CDT - Day 145 - Leaving Augusta
After a nice breakfast at the Outlaw Women Saloon, we hit the road and put our thumbs out. It ended up taking three separate hitches to get from Augusta back to Benchmark.
The first driver took us to the edge of town. The second guy dropped us off in front of his ranch and told us he'd be back in about an hour to take us farther if we were still there. He had to go round up some cows first.
While we were waiting in front of the ranch, a couple of guys in a Jeep stopped and picked us up. They ended up taking us all the way to the trailhead near Benchmark.
I was hoping to hit the trail a little earlier, but everything worked out in the end. We hiked about 15 miles before finding a fantastic campsite for the night.
About eight miles into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, I saw my first big bear of the CDT. From a distance, it looked like it could have been a juvenile grizzly, but I couldn't see the distinctive shoulder hump, so it was impossible to tell for sure.
A few miles later, we came across a big moose standing right on the trail. He didn't seem particularly concerned about us and eventually just moved along.
A bear, a moose, three hitches, and 15 miles into the Bob. Not a bad day.