GDT Day 4 – Aug 7

No nightly noisy visitors but in the evening the deer were just walking by our tent and eventually Ksanka did try to run through the mesh … yeah she should know better and it’s not good for an ultralight tent (small hole in the mesh) but it’s oh so tempting!

We didn’t have to rush in the morning and chatted with German guy for a while who arrived last night, happy as always. He’s only hiking out the way I came in and then getting onto the drive to Vancouver so he wasn’t in a rush either. 

We headed out at 7:40am to tackle the climb to Sage Pass. I felt good, temps were lovely but sadly it was very smoky 😢 I decided to put a mask on when on top. 

That climb was the one that felt the best of the whole day since I just didn’t have any strength left later in the day. Smoke? Exhaustion? Dehydration? No idea. I ate and drank …

FYI: the GDT is never flat. You climb steep up only to climb steep down, then do it all over again. If you can see a high point or ridge, you will go there. If you can go higher from there, the GDT will go there 😁 It’s called PUDs … pointless ups and downs 🤣

So after Sage Pass we started with a short downhill and then up all the way to a long ridge (all in a barren burned area). Our side was the BC side, Alberta the steep cliffs on the other side. 

Eventually I got out of the burned trees and dropped into a meadow to Font Creek Camp (no amenities, just a nice area by the creek).

Here I ran into three lovely ladies Jen, Jenni and Ellen, plus Nala the dog (she’s deaf). We chatted for a while and I was thankful for the break, already feeling tired from the very steep sections. They were going to the camp 2km beyond my originally planned one (Jutland Creek) which was still only 7.7km away so that sounded good to me … it was early enough (11am?) to go further and have some company. 

We started out together and then hiked at our own paces. I got to Scarpe Pass at 2pm, they arrived at 3pm. I found the spring that was mentioned in the comments so we were all good to stay here. 

It was a lovely meadow with plenty of space for tents. Some comments said the wind gets bad at night so I put in my earplugs and slept great that way. 

It is lovely to have company and chats. Especially since tomorrow has two equally scary options after climbing La Coulotte Peak … Barnaby Ridge with cliffs and cables, or La Coulotte Ridge that’s supposed to be difficult as well. We will decide when we get to the peak …

I didn’t have a strong day at all today … the uphills were exhausting and I stopped so many times, even feeling lightheaded. I tried to wear the mask when I could and that made breathing better but somehow I just didn’t have it today. I probably bonked and need more electrolytes…

Most tiring is to hold on to the dog and urge her to slow down when it gets steep. She just has the drive forward that never stops. My arms feel like they are falling off today 😁 and the shoulders are definitely tight!

But … nice meadow camp here at Scarpe, lovely company and good weather so far (except the smoke). I would never hike these ridges in rain or strong winds!

Time to rest … Happy Trails!