Monday, March 28, 2011

65 miles left

Hello all:
I am anticipating the completion of my ICT quest this summer. This year will make 7 years that I have been working on it. I have 65 miles left to make the chain complete. The first section is 30 miles on the Stateline Trail, from Missoula Lake north to near Dominion Peak. The last and grand finale' section will be from Priest Lake, near Indian Creek, north to the falls just south of the Canadian border. Targeting last week of July for completion. What plans does everyone have for the ICT this summer? Ron http://llamasyndrome.blogspot.com

3 comments:

Thomas Jay Oord said...

Ron,

Any general advice for those of us planning the trip soon?

Any segments that we should be especially prepared to trek?

Any advice on resupply points?

Tom

Ron said...

Thomas:

General advice would be:

a) conditioning hikes
b) invest in a topographic map program for your computer
c) seek out advice from trail alumni who have gone before

your question about preparation for particular segments is a tricky one. It depends upon which ICT route you choose. I have focused on the ICT West route. If you take the ICT Main route, it goes straight through the Frank Church and Selway-Bitterroot wilderness areas.

The advice for each route will be somewhat different. Most affected will be the re-supply points. I know a guy who used the guard stations for the Forest Service as some of his re-supplies. But then, he is a Fish & Game employee, so he had an inside track.

One of the biggest lessons I have learned is that the ICT exists as a dotted line on the map, but is not always evident or easy to follow on the ground. This is especially true in the northern sections. There have been some sections I have diverted onto gravel roads to go around because of sketchy trail conditions.

We really should meet some time with the maps in hand and have a good talk about all this stuff.

Ron

Ron said...

it was actually 76 miles, not 65. and I finished on Thursday evening, July 25th, at about 9:10 pm Pacific time, at Lionhead campground. I wanted the big dramatic finish at Upper Priest Falls, but the way it worked out, it was better to go to the falls then work our way south back to Lionhead campground on the northern tip of Priest Lake.