plugs going that first day and Elliot was really inquisitive and wanted to gain a working knowledge of everything we were doing and had a great sense of humor, Ben was great at digging holes for planting plugs, Jacob….well, Jacob was surely doing his share of the work because at the end of each day he had the most dirt on his face, and on and on with stories of things the kids did. 

Over all, it was good to get a group under our belts and they were a good group to start with.  I think I have a bit of a better idea of what I need to do as leader to get the most of our groups, to be that crazy mix of what is needed. 

Mt. Massive:  Staff Training and Preview
So after a few days off relaxing with my sister and ordering my Maid of Honor Dress for her wedding, I returned to the Yurt near Twin Lakes for staff training. Here I got to meet the rest of the staff which comprised of the Windom Crew and Hilary from the Adopt-a-Peak Program. The Windom Crew is working in a very remote area near Windom Peak in the San Juan Mountains and will be staying back there, even on most of their off days. It’s pretty neat actually, they have to take a narrow gage train to a stop in the middle of nowhere and then hike in 7 miles or so to their base camp. Unfortunately, that means that I won’t get to see Shawn, Kenzie, Frances and Ben to frequently as we are pretty spread apart.

Never the less, getting to know them a little bit was great and we engaged in a highly competitive game of Pict-o-nary. We also went on a trail “walk and talk” to point out trail structures and building do’s and don’ts. Over all, staff training was short. After the Windom Crew got on their way down to Durango, we did 2 more days of trail work/training with Joe, Drew, Hilary and I. Asa, a former CFI staff member also gave us some pointers as he went hiking while we were working.

After another weekend off, I went back to work on Monday, June 15th. I ran errands picking up various items at our storage sheds, picking up re-bar, bear wire, lids to our gravity filters and other such necessary objects. I managed to get almost everything to camp in 2 loads including my food, sleeping bag, some clothes and a book. I also spent about an hour and a half bailing water off our tarp as it had collected and sagged to the ground. It was so laden with water; I couldn’t lift it to dump it off so I resorted to a pan to get water off the tarp. I saved some of the water for boiling for dinner and hot chocolate and the rest was put back into the natural world to be absorbed, returned to the atmosphere and then dropped back to the earth as precipitation.

Greg and Joe made it to camp that night just as I was getting worried and the last bit of light was fading from the evening sky. I retired to my tent, my new home away from home.

Totals for the day include about 10.5 miles of hiking and 6 personal contacts on the mountain or in the parking lot. Glad to see some responsible people out enjoying the early season on the mountain.

Tuesday the 16th was to be a preview day with Loretta but car trouble pushed her arrival back so Greg, Joe and I went for a walk up the mountain to get to know it before we hiked it with Loretta. We also checked out some the restoration work that one of my camp groups did last year. So far the transplants that the 2008 Overland Summers group did for us are looking great. We returned to camp, fixed the tarp, Loretta arrived and we made an excellent Curry dinner.  The four of us chatted late into the evening by trail crew standards, about 9:45 pm.

Wednesday I was primed for a butt whooping. We were hiking with Loretta. Loretta is a kind hearted, experienced outdoors woman. She is in charge of managing, contracting and monitoring the working going on the all of the 14,000 foot peaks in the state, amongst other things. She hikes frequently, she lives at elevation and she says she is out of shape. She killed me in hiking today. I keep reminding myself that I am built for hiking long distances a bit slower, but it barely makes me feel better about the shellacking I took today. She did hunker down for a bit and let Greg and I catch up (Joe keep up with her very well) so we could preview together, the reroute that Joe and I will be constructing with the help of our volunteers and the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps.
We hiked up to about 13,500 feet to the saddle before the ridgeline but, covered in snow, the ridgeline was impossible to preview so we returned back to camp, deciding that we’ll have to preview that section later, when we can see the trail.
Loretta and Greg hiked out the night when we got back to camp.

The next two days were spent in preparation for upcoming groups, getting an idea of what we want the groups to do, getting an idea of how long it will take to hike to the work site with the groups, etc. We also did some willow transplants, dismantled a fire ring, filled in old holes left by those who did restoration before us but didn’t fill in their holes from transplants, cached emergency gear and shuttled tools.

We hiked down from camp with the realization that we have a lot of work to do this summer to fulfill the contract that CFI has with the Forest Service. We are going to have to ask a lot of our groups and push them hard. Joe and I are going to have to be focused and prepared, forceful but fair, realistic but setting loft standards and goals. It will be an interesting balancing act and I hope we don’t disappoint.