Bob Marshall Hike – Day 5

July 22

And then there was the last day!

The rain had stopped in the morning but it was still overcast and gloomy when we got up. With no real time pressure we took our time getting ready (or possibly waiting for the procrastinators 🤣 …) and hit the trail.

This time we knew what to expect, which meant that this was the worst section for mud and manure … the theme of the day! We did not encounter any horses or pack trains so that made things easier. But the rock and mud hopping was the same. Or arguably worse after the storms from the previous day!

We kept plugging along, avoiding mud, brushing against bushes and getting wet (love the rain wrap), walking through creeks as the shoes were still soaked anyway. That saves a lot of time!

Again I don’t have a lot of pictures as it was the same as the first day. There is a pretty lake off the trail towards the Silvertip cabin, and we also took a break at that cabin.

It ended up being 18.8 km back to the car. The parking lot was relatively empty, with the horse trailers and trucks gone. A group of women were heading to the Silvertip cabin (beers in hand) while the couple that had spent the previous night there was picking huckleberries before heading out.

Back at the car, it felt great to shed the wet clothes and get dry. The dog just wanted to get into the car, and was stretched out and sleeping in no time!

We stopped at the ranger station again to drop a radio we found on trail and to report on our trip. Then we hit the long gravel road drive back to the highway, with a quick stop at the Hungry Horse Dam.

In Columbia Falls, food was waiting for us at the diner, and even the bad decaf coffee was a welcome “treat” that I didn’t have to make myself 🙂 While we were eating, another downpour cleaned the cars of all the dust and mud!

GPS Download

Gary took off towards Portland (with a stop in the Wallowas in Oregon on his way so it took him a week to get back), and Ron and I headed home, up Big Mountain in Whitefish.

Great trip, saw the wall, pleasant company, met some thru hikers, too much mud but also sunshine and beautiful creeks!