After walking 2,300 miles of the #ContinentalDivideTrail, I thought I had seen about all there was to see. Then on Day 155, I stood at a spot unlike any other place in the U.S.

#CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-155-morning-star-lake-campsite-to-red-eagle-lake-head-campsite/

I had never been to #GlacierNationalPark before I thru-hiked the #ContinentalDivideTrail. What I knew about it was what I had seen in photos and videos. These weren't enough to prepare me for what was to come.

#CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-153-two-medicine-campground-to-east-glacier-park/

Backpacking how-to books and YouTube videos often tell you how to find the perfect campsite to pitch your tent. The site I found on Day 144 of my #CntinentalDivideTrail thru-hike would never be used as an example, yet somehow I made it work. #CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-144-caribou-peak-to-welcome-creek/

The large birds I saw circling in the sky on Day 143 of my #ContinentalDivideTrail thru-hike made me wish I was up there with them. That was especially so because I was carrying a heavy load of food and water.

Read more at hikewithgravity.com.

#CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-143-rogers-pass-lincoln-to-caribou-peak/

You might say Lincoln, Montana's only claim to fame is its post office, which is where Ted "Unabomber" Kaczynski mailed his bombs. Still, it was a good place to resupply on the #ContinentalDivideTrail. #CDT2021
https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-142-above-canyon-creek-to-rogers-passlincoln/

You'd almost think Henry David Thoreau had thru-hikers in mind when he wrote, "The rule is to carry as little as possible." So I wondered what he would have thought if he were with me on Day 141 of my #ContinentalDivideTrail thru-hike. That's when I walked into a small outfitter store just off the trail that was filled with an eye-popping array of the best backpacking equipment available.

You can read about my reaction at hikewithgravity.com.

#CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-141-stemple-pass-to-above-canyon-creek/

Sometimes the simplest act of kindness can have the biggest impact of your day. That was true for sure on Day 140 of my #ContinentalDivideTrail thru-hike.

Read about the day at hikewithgravity.com.

#CDT2021

Day 139 of my #ContinentalDivideTrail thru-hike was a day filled with history, from a road important for the country's westward expansion to the site of a celebrated flight.

The best parts of the day for me came when I met a SOBO hiker and walked a few miles with a NOBO hiker. Read about the day at hikewithgravity.com.

#CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-139-macdonald-pass-helena-to-polly-spring/

Day 138 of my #ContinentalDivideTrail thru-hike got me thinking about how some hikers believe there is a clear set of rules for thru-hiking.

They say you can't give yourself a trail name. A thru-hike must be walked end-to-end in one direction. Your hike doesn't count as a thru-hike if you flip-flop.
I've hiked enough miles to think I can say with some authority that these rules are phony.

Don't believe them. I explain why in my next post at hikewithgravity.com.

#CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-138-okeefe-mountain-to-macdonald-pass/

I came upon a spruce grouse on Day 137 of my #ContinentalDivideTrail thru-hike. Its behavior was much like the one I saw on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2019, and I could see why some people call these birds "fool hens."

Read about the day and my encounter with the grouse at hikewithgravity.com.

#CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-137-spring-near-black-mountain-to-okeefe-mountain/

The Continental Divide Trail's culture is summed best by the phrase "Make your own adventure." Hikers are freer to go their own way than they are on most other trails. That was noticeable on Day 136 of my thru-hike. Read about it at hikewithgravity.com.

#ContinentalDivideTrail
#CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-136-lowland-campground-to-spring-near-black-mountain/

I struggle to understand or explain how long-distance hiking has changed my life. Looking back on Day 130 of my #ContinentalDivideTrail thru-hike, however, might offer some insight. You can read about that day at http://hikewithgravity.com. #CDT2021
https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-130-meadow-lake-campground-to-potosi-campground/

Discovering a 600-lbs. bull moose munching on grass about 50 yards from your campsite can be a little intimidating, but that's the way things go sometimes on the #ContinentalDivideTrail. Or at least that's the way Day 129 went on my thru-hike. Read about that day at hikewithgravity.com.

#CDT2021

I never would have thought hiking in beautiful Montana would remind me of fire-belching steel mills near Chicago. That's what happened when I started walking on Day 125 of my Continental Divide Trail thru-hike.

Read about what prompted unexpected memories of my childhood at hikewithgravity.com.

#CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-125-specimen-creek-trailhead-to-ramshorn-lake/

You may be familiar with the Appalachian Trail's white and blue blazes. Perhaps you've also heard of a few blazes hikers have invented, such as yellow blazing and pink blazing, but have you heard of platinum blazing?

I've been able to do a little of that on the AT and PCT, and was about to do some more on Day 124 of my #ContinentalDivideTrail thru-hike.

Read about the day at hikewithgravity.com.

#CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-124-gardners-hole-campsite-to-specimen-creek-trailhead/

The #YellowstoneNationalPark
we know today came close to being turned into another Niagra Falls. It was being exploited by poaching, vandalism, and commercial development. Incompetence and neglect by the federal government didn't help.

Then a hero of the Civil War put together a tour in 1883 that ultimately saved the park, preserving the magnificent natural wonder that it always was.
Read about the unlikely way the park was saved and about Day 123 of my #ContinentalDivideTrail thru-hike at hikewithgravity.com.

#CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-124-gardners-hole-campsite-to-specimen-creek-trailhead/

“Are you Gravity? We’ve been looking for you,” a Yellowstone park ranger said to me when he and another ranger rode up to where I was sitting.

Was I in trouble? You'll have to read about Day 122 of my #ContinentalDivideTrail thru-hike to find out. The next post can be found at hikewithgravity.com.

#CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-122-hellroaring-creek-campsite-to-lava-creek-campsite/

Creating #YellowstoneNationalPark in 1872 did little to stem the mass extermination of bison in the region. By 1901, only 25 remained within the park's boundaries.

There is no shortage of bison there now, and that became obvious to me on Day 121 of my #ContinentalDivideTrail thru-hike. For a time, I felt uncomfortably outnumbered.

Read about the day at hikewithgravity.com.

#CDT2021

https://backcountryfoodie.com/should-backpackers-be-wary-of-ramen-noodles/

Just before falling asleep at the end of Day 120 on my #ContinentalDivideTrail thru-hike, I began to pick up an odd smell in the air. It wasn't coming from me, though that could have been the obvious source.

Read more about the day and what caused the smell at hikewithgravity.com. #CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-120-lemon-city-campsite-to-cache-creek-ford-south-campsite/

Day 119 of my #ContinentalDivideTrail thru-hike was another day in grizzly country. Special precautions are necessary here, and I've tried to follow them all. At the end of the day, it wasn't a bear that made me glad I did that.

Read more at hikewithgravity.com.

#CDT2021

https://hikewithgravity.com/hikes/cdt-2021/day-119-pahaska-teepee-to-lemon-city-campsite/