CDT: Day 5

This morning I work up with a renewed view on what I want to get out of this trip. I always planned on there being a little slop in the time it would take me to complete the trip but Unfortunately, I told my son I “should” be back on a certain day and now that is set in stone, not an option. This works for me  and fits well with what I want to get out of the trip so I modified my route to 1) miss out on snowy trails and 2) make it back by the deadline set by my son. Lol.

With this renewed plan, I decided that I would see the things I wanted to see and make up the time later if I have to. The first opportunity that came up was a visit to Bannack, MT. Bannack is an old gold mining town that was abandoned but preserved in the form of a State Park. I was the only one there and it was pretty spooky. As the sun came up I got to experience the town light up and managed to grab a couple good pictures. Look for the gallery post for CDT Day 5 for all of the pictures but here is one:

BANNACK -1

After Bannack, I wound my way through a valley that was full of cattle and the occasional Ranch. The skies were clear and blue and the sun coming over the surrounding hills made for great pictures.

VALLEY -1

Leaving the valley was a lot more interesting than expected as it was through a canyon with walls higher than I could see and only room in the bottom for a single dirt road and the stream that cut the canyon.

CANYON -1

After that it was highway miles to get around a potentially snowed in forest road and my first trip through “open range” which was miles and miles of dirt, rocks, and twigs sticking out of the ground. I felt like I was in a different world but it led to probably the best part of my day, Grand Teton National Park. The park was open but all of the services were closed. I was there later in the day and was viewing all of the mountains from the East so they were mostly just shadows. Still, earlier I managed to get some good pictures from the West and being so close to the mountains was pretty cool.

WEST SIDE -1

EAST SIDE -1

I again made my way on a rerouted path and ended up in Pinedale, WY where I decided to stop for the night. My planned route from Pinedale has a lot of Continental Divide crossings and I did not want to do those in the dark. I made a lot of lengthy stops today and am a little behind schedule. Tomorrow or the next day, I will have to force myself not to stop at every photo opportunity…. it’s really hard though.

One Comment on “CDT: Day 5

  1. Pingback: GALLERY: CDT DAY 5 - Mission Overland

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