During the double crossing of the spine of the Bitterroot Range in the winter of 2008, it became obvious that with my advancing age undertaking winter expedition trips would soon be ending. Based on that, I made the decision to attempt one final journey. In the spring of 2009, I began to make plans for a three-winter trip along Montana and Idaho's portion of the Continental Divide.
See the media article concerning this trip.
The planned route included Hole in the Wall inside Glacier National Park, which precipitated the need for me to find out whether accessing the high mountain cirque was possible during the winter. By my reckoning, the key to completing the Continental Divide trip would be to gain entry onto this area. Inaccessible during the winter according to park personnel, they said no one had ever entered it during the winter. Where my attempts and final success were concerned, they were almost right a couple times. Still alive, I now had a route into Hole in the Wall, and the 969-mile trip was front and center.
On Memorial weekend 2013, the reconnoitering of the 463-mile southern portion of the route began on the edge of Yellowstone National Park. On Labor Day weekend, many thousands of miles of driving now behind me, I reconnoitered an area inside Anaconda-Pintlar Wilderness. Located between Cutaway Pass and Goat Flat, including the descent into Upper Seymore Lake, like certain slopes in the Centennial and Henrys Lake Mountains, some ascents and descents will likely require technical climbing gear. I anticipate that this small 11 miles coupled with the 19-mile stretch to the south will be the most difficult part of the first winter.
The reconnoitering will continue through the end of October with the focus on the southern Bitterroot Range between the Big Hole Valley and Monida Pass. After the first permanent snow in November, I will take my first strength and endurance winter trip, followed by two more in December and January of 7 to 10 days duration. Soon after the final trip in January, the main trip will begin approximately the beginning of February 2014. I will have approximately 90 days to travel 463 miles to 10 miles south of Butte.
The preparations have been extensive throughout the summer with the trip approximately 75 percent prepared. An investment of many thousands of dollars continues with purchases of backup and replacement gear. Compared to my previous winter expedition trips, the logistics of this trip are formidable, and that is only for the first winter.
On that note, there have already been casualties with the equipment. On one reconnoitering trip, I fell prone and bent an $1100 camera lens. It is my understanding that it is repairable.
Later I will be setting up on this website a means to follow me through Twitter and Facebook during the trips. I will also place a few photo albums from the summer and autumn trips. In addition, there will be a blog, which I am slowly working toward implementing.
Where the Big Hole Valley and Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness is concerned, portions of this first photo album come from multiyear and season trips. If you are familiar with the area between Yellowstone National Park and Butte, Montana, but see where I have missed a favored and perhaps hazardous area, take heart, it is because I ran out of time. There continues to be areas in the southern Bitterroot Range, including the Centennial Mountains that have me concerned. With that said, I shall do what I can to stay alive through the winter of 2014.
10-25-13 comment: Problems with the sciatica nerve in the small of my back. The dayhike to Johnson Lake in the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness was a painful experience. Going in took 2.5 hours while the exit was 3.75 hours. While ice and snow on the trail was plentiful, the main reason for the slow pace was the back problem. Obviously this problem has to be remedied before the trip begins. I was carrying less than 60 pounds on the dayhike.
