Hats are a definite thing on trail. This set, left to right: polyester logo hat, grocery store hat, nylon hunting season hat.
More hats.
This set, left to right, polyester hat, store hat, and a Built-Cool hat (I have one in blue and another in hunting season orange).
I’ve used all of these.
Polyester is good because it is hydrophobic. The nylon hats are light. The Built-Cool hats wick moisture and evaporate it. Sometimes I like a logo hat (Cavalier hat while living in Charlottesville).
I believe in only one hat on trail. I’m not one to carry several and choose based on conditions. That leaves me choosing between polyester and Built-Cool.
Until a long walk in the rain I was all for the BC. It wasn’t that bad with the rain but polyester was better for that until it disappeared at the family reunion. Non-logo is lighter than logo.
FroggToggs Hat
Trails differ by how much rain they have. For a lot of rain ( Appalachian Trail style) I’d probably go back to the Frogg Toggs hat. It provides better breathability when sun protection isn’t the goal.
Otherwise I am looking for protection from the sun and wearing it with a sun hoodie which hides the color and the hat. Then it is a matter of some rain use (for the brim) but mostly sun protection.
I’ve worn a lot of hats since 2016 and my Costco/Tilley Hat clone. I have found that the least expensive ball cap ones have proved out to generally be the best for me.
In addition they are less likely to be blown away by wind and work well with a sun hoodie.
It is tempting to wash them. If you do, double check that the DWR on them still works.
With pass-through
I was wearing hiking shorts under mine and doing water crossings in them with compression sleeves on my calves but mine seemed the worse for having been through the laundry without a care.
On trail last year
I had planned on replacing them with Lightheart Gear 4.4 ounce rain pants. My new ones have “pockets” —pass through openings that let you reach your actual pockets which is a great idea.
With zips for easy on/off over shoes
No criticism of the Versalite pants I wore out or their replacements that have been through the laundry three times.
Future plans
I’m not sure. Lots of local hiking is available. It is just that I find I enjoy my grandchildren more than I enjoy long hikes.
Sunset on trail
I’ve seen variations on the scenery. I’m not terribly driven towards completionism or seeing more mountains or more deserts or more cow ponds.
I’ll figure it out.
Food on trail
Breakfasts
I got over hot breakfasts early. Too much time and work without a reward —especially since it tends to become variations on oatmeal.
Honeybuns are a great blend of being bland enough you won’t get overloaded on them, compared to pop tarts which I lost the ability to eat.
Bars
Paired with something that sticks (protein and fat) you can get a solid thousand calorie breakfast. The problem is that you can get overloaded on protein bars or other breakfast supplements.
I’ve met a lot of hikers who can’t face another Cliff Bar.
Lunches
Nuts, squeeze containers of peanut butter or other nut butters and fruit candy are all good. So are tortillas, bagels, string cheese and sausage sticks and beef jerky. Candy bars are ok, just don’t want to have to eat too many.
Nuts. Bag separately in 3/4 cup bags
Met a guy who had to eat twelve snickers bars a day to beat his calorie deficit.
Bagels can be good for breakfast or lunch. The inexpensive ones last better than the premium ones.
I ate too many payday candy bars so I now can faze them sparingly. Paydays have more protein than many nut bars.
Dinners
We started with freeze dried chicken and stuffing mix. Add some butter and it is a pretty good meal.
M&Ms for missing calories
Too many of them and it becomes a food with good memories but one you can’t eat.
Backpacker staple in noodles
Knorr Sides and Ramen are alternatives. I can currently eat those but I know people who can’t.
The Knorr rice sides.
The advantage to both ramen and Knorr is you can mix with boiling water and let them sit and they will cook completely.
Finally there are freeze dried meals.
Freeze dried meals
They can taste pretty good, newer ones even have more calories.
I have a bunch of oatmeal/granola ones I was given by another hiker who was unable to keep eating them.
Not too bad for dinner.
Hiking in snow
Ok. I’ve hiked in snow. But in Merrells or other waterproof shoes.
Happy6’s Goretex La Sportiva and my Merrells
Standard easy breathing trail runners without goretex or similar protection give you wet and freezing feet and frozen shoes every morning.
Had a classmate get frostbite so I don’t need it first hand.
Otherwise alpha direct under a wind shirt (and add a rain jacket and rain pants if it is snowing) and you can hike warm enough.
The Appalachian Trail I hiked in 17 degrees with ice and snow but route finding was easy.
A sample section of Bob Marshall CDT Trail
We hiked several times on the CDT where the trail was hard to find. And yes. Last week we went wrong at the location in that picture and had to bushwhack up a blowdown covered hillside.
Sample hill with blowdowns.
Route finding and pre-maintenance trail can be much more painful in a foot of snow without anyone ahead of you breaking trail.
So I’m glad not to be trying to finish up 6-7 days in the Bob.
Maybe I’ll return for the horse/mule trip version. www.benchmarkwildernessranch.com😄😄 (ok. To be honest. I don’t think I’d pay that much to go fishing).
Yellowstone Weather
It snowed yesterday. Down below freezing today. 26 degrees tomorrow.
Colder to the north.
That cold front and snow really reached south from where we were.
So. How did I end up here, in the Miner’s Hotel in Butte?
Our first day on trail was about nineteen miles. The next day was twenty two. We started to worry about the weather.
For East Glacier. But the Bob was similar.
We went from possible, but not likely rain to increasing chances. The ranger we talked to was dismissive (note that he had bailed out before we would see him again).
On night two it was solid rain forecast with snow.
We had to decide and with the extra weight of the bear canister, bear spray and lots of food we couldn’t suddenly do thirty mile days.
We decided to turn back two days into a seven day trek to our next resupply (the longest and heaviest stint we were planning).
In addition, I realized that while I like backpacking, I adore time with our grandchildren and I’m not a compulsive completionist.
Day three we did twenty two miles back.
Now the first week on trail most people find it hard to eat. That night Win insisted I eat a dinner and a half.
Day four we woke up and it had started to rain early.
Down hill most of the 19 miles
We started early. We did almost nineteen miles in six hours. Which is really fast for us.
Win had used satellite to let our daughter know we were coming back. We would hitch into town the figure out a route back.
Our son-in-law volunteered to come get us.
We told him we would be at the trailhead about six pm.
Stopped at the ranger station/cabinwhere instead of a crew of volunteers (with their crews) a couple of rangers and a lot of mules all but one ranger at “rotated” away from the incoming snow.
More water on trail
He was willing to take our excess food.
We arrived at the trailhead just after noon.
Changed into dry gear in the privy.
Busy privy. In ten minutes three cars had stopped to use it. The third gave us a ride to a restaurant in town where we could catch lunch.
Win Marsh and I were both very grateful, surprised and amazed that Michael drove up to get us. Win was just letting the kids know we were safe as a snow storm in June is making news.
Miles and miles of burned trees
The person shuttling us into town offered to take us to Benchmark Ranch.
We could have gotten around the weather and gone on.
But I realized I did not want to be gone that long.
Life has really changed for me. But I’m happy about that.
Woke up before 6:00, took my last hot shower in a while and had breakfast.
I’ve been slacking off on breakfasts recently and I could feel that eating a full one. I kind of joke that training for trail includes 700+ calories for breakfast.
That makes it easier to eat that much on the trail.
The hotel was handing out localized post cards—with postage on them. We sent one to each grandchild. Then we were ready for the trail.
Amtrak
At 7:00 sharp we caught the hotel shuttle to the rail station. Amtrak was early and left on time. So by 7:30 we were moving down the tracks to East Glacier.
Since Amtrak can be as much as 6-8 hours late on time was great for getting more hours hiking in today. With rain coming we want to get as far as possible.
Amtrak looking out
At the station, as usual, there was a large contingent of Amish waiting for the train. The Amish are a significant factor in train travel having enough passengers.
There were at least three other CDT hikers. Jolly Gear shirts and bear canisters made them stick out. They were happy to talk.
They are starting a SOBO so they are headed north to Glacier National Park before heading into the Bob.
We commiserated about the forecast of rain, but we were all glad it wasn’t a daily guaranteed event.
I’ll note that when getting point weather forecasts it is important to get a point on the trail rather than a random mountain top. Temperatures, amount of precipitation and possible snowfall predictions are all affected.
We could take an alt that is fifteen miles shorter. That alt has two river crossings.
We won’t take given we hit it after the expected ran. The rain also affects dealing with river and water crossings.
River/stream and water crossings
I’ll distinguish between water crossings, fords and river/stream crossings. All of the terms apply to crossing water without bridges.
Water crossing
Water crossings are basically any water on the trail. Often you don’t get your shoes wet, though you might. A water crossing means you have flowing water available to filter/treat and drink.
Fords are a location where you will get wet but the location is well traveled and very suitable for crossing. Someone has worked on improving a crossing at that point.
Water crossing
The term river crossing is often used when crossing a stream but may actually be used for crossing a river. It is a location that has water between knee and chest deep where the trail crosses through (not over) more than ankle deep (or less) water.
Bridges often exist for horses and mules
If you need to face upstream and use care in order not to fall over, it is a river crossing. If you can walk through or over the water and maybe don’t even need your poles , it is a water crossing.
Another water crossing. Twelve in one day
Fords are rare on hiking trails but common on horse trails. In Glacier National Park there are often bridges for the hikers and fords for the horses.
The Alpine Mode App
I’m using the Alpine Mode app. It requires adding shortcuts to work properly but they don’t take up Home Screen space so for me that was not a downside.
Alpine mode icon next to part of Happy6’s arm/hand.
The essence of the app is it is supposed to save more battery than airplane mode does.
Low power and lower resolution screen settings, no wi fi (airplane mode has WiFi ) and such
So far, so good. But so far is a couple hours on the train.
Update. Four days on trail and notes for blogging, pictures and a little FarOut and I used about 10% of my battery a day.
Hiking south today
We expect to hike a mile on the summit connector and then be at mile 116 SOBO. The connector is used enough that last year it had CDT blazes on it.
Paw print. Bear paw print
Mile 139.4 SOBO —camping
Our campsite
We made about nineteen miles from the trail head at 116.9 SOBO to here. I feel better about being tired having looked at the miles.
Bear paw print in the mud
Beautiful trail. Verdant forest. So many water crossings.
Mile 161.6 SOBO— camping
It looks like a good day but the truth is I am too slow.
Campsite just before Spotted Bear cut off.
Age is catching up with me and really bad weather is sliding in. Over an inch of rain per hour and 4-5 inches of snow.
So many burned trees
So we are headed back to the trailhead and then home.
Mile 139.4 SOBO — camping
Winter storm warning just got stronger.
Sample weather in area.Ranger cabin
19 miles in six hours and off the trail.
Waiting for pick-up in the shelter at the trailhead.
We are on our way. Spent the night at the Hiker Hut in Anaconda. We were the first to sign in their log book for 2025.
Last sign in was October of last year. A hiker dropped by to show the hiker hut to their parents.
d20 a few years ago
There were heavy thunderstorms in Anaconda last night but we were safe in doors. The rain cleaned all the bugs off the rental car. 😄😄. All the locals were thrilled as the rain has been a bit of a drought and warm season so far.
The weather is great for early season hikers. It means that the snow melted out early and water crossings are all low. Just enough water to drink but dry feet and easy hiking.
Much better than last year where it was well into July before some areas could be hiked.
Weather like this is rough later in the year for local water levels and worsens late season fire risks.
We slept well and woke with the rising sun.
So today we got an early start. We were on the road right at 6:00 am. That meant if Amtrak was running late we could be in East Glacier today. Then we stopped for a hitchhiker standing by the road with a bicycle tire.
We picked up Jinx who has finished hiking the PCT and is on a bike race from Banth through Colorado. He was suddenly stuck with hitchhiking instead of biking.
Happy6 on the PCT in 2022
His problem was that his bicycle needed repairs in pretty much the middle of nowhere. Well, it was 50+ miles from the tools he needed. That made it obvious what to do, so we detoured to Missoula and gave him a ride to a bicycle shop.
After which we were our way again.
So. We were a little more than an hour behind schedule when we made Kalispell. We then were on to Whitefish.
The hotel at Whitefish
In town we got some last minute supplies, confirmed Amtrak times for tomorrow, had our shuttle arranged, rental car dropped off and checked in at the local Marriott using points.
We also visited the outfitter but did not need anything.
The front desk agent at Whitefish.
Tomorrow we will take Amtrak to East Glacier and then we will becon the trail.
Starting on the 17th cell service will be spotty so updates won’t be regular for a bit as I can only post updates when I have service.
“The Bob” as it is known is the second largest wilderness area in the United States.
It is very busy. With a network of forest service cabins used to host crews all summer, there are a large number of people out there just working on the trails and maintenance.
They keep track of conditions and have a website with Updates on the condition of the eight trail collections. Yes. There are eight collections of trails are in “The Bob” not just eight trails. The trails are numbered from 1 to into the 200s.
The Bob includes three national forests as well as the wilderness area.
Snotel shows how this year (green line) snow plunged below the record low year (red line) and into no snow last week.
Video of the “big” initial water crossing.
The high water route bypasses that crossing and is the route we will take. What can I say. We are taking a route that bypasses this pretty shallow water crossing for ones that are even shallower.
Fortune cookie advice at dinner
I’ve been asked how a water crossing gets shallower and easier than this and all I can say is that it is possible.
😄😄
Unlike other areas we have hiked that take a long time, for the 7-10 days we that will be hiking here we will not be alone or close to alone. We may even stop at Benchmark Ranch for showers.
We may have rain, starting Friday, but it looks good. Great backpacking temperatures, plenty of drinking water, trails maintained and Forest Service cabins inhabited (with working telephones in case of emergencies).
Our current plan is to drive up to Kalispell, turn in the rental car and take Amtrak to East Glacier. Then down to the trail where we got off and start hiking into the Bob Marshall by Wilderness.
Rest stop on the way to Anaconda.
Tent has new zipper sliders and Happy6 washed all the zippers.
Morning on the trail in New Mexico just before Colorado
Water
It is strange. We’ve been hiking so many stretches with long water carries. Suddenly we are headed to an area with plenty of water.
So instead of carrying at least four liters or maybe more, one at a time is probably enough.
Blowdowns on the trail last year
Pack weight
Well. Not eight or more pounds of water, but…
Bear canister. Bear spray. Six days of food.
Last year near Chana at the border into Colorado.
So I dropped my base layer top. I can use my alpha direct layer if my sun hoodie isn’t warm enough at night.
Cut some other things. But still. A lot of food weight.
Gear list
In pack:
Kakwa 55 liter pack.
Nylofume pack liner, Thermarest short pad, Pump sack, Sleeping bag and compression sack (back up water protection too).
Water gear sack with wash cloth, two Platy style bags, backup filter and Hydropak bag.
Stuff sack pillow, base layer bottom, Senchi alpha direct top, sleep socks, spare socks, spare underwear, hiking shorts.
Electronics dry bag, two nite core 10k mhA power banks, cords, gallium wall charger, vitamins and medication. Spare pack liner, sleeping pad repair kit, spare calf compression sleeves. spare reading glasses.
Bear canister. Six days of food.
Rain jacket, rain pants, wind shirt.
Tent, stakes.
In belt pouches: bug net, gloves, water purification tablets, compass, headlamp, InReach mini.
Water bottles. Bear spray.
Misc (extra hair ties for Happy6).
Worn:
Sun hoodie.
Hiking pants and belt.
Socks and underwear.
Gaiters and shoes.
Hiking poles.
Sunglasses, reading glasses.
Hat.
Wallet.
Phone.
Apps: Alpine Mode, FarOut, Avenza, OnX.
Reference weight
I was 182.4 this morning. Pack is right at 30-31 pounds. With shorter food carries it will be down.
Note. This is borrowed with permission from Stagecoach, a CDT hiker.
Bear Canister
Yellowstone NP Permits. Last year I got off the trail when I broke my leg. This year I’m trying to finish the remaining 1,000 miles from Yellowstone NP going southbound to Monarch Pass starting the second week of July. Because I knew my starting date, I was able to get a 1 person permit by calling up early. Here is what I learned:
The Yellowstone NP backcountry office will let you call in for permits at 307-344-2160. Call a week or two out once you know your hard dates. Park Ranger Howard (first name) really helped me.
Tell them you are hiking southbound or northbound on the CDT. They will try to help you (especially if you are a little humble and check any thru hiker attitude).
Tell them you don’t mind sharing a campsite with other hikers or live stock travelers. Also say that you don’t mind rustic sites or doubling up. It may help.
The following is a link to the campsite map. It is hard to navigate on a phone because of the size. https://www.nps.gov/maps/full.html?mapId=f926f448-9fe4-4600-b4c0-3f060737c87f
The sites I have (traveling Southbound) are OE1 Summit Lake, OA2 Upper Firehole River, 8M1 Moose Creek, 8H6 Rustic, 8C9 Crooked Creek. Reverse for Northbound.
I was able to get sites on the trail approximately 15 miles apart. If you want to go bigger miles just tell them, but I didn’t want to push big miles through Yellowstone.
West Yellowstone, Wyoming, is a good hiker town (expensive hotels during peak) but it has all of the amenities.
This is his wording, from his guide, not my wording. I did make some minor formatting changes, a little text and am trying to add some illustrations.
Why take the alt?
My primary motivation in taking the Super Butte was to simplify resupply logistics. Lima and Leadore are famously annoying resupply stops. A lot of hikers take Anaconda to make a shorter food carry to Darby as well.
Happy6
Other common reasons are to cut miles, depending on the route you take, you cut about 250 miles off the red line or 150 off the Anaconda Cutoff. This is especially relevant if you got a late start.
Or just for a change of scenery. Aside from the Whitehall road walk, I found this to be some of my favorite hiking in Montana, after spending the last two weeks hiking through terrain that was beautiful but pretty much the same day after day with another 400 miles of similar terrain to look forward to, this alt provided a lot of much needed variance.
High sage desert, rocky peaks with mountain goats, abandoned mining towns, touristy lake towns, etc., all are found on this route.
I also enjoyed the chance to be away from the Guthooks/Farout route, as it added a little sense of adventure not knowing what was around every corner.
Water wasn’t as much of a concern as I feared. The only section without good water was the road walk into and out of Whitehall. If you go through in a drought year this obviously might not apply.
Maps
There is a gpx. track being passed around online, a quick search and you’ll find it in several different places.
You’ll need some sort of non-Guthooks/Farout navigation app.
The Big Sky alt map.
Some people online recommend buying maps on Avenza, which I did, but I just ended up using the USGS topo maps on Gaia the whole time instead. My buddy used the Garmin app which worked well too.
Big Sky Alternative
The following route is just a line people have drawn linking together various trails, forest roads, and actual roads. There are lots of different ways you can choose to go, this is just the route I ended up taking.
Mileage changes depending on which route, map, or app you’re looking at but ballpark numbers are:
The route
I-15 crossing (Butte) to Whitehall – 35 miles
Whitehall to Ennis – 60 miles
Ennis to Big Sky – 45
Big Sky to West Yellowstone – 52 miles
Or
Big Sky to Mammoth Village – 55 miles
Helena or Butte to Whitehall – 35 miles
Resupply stops and routing
So you’ll resupply either in Helena or Butte via the I-15 crossing [mile 427 SOBO]. Leaving I-15 you have about 8 miles on the red line before turning at the Nez Perce trail junction [approx mile 435, there’s no junction icon on Guthooks], which is actually the old cdt route.
You’ll be on nice single track for a while before getting onto a fairly well traveled orv track which turns into dirt road after maybe ten miles.
Coming through on a weekend there were about 20 rvs parked in a field here so you could possibly yogi some water (or beer).
Whitehall
Big Sky Alternative Map
Whitehall to Ennis
The Big Sky Cutoff (also known as the “Super Butte Cutoff”) is the CDT of alternate routes: there is no one route; rather, a general goal: turn the incredibly circuitous routing of the CDT between Yellowstone and Butte, MT into something resembling a straight line.
You’ve got about 20 miles of road walk through farmland before you get back on a trail. Traffic was chill, not much danger, and the locals were all really nice.
I stopped at a farmhouse to refill my water since I’m sure the river and streams are full of agricultural runoff. I’m sure you could yellow blaze this without too much trouble.
There’s a hot spring around two miles off ‘trail’ at the end of the road walk, it’s called Point of Rocks.
After another chill 20 you’ll hit Mammoth, not really a town but a community of summer camps. Leaving Mammoth you’ll start climbing the Tobacco Roots where there are some cool old abandoned mines.
‘23 was a low snow year and there was still a decent amount of snowpack in the pass. If snowpack is high when you come through then ice gear might be a good idea.
The National Forest ends and the ranches start ten miles before the highway going in to Ennis, so you’ll either have to camp there or go all the way into Ennis.
Ennis
Ennis is a six mile hitch down the highway. Bozeman is about an hour drive in the other direction too. The locals all seem to know and love CDT hikers.
Big Sky Alternative Map
Apparently, Ennis is a very popular fishing destination (months later when I was in NM I saw tourist brochures for Ennis) so there are a selection of decent priced motels, restaurants, and a grocery store.
Ennis to Big Sky/ Bozeman
You’ll be following the High Lakes trail through the Spanish Peaks, beautiful single-track but hard to follow at times. Also, there are lots of lakes and you’re high up. Heads up… this section seemed to be about ten miles longer than the gpx claims.
More potential snow hazards in a high snow year as you cross the last pass heading into Big Sky. The other side of the pass is a well-used day/overnight hiking trail leading into downtown Big Sky
Big Sky
Big sky is expensive, even by ski resort standards, but there is a grocery store and plenty of restaurants. More importantly there’s an hourly $5 bus running to Bozeman where there’s a hostel, Walmart, REI, etc.
Plus you get to see the famously wretched hive of scum and villainy of “Bozeangeles” that everyone in Montana has told you about. If you have thruhiked before then I guarantee someone you knew on your last trail moved to Bozeman after finishing their hike so social engineer your way to crashing on someone’s couch.
Big Sky to Yellowstone
This is where you’ve got a few choices. Head straight to West Yellowstone and get back on the red line, which is the most common option. I didn’t go this way. There are a few different routes but they all seem pretty straightforward.
Alternatively, you can head southeast, straight into Yellowstone NP. I took the route SE over the Gallatin Range and entered YNP, hitching out from Mammoth Hot Springs to resupply at nearby Gardiner.
The section from Big Sky to Mammoth was really cool, it follows the Sky Rim trail with great views into Yellowstone. My plan was to hike south from Mammoth to Old Faithful but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Most of it is road walking and it’s a sketchy, very busy, no shoulder, windy mountain road. There were a few places you can get off the road and hike but a bunch of trails and campsites were closed.
It’s just not an area the park wants you to hike through; they don’t devote any resources to hiking in this section. I hiked about half of the 60 or so miles before bailing on the road walk and yellow blazing down to Old Faithful.
It is a really cool route as you pass through a bunch of thermally active areas that are all way cooler than what you’ll see on the red line, but unless you have a car it’s a hassle.
You can also head east from Mammoth Village and get on the Thoroughfare Trail. This is supposed to be a really cool hike.
Most of the wildlife is supposed to hang out on the east side of the park away from the tourists so this is your best bet to see Bison, Grizzlies, etc. but you’ll be missing all the cool geothermally active areas.
Happy6 on the Appalachian Trail
In any case I didn’t take this route so I can’t really speak to it.
Yellowstone
One tip for Yellowstone, if you have trouble getting permits, is to hitch to front country sites at Madison Junction and Grant Village. They have walk up hike in/ bike in site that multiple people told us they always find spot for CDT hikers no matter how full they are.
The Big Sky Cutoff (also known as the “Super Butte Cutoff”) is the CDT of alternate routes: there is no one route; rather, a general goal: turn the incredibly circuitous routing of the CDT between Yellowstone and Butte, MT into something resembling a straight line.
The earliest generally recognized departure is at Two Ocean Pass, where one can depart the CDT and head down the Atlantic Creek drainage into east Yellowstone. This, however, bypasses the Old Faithful area of Yellowstone, which I very much wanted to see, so instead I stuck with the CDT until shortly after West Yellowstone, MT, diverting onto an old alignment of the CDT. A network of trails and dirt roads, plus a bit of paved roadwalk took me past Earthquake Lake, some pretty amazing high plateaus and ridges, and a lot of ranches to reach the outskirts of Ennis, where I zeroed.
From Ennis, a longish paved and dirt road walk took me through the Tobacco Root Mountains, with abandoned mines and equipment sprinkled throughout. More road walk and a hitch on a school bus brought me to Whitehall. (I’d originally planned on hiking directly into town to avoid having to hitch, given there’d be a long road walk either way, but the oppressive heat — over 100°F — suggested adding a climb over a mountain pass was unnecessary.)
The whole alternate, 12 days in total, was roughly 178 miles long, bypassing 498.7 miles from the CDT. That is, near as I can tell, fairly close to the shortest route possible between West Yellowstone and Butte, while minimizing the length of CDT skipped and minimizing paved roadwalk. (A possibly slightly shorter route could have cut off earlier, taking dirt roads directly through West Yellowstone, but would also have reduced my time in Idaho to not even a full day, and included a very lengthy paved road walk out of West Yellowstone.)
I only took this alternate out of necessity: by the time I got to West Yellowstone, it was already near the end of August. The 321 miles this alternate saved saved me nearly two weeks of hiking; without it, I’d have arrived in Canada in the second week of October, to much colder weather and more difficulty getting away from Waterton Lake.
The large amount of road walk made parts of this alternate quite tiring, but largely it was still beautiful country, and while I’d have preferred being on the CDT proper, I don’t regret taking this route.
As you probably already know, there is no single “Big Sky Cutoff” (aka “Butte Super Cutoff”) as everyone inevitably takes a different variation, but I think the general route described in http://www.wildernesstravels.co.uk/cdt/bigsky.htm is a good place to start. I planned a variation of this for my wife and I’s CDT hike last year (2020) and I would recommend it if you want a Big Sky Cutoff with minimal logistics.
The benefits of this route are that you do not need to send a single box ahead, as all resupplies are done at real grocery stores in towns. Also, you can do this hike with only 2-3 campsite reservations in Yellowstone NP, yet you get to spend around a week’s worth of time in the park. It’s a nice compromise of a lot of time in the park without a lot of permits. Without further ado, I’ll give an overview with mileage of my own Big Sky Cutoff, presented in SOBO order because that’s what the OP asked for:
— Mileage / Resupply —
Butte, MT (via ~15 mile hitch from northernmost I-15 crossing on the CDT)
< 38.6 miles >
Whitehall, MT (on route, Jefferson’s Fresh Food resupply)
< 63.2 miles >
Ennis, MT (via ~7 mile hitch from Hwy-287 crossing at McAllister)
< 41.0 miles >
Big Sky, MT (on route, Roxy’s Market resupply… or take bus into Bozeman)
< 61.0 miles > (this includes 6.2 mi of road walking from Big Sky to Porcupine Creek TH and 6.0 mi of road walking from Mammoth Springs in Yellowstone to Gardiner)
Gardner, MT (on route, Gardiner Market resupply)
< 80.0 miles >
Cody, WY (via ~45 mile hitch from Eagle Creek CG on Hwy-14)
< 79.2 miles >
Dubois, WY (via ~26 mile hitch from Hwy-26 crossing on the old CDT)
— Maps —
Printable maps for most of this route can be downloaded at http://www.wildernesstravels.co.uk/cdt/bigsky.htm
High quality waterproof maps (and digital versions) of almost the entire route can be purchased from Beartooth Publishing. Specifically, you will want the following maps:
Tobacco Root Mountains, Bozeman / Big Sky / West Yellowstone, Yellowstone North, Yellowstone South
You could just buy the single Yellowstone National Park map for the Yellowstone stretch, but that version doesn’t have the specific backcountry campsites marked, so it is useless for trying to plan out campsite reservations while knowing mileage in between the sites. For that reason I’d suggest buying both the North and the South maps for Yellowstone, as linked above. You can try and plan out your campsite reservations using the official Yellowstone Trails & Campsites map, but without mileages in between the sites, it’s not very useful. I found just buying the Beartooth maps to be worth it, plus Beartooth Publishing is local company in Montana and they answered all of my email questions really kindly and were super informative and helpful, so I think it’s worth supporting this local business.
— Yellowstone NP Backcountry Camping Permits —
For more info on getting your backcountry permits for Yellowstone, check our the Camp in the Backcountry page on the YNP website.
When we went through Yellowstone (northbound, in our case), we only needed to get 2 nights worth of backcountry permits, because we did some very careful planning to camp right outside of the YNP border for multiple nights. It can be done.
Importantly, when you call ahead to reserve permits, it can be done no earlier than 3 days prior to the start of your trip, so you kind of need to call in when you are quite close to entering the park. With this in mind, I would recommend the following:
For SOBO hikers, you will want call in to get permits once you are in Big Sky, MT. It you can’t get permits there, it’s still possible to squeeze by and camp just outside the YNP boundary near Shelf Lake, then hike into Mammoth Hot Springs (where there is a campground) in one 29 mile day. You can walk 6 miles (or hitch) from Mammoth Hot Springs to Gardiner to resupply at the grocery store there. From Mammoth Hot Springs or from Gardiner, you could also call in to get your permits.
For NOBO hikers, you will want to call in to get your permits once you are in Cody, WY. Yes, you can hike through the park for multiple days before that without having to actually camp in it overnight. I would suggest the following schedule when entering the park from the south: camp at Bridger Lake, just south of the YNP boundary, hike 20 miles from Bridger Lake to just past Eagle Pass (where you get out of the park again) and camp around there, then hike another 15 miles from Eagle Pass to the Eagle Creek Campground at Hwy-14 (where you can hitch into Cody).
— Navigation —
Lastly, the OP asked about navigation… I found navigation relatively simple on the cutoff. The trails along the way are mostly very good and oftentimes marked, so a compass, a physical map, and a brain is mostly sufficient for navigation. If you get the digital versions of the Beartooth maps on the Avenza apps, then you can geolocate on the maps themselves. I would actually suggest the electronic maps for this reason. I actually purchased both for redundancy, but only really used the digital maps on trail. The physical maps were helpful to layout on the floor and plan the whole route though, and I liked being able to write directly on them too with notes.
I enjoyed the Frogg Toggs hat. It is much lighter than Tilley. It was also much more waterproof and it was cooler in the rain. I climbed Katahdin with it and, of course, was pleased at how much less than the Tilley it cost.
$15 (now $17) vs $80 for a Tilley. The Costco clone is less, but I managed to lose it.
That hat has been popular enough that there are now lots of variations on it.
There are a couple downsides. Especially once you hike more exposed and with both wind and sun hoodies, the hat catches wind, doesn’t fit under a sun hoody and the brim isn’t as stiff.
I tried a hat by Outdoor Research that appears no longer to be for sale. It disappeared at a hostel on the Appalachian Trail when we were doing laundry. I miss it as it was light, comfortable and a great blue color.
I went through several other hats. A gimme hat a trail angel gave me on the AT and then a cheap hunting season orange ball cap I picked up on trail. Then a polyester weave that lasted until it disappeared at a family reunion while we were hiking the PCT.
I replaced it with another ball cap picked up in a grocery store and then a UVA hat I got in Charlottesville.
Then I bought this built cool hat.
Orange on the PCT. Hidden under my sun hoodie
First I bought one in orange that I wore last year and now I have one in blue. Unfortunately they don’t have it in green.
With ball caps or trucker hats I want something that has a hood brim for keeping rain and sunshine off my face.
Wearing my blue hat last month on trail.
Then I want either polyester weave which is hydrophobic (repels water and sweat) or otherwise moves the sweat away from my scalp.
I appreciate that all of them add some warmth.
The color often doesn’t matter as the hats disappear under my sun hoody. Orange for hunting season. Blue for me. Green to match my current hiking gear. All good colors.
So I end up looking at price, availability and does it come in a large—I wear a 7 5/8 or so and some “one size fits all” hats are too small.
I switched brands because of delivery delays that have since been resolved. But the new one worked and was less expensive so I’ve stuck with it.
Postscript.
I realized that of all my gear, the item I’ve lost the most of is hats. I put my glasses, sunglasses and cell phone in them while I sleep and wear them constantly during the day. 🤷♂️
On the other hand I have a lot of “leftover” hats too.
“Crocs”
Not name brand, but the trail use generic name for camp shoes is what I mean when I use the term “crocs.”
They are useful at the end of the day for letting your feet rest, for taking showers at trail locations and for getting up at night without putting your shoes on.
With trail runners replacing boots the “let your feet breathe” feature doesn’t really apply.
They are iconic on long trails.
My first ones were lightweight “croc clones” from Walmart. Here they are:
Win’s pair since mine are no more.
They weigh 9.9 ounces. I used them on section hikes and then to do the Appalachian Trail. I lost my pair on the PCT. One was found and returned to me, but the other never surfaced.
Win still has hers.
To replace them I grabbed some flip flops at a town stop.
I also grabbed an extra pair later.
Not sure why the weight varies.
In addition to flip flops I used Swiftwater Crocs on the Pinhoti and some other hikes.
The Swiftwater line work very well for water crossings. But they weigh 13.3 ounces and I found that they take long enough to switch in and out of that I started just wearing my shoes to ford and just walking my socks dry.
Being secure on my feet comes at a time penalty.
I also have some new clones.
I used to fret about how they were not as light as my originals but the extra ounce is in the straps and having used them with and without the straps, I’ve decided to keep the straps.
I also tried just doing without camp shoes and using my hiking shoes instead. I found that unpleasant. I also made some minimalist camp shoes from inserts and cord.
Even Croc has gotten into the act. However, Classic Crocs weigh circa 14 ounces. The LiteRide Echo weighs about 10-11ounces. Others in the LiteRide line weigh 12 ounces.
Amazing how I can fret over a few ounces.
Shoes and dirt and gaiters
How your shoes deal with dirt can be important— especially when the “dirt” comes from sand or from ash from fires. The issue is that most breathable shoes let fine grain dirt in.
That leaves you hiking with sand and dirt in your shoes.
There is a test you can use:
… perform the “flashlight test” on the upper:
If direct light passes through, keep looking — these models are definitively not sand-resistant.
If some ambient light passes through, performance will likely be so-so. Double-layer meshes will block direct light, but will still allow sand to filter through them.
If no light passes through, you have a winner, at least in this regard.
Breathability and sand-resistance are somewhat mutually exclusive.
That said, on the CDT when worn with gaiters I had good luck with Topos even though they came in “so-so” on the list.
I’ve had a lot of variable luck with gaiters. Tried the Topo gaiters with other shoes and disliked them (got a pair on sale). With the matching shoes they worked very well.
I’ve used a lot of gaiters with various degrees of success—usually because they wore out or the Velcro tabs for connecting them to shoes could have worked better.
But without gaiters I’m constantly digging detritus out of my shoes and dealing with dirt and sand. With them I have a vastly different experience.
This hiking stretch won’t really have desert sand or burn zone ash to deal with but it will have detritus. I’m glad for gaiters.
