Leadore, ID to Darby, MT (8/7-8/12): 122 Miles
After doing research while in town, we decided it was safe enough for us to continue ahead on the main CDT red line. Randy dropped us back off at the trailhead, sending us on our way with 2 delicious apples. Kinda like he was dropping off his kids for a day at school. We got rain within the first 30 minutes of being back on trail, but had a rainbow lightly fill the sky shortly after.
Smoke was surrounding us, as we had expected, since we were getting closer to the Moose Fire area. We stopped at springs to fill up our bottles, including one that was near a Sacajawea Memorial. Sacajawea accompanied Lewis & Clark from the Rocky’s to the Pacific Ocean. Her skills and knowledge of the land were invaluable.
For months it seems like we’ve either been dealing with hot weather or rain, but on this section we were tested with 2 nights below 30 degrees. The mornings were tough crawling out of our warm sleeping bags, but we bundled up with our clothes and got hiking as fast as we could to get our bodies moving. By 9am the mornings felt crisp, and shortly after, we were stripping our layers off from being too hot from the uphill climbs.
The sky opened up as we approached the peaks in the Salmon NF (Idaho) and Beaverhead NF (Montana). While hiking on the ridge, below us was a solo black bear roaming the valley. Making some noise for it to hear us, it figured out where we were on the ridge, stared at us for a brief moment then dashed off into the woods.
More smoke filled the sky, presenting the silhouettes of the distant mountains and tree lines. The smoke hazed over the sun during dusk and dawn, which seemed to create quiet and stillness on the trail.
Our last morning we woke up with 17 miles to get into town. We hiked through the burned forest from the Trail Creek Fire (2021). Below us we heard hooves trampling on the forest floor, which made us stop in our tracks, hoping we’d catch a glimpse of more wildlife. I then heard my first elk bugle. It echoed for a moment, then about 15 elk paraded from the valley below us, crossed the trail and up over the hill to our right. A perfect way to end another tough section.
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