CDTBike Photos – Wisdom to Butte





yum!

We spent some time in the town of Wisdom, eating and watching it rain. This would become a pattern all the way to the Canadian Border as cold storms continued to hammer Montana. They seemed to come at a frequency of one per week.

We needed rest badly, so the rain was good timing. My friend Lee likened our trip to travels of old, when you’d hole up in a one-horse town to recoup and get ready for the next leg — sometimes for weeks if necessary. It was an appropriate analogy here in Wisdom, where there’s no cell service, very little traffic and not much going on. Truly a one horse town. It was also appropriate because our rate of travel had been, on average, walking pace or slower. We’d been traveling so slowly, and really getting to know the mountains — each pass and drainage left its mark. It was a wonderful way to travel slowly and see so much — dragging bicycles up into the mountains, and (sometimes) riding them back down.





Even though this was already our second stop in Wisdom, we decided to go for a third. We left our gear in town and struck out early in the clearing clouds. Self-supported slack packing!

(slack packing is a thru-hiking term when someone, usually a vehicle, carries your pack for you and you hike unloaded).





Good trail, then not-so-good trail. A classic abrupt CDT transition.

It felt fantastic to get more for our pedal stroke, and more for our hike-a-bike footsteps. But the trail from Big Hole Pass to Chief Joseph was difficult, even unloaded.





Best sign of the trip. For myself, being a dreamer, this photo gives hope of more long distance bikepacking opportunities in the future, even though the sign is just a joke.





Tiny ‘shroom forest next to a nice spring, just off route.





Marmot and Trail Dog! We hadn’t seen them since Pie Town.

It was very rare for us to catch hikers on the CDT when it’s trail (or jumbletrack), though we did often try. Give us a nice little road, though, and all bets are off. Mountain bikes are the most versatile way to travel human powered!





We scratched our heads when we saw this sign. Note that the burn area covers 90% of the CDT here. Why is it locals had told us to go ride it?





From Gibbons Pass we decided to give it a go anyway. Burn area, yes, but it appears to be clear!





By the time we hit the dozens of trees down, it was too late. We had climbed, descended. Sunlight was failing us. Gotta keep moving.





The rains came. Rainbows came out to play. Burn areas are beautiful.

But we were happy to leave this one, without bivy gear or food. It was a long pedal back to Wisdom, but we made it back before midnight to the tune of a 90 mile day.

A few days later, the locals went out and cleared all the trees. There were still many hikers behind us, so it was well timed.





I believe we counted ten visits to “The Crossing” for meals. Very good food, but you can’t be in a hurry — because they never are. It was almost sad to roll on and finally leave the Big Hole. It was a vortex that kept us around longer than it should have, but we enjoyed our time there.





An actual recovery ride (Wilderness detour) took us out of the Big Hole, and towards Fleecer Ridge.





We camped in a beautiful field, with snowy peaks above us.





Fleecer is an iconic section of the GDMBR. In a rare twist, I think the CDT may be easier, northbound.





The mountains are full of well done ATV and moto trails. Only minimal hike-a-bike, by CDT standards.





We loved it.





Especially the never-ending descent to I-15.





Followed by the reciprocal scorching climb.





Butte 100 tape! We are somewhere that actual *mountain bikers* ride!





Yes, yes, great trail. Lots of it.





Hurrah for the Butte CDT. Great for bikepacking, day riding, hiking, everything.





For miles the divide is littered with these piles of rock, and the trail weaves around them.





13 miles more CDT, but it dead ends! I believe this is the first and only place the trail ending in the middle of nowhere was actually signed as such. Bravo, Butte forest service.





Based on a local tip, we descended straight into town on an old railroad grade. Best possible use of elevation as we smiled and coasted all the way in.





That’s not us, but close enough. We ran new cables and brake cables thanks to Rob and Larry at the Outdoorsman. Thanks guys!

First bike shop on the route for…. 1.5 months? Steamboat Springs was the last one.





A day ride took us on the not-yet-punched-through CDT, and to “the Lady.”





Nature’s own “Ladies”, also right on the divide. This will be a fantastic addition to the CDT route, and should be ready next year.

Descending it unloaded made me long for more unloaded day riding. It’s ideal MTB terrain, where you couldn’t build an un-fun trail if you tried.





Our poor bounce box. We finally coughed up the $3 on a new box, shipping our laptops to our last ‘bounce’, in Whitefish. That turned out to be a mistake that cost us twenty or so bonus miles. But that’s a story for another post.

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