Off to Glacier: CDT Prep June 17, 2013

One last visit to my spiritual/hiking home Montgomery Woods

 In a few hours, this next journey within a journey will begin. I am scheduled to take a bus/train combo that will eventually take me to East Glacier on the morning of the 19th. There I will pick up my hiking poles, ice axe, and bear spray that I had to mail off last week since I can't bring those items on the bus. I also will have to set up an itinerary with the park rangers in Glacier when I arrive. I'm not sure whether I will be able to start hiking on the 19th, or will have to wait until the 20th. I'm about as ready as I'm going to be at this point.

3 Resupply boxes and 1 bounce box

 There have been lots of goodbye's this past week, with people and places. I managed to visit Montgomery Woods one last time yesterday, and say goodbye to what I consider my hiking and spiritual home for the last  two years. I'm definitely not a fan of goodbyes.

Power objects

This morning I have a few more errands to do, among them to pack up my pack. Above are a couple of "power objects" I will be bringing with me on this hike. One is a piece of a collar of my dog Lily, a beautiful white Siberian husky. I use the word "my" very lightly, because she belongs to my brother who has cared and housed her for a majority of her life. My brother gave me the collar at my sister's wedding  a couple of weeks ago as a gift. He doesn't believe she will make it through the summer, as she is getting very old and feeble now. Since Lily has such an independent and fighting spirit, my brother thought it would be something I could carry to remind myself when times get tough on the trail. I don't feel like I deserve to carry it, but I will.

The other object is a rosary that my mom gave me that belonged to her as a child. There is a story behind it that I want my mom to write down because I don't remember it. I have always liked the idea of using these hikes as a way to develop and strengthen one's spirituality. Often times, for me at least, the opposite can happen. World religions seem pointless in the wilderness sometimes. But I will bring it, and use it, and see what happens.