Eureka, MT to Yaak, MT
Section Overview
- Miles: 52.4
- Days: 3
- Total Miles: 204.6
- Total Days: 10
Day 8
Leaving Eureka the next morning felt a bit strange. I had arrived the evening before on June 30th – the Friday before the 4th of July. The “downtown” was bustling with people who were just starting their vacations. The small town felt alive and I was leaving it behind. But before I could officially say goodbye, I had to walk a crowded rail-trail out of town. I didn’t have many miles to do, so I was leaving town in the peak of the day. I clearly stood out. I was walking alone, with a trekking pole in hand, headphones blocking out the happy conversations of the other pedestrians. As I passed a group, one man caught my attention and asked about the trail – he had seen other hikers over the years pass through and was excited to warn me about the road walk that lay in wait for me.
After talking with him for awhile, I picked up my pace and soon I had left the day trippers behind as I followed the Tobacco River towards Lake Kookanusa. The afternoon heat had arrived I decided to take a detour through the town of Rexford and stop at the bar to get food, a cold drink, and recharge the small amount of battery I had drained leaving Eureka. This side trip made the already-small amount of food I was carrying even more unnecessary. I had sent a resupply box to the community of Yaak, which was only about 50 trail miles away and I wanted to stay in another fire lookout, so my days would be relaxed mileage-wise.
After filling up on Pepsi and french fries and lingering as long as I dared, I dragged myself out of the bar and set to work on the 9 mile road walk to the next trailhead. The summer sun was beating down hard and the repetitive motion on the pavement felt exhausting almost immediately. 6 miles west of Rexford, I hit the final water source for the rest of the day. I had to slide down a steep embankment on the side of the highway to access the water flowing under the bridge. I sat there for awhile, reveling in the cool air and cold stream, not looking forward to the remaining road, which was supposed to be very windy, with a lot of blind turns.
Eventually the allure of the Purcell Range dragged me from underneath the bridge and I continued forward, soon reaching the Koocanusa Bridge, which I learned was the longest and tallest in Montana.
Once on the far side of the bridge, I had just over 1 mile on the narrow, windy road I had been warned about earlier in the day. Without a second thought, I pushed forward – preferring to pass through the sketchy section rather than linger and think about it more. In hindsight, if there had been heavy traffic, it may have been bad, but I was reaching the end of the day and only a few cars zoomed past.
A small pullout marked the end of the road walk and the start of one of the PNT’s “notorious” climbs – Webb Mountain. I stared up into the trees at the 3.5 miles and 3,500 miles that lay in front of me. Somehow it seemed appealing compared to the hard and repetitive pavement I had been all day. As I climbed I felt the temperature drop. Evening was falling and I was edging closer and closer to 6,000 feet of elevation. My hope was to camp at the top. There was a fire lookout at the top, that was renovated and available to rent online. I didn’t check if it was available and my hopes of the lookout being open for the night were dashed we I finally emerged from the woods to see a truck and a family standing around a fire pit. Not wanting to disturb them, I turned started to turn away, but they waved me over and the typical conversation ensued about what I was doing. They kindly let me climb into the tower and look over the lake and valley before giving me water and a mini-croissant s’more (truly superior to graham crackers).
After spending more time than I should with the family and being told I should carry a gun more than once, I left the fire tower full and happy as the sun began to set. I had no idea where I was going to spend the night and didn’t find a suitable spot for about mile when I came to a small road pullout.
Day 9
Waking up on the side of a forest service road was a good reminder that not all campsites are spectacular, especially on a thru hike. Typically I search for remote, unknown, and hard-to-reach locations that I can have to myself or with friends. Pulling multiple ticks off of my legs the evening before while eating dinner is not my idea of a fun camp. Regardless, I was happy I stopped where I did. I had set myself up well to do a side trip at the end of the day to stay in the Mount Henry lookout. This lookout was first-come-first-serve, similar to Stahl and I was excited to spend the evening up high to watch the sunset.
The day went by uneventfully. Only 15 miles of nice and soft single track was a breeze compared to pavement pounding the day before. My only highlight from hiking during the day was encountering a number of what had become my arch nemeses. The Spruce Grouse. In the spring their chicks have hatched and they stay with their mother for quite awhile. Unfortunately for me, they blend into the trail quite well and explode into feathers and squawking very similar to chickens when you get too close. I would frequently come across them and I would never be prepared for the sudden onslaught of chaos – convinced for a split second I was about to be eaten alive by Sasquatch.
Aside from the mountain chickens scaring me every so often, the trail to Mount Henry was incredible. In some stretches it was slightly overgrown, but the lack of grizzly signs gave me the confidence to move through the terrain. My only real decision for the day was to fill up on water as I was uncertain if the spring below Mount Henry would be flowing well enough to be able to scoop from. Thankfully I made the right decision as when I reached the spring, the pool formed by the spring was only a couple inches deep too murky to effectively get water from.
I made my way up to Mount Henry and to my surprise found the fire lookout completely empty. The realization of just how remote I was repeated washed over me as I sat alone in the lookout watching the sun go down. I could barely make another lookout in the distance – just a tiny spec on top of Robinson Mountain.
To the Southwest I could see my destination for tomorrow. The Yaak River was shining slightly from the setting sun and I could just make out the roof of a building in Yaak. I absorbed the 360° views and only returned to the safety of the lookout when the sun dropped behind the peaks in the distance. I fell asleep to the rattling of the lookout’s shutters, thankful that I was inside during the gusty night.
Day 10
The next morning I got moving slowly. I only had 14 miles to go to get to the road where I was hoping to hitchhike into Yaak. I descended off of Mount Henry down to Vinal Creek before climbing back up to a ridge line – a practice I had quickly become accustom to on the PNT. If I wasn’t walking on a flat road, I was climbing straight up or straight down. Along the descent, I was surprised to see a hiker headed up the opposite direction. We quickly realized we were both hiking the PNT as he introduced himself as Seeking. We chatted a bit about the trail and I learned he had started in Oroville – the halfway point of the PNT – and was heading east to Glacier where he would flip back to Oroville and finish out the trail westbound. After sharing some trail info from the stretches we had completed, we parted ways, hoping we might run into each other on the western half of the trail.
Eventually the trail I was on dumped me onto a gravel road that I followed further down into the valley until I reached the Yaak River Road. I had heard that it could be a tough hitchhike, but I was hoping with it being the Fourth of July weekend there would be more traffic on the road. It quickly became apparent that there would be very few cars on the road. Since I was out of food and had a resupply waiting for me in Yaak, I had no choice but to start walking the 7 mile road south towards the small community. Each time a car came past, I would stick my thumb out hoping I wouldn’t have to cover the full distance on foot. Luckily, after a few miles a couple stopped and let me hop in the back of their car the rest of the way to Yaak. They were from the area and new about the trail, which always makes conversations easier. They happily filled me in on the community and the grizzlies that frequented the area.
After we finished the short drive, they dropped me in the small town and said goodbye. The center of Yaak was comprised of 3 buildings. A connected mercantile and tavern, a shutdown restaurant, and a coffee stand run by the owner of the Hipcamp I was planning on staying at.
At this point, my town priorities were very clear. I went directly to the tavern for food, picked up my resupply package for the mercantile, and then headed to the Hipcamp named the “Shameless Oasis” to figure out camping for the night. I took the cheapest spot and set up my shelter in the of the soft grass field, occasionally interrupted by the owner’s chickens wandering freely around the property.
After a shower, I headed right back to the tavern for more food. After enjoying their food, beer, and Wi-Fi, I returned to my shelter and fell asleep to the booms of fireworks going off around the area.
