WalkingCarrot

Today we walked up Hudson Creek to Triple Divide Pass and over to the Atlantic Creek valley. Gaining and losing a couple thousand vertical feet under sometimes difficult trail conditions.

Shortly after leaving camp, the trail crossed Red Eagle Creek at the confluence with Hudson Creek on a suspension bridge over a narrow gorge holding a stunning waterfall. The bridge, a seasonal one, was not yet in place. The CDT for some odd reason crosses Red Eagle Creek and then croses back again in less than a mile. So, we bushwacked up Hudson Creek through the fire scarred forest with it’s thicket of downed, charred trees and new understory. We found a well used game trail and crossed over Hudson creek in a fast flowing, crotch deep, very cold ford. After bushwhacking up a prominent ridge we finally regained the CDT. A very time consuming mile of off-trail travel.

Just as we re-joined the CDT we saw a black bear running away. As the rangers suggest, as we hike we are making noise to alert the bears to our presence. We clap, talk, and whistle, but mostly we sing, since music “hath charms to soothe the savage beast”, or at least to certainly scare them away. This bear was a tough critic – judging from the speed of this hasty retreat our off-key efforts are VERY effective.

Triple divide pass lies just below Triple Divide Peak – the point which divides three major watersheds – the Pacific via the Columbia River, the Atlantic via the Missouri river and Gulf of Mexico, and Hudson Bay via the Nelson River. Water falling on top may part ways with it’s nearby droplets and travel very different journeys.

Climbing towards the pass out of Hudson Valley, the trail again disappeared under a long snow chute requiring kicking steps into soft snow and using an ice axe as a third, balancing, point for safety.

The bushwhacking, unbridged stream crossing, ice cold ford and snow chutes sure keep the “riff raff” out, at least most of them (although we made through). We didn’t see another person on the trail all day.

We did see wildlife, in some abundance, another sure sign of less frequent visitation. A white tail deer greeted us just out of camp. Then there was the aforementiond music-hating black bear, a ptarmigan heralded us at the pass, a hoary marmot was gatherng grass for food or nest, and numerous mountain goats and bighorn sheep were on either side of the pass.

Thunder clouds raced through the skies all day borne on some wild winds, but they kept moving on their way. On the descent, a seasonal waterfall dropped heavy sheets of water on the narrow trail. The steep terrain did not allow for an easy way around, so we donned rain gear and pack covers and raced through the icy shower. We hurried down the pass, crossing more step snow chutes to camp at Atlantic Creek. All in all, a tough but rewarding ten miles of hiking.

Approx miles 10.7