Across the Bob—Day 9

At the end of Day 8 I camped at the south end of the north wall, in Red Shale meadow.  On Day 9 I needed to go south, but the sheer cliffs at the southern end of the north wall required a big zig zag detour back to the east and then to the southwest.

Where I camped in Red Shale meadow, the north wall trail abruptly stopped near the edge of the meadow.  Someone built this cairn to mark where the Red Shale Creek trail started at the other end of the meadow, headed east.

Headwaters of Red Shale Creek.

About a mile down, the trail entered the old Gates Park burned area.

Lots of butterflies around this morning.

Two more butterflies.  Actually, the one on the left may be a moth.  I need to study up on Lepidopterans.

Just before I reached Gates Park, I took the Rock Creek trail to the southwest.  The Gates Park Fire missed this area.

Dense forest.  I had to go back to talking to myself to let the bears know I was there.

The Rock Creek trail climbs toward the north end of the Chinese Wall.  I skipped the popular Chinese Wall on this trip, going instead over the north side of Larch Hill Pass to reach the White River drainage to the west on Day 10.  That would be the third time I crossed the continental divide on this trip.

At the end of Day 9 I camped near the inactive Rock Creek Forest Service backcountry cabin, where I met Neal, Paul and Jim from Minnesota.  Neal is hiking the Continental Divide Trail in sections.  Over the last six years he has hiked the sections from southern New Mexico up to this point.  He brings different friends along on each trip.  Next year he plans to bring his family along when he hikes the final part of the CDT in Glacier National Park.