Canada - I did it!

Day: 144

Date: 22.09.2022

CDT Mile: Mile 2'975.3

Miles hiked: 15.1 miles / 24.2 km

Elevations: 2'215 feet ascent (675.6 m Aufstieg) / 2'018 feet descent (Abstieg 615.5 m)

Camping at: Motel, Waterton Canada!

It started to rain during the night and then never stopped. As it is only 8 miles to the boarder and another couple of miles afterwards into the town of Waterton, we are not in a hurry. Luckily, it isn't as cold as I thought it would be. Hiking the CDT I had many nights of rain, but I was always lucky to not pack my stuff in the rain, it always stopped before or just when I was about ready to leave. Now I thought, on my last day on the CDT, I will have to pack up in the rain, which sucks. But then, around 8 am, the rain finally stopped. I am lucky again! We got up and packed our backpacks. Baby Grand and Rex did the same and left about 20 minutes ahead of us. We hiked out and it was still not raining, I couldn't believe our luck. I mean it was cloudy and wet and coldish, but at least it was dry and not freezing. The trail was super cruising and in no time we reached Waterton Lake, the US side. In normal years, there is a ferry across the lake from canada to the US, but it is not operating this year. So we are here all alone. We hike on the last 4 miles to the boarder along the seashore. It is still not raining, but it started to drizzle just about when we reached the northern terminus of the CDT. Rex and Baby Grand are here too. Together we celebrate our successful hike of the CDT. Soccermum and I brought medium size prosecco bottles (which added quite some weight to our backpacks, but were definitely worth the weight!), which we finally popped! What a journey it has been so far! From the hot and dry start in the desert in New Mexico, to the cold, snowy, thundery, lightning's and rough trails in Colorado, back to the desert (Great Divide Basin) and through the amazing Wind River Range and Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming, along the dry, steep and hot boarder of Idaho/Montana and finally through Montana and the epic Glacier National Park into Canada! Sometimes wonderful and epic, sometimes hard and brutal. People ask us what is the most wonderful thing on the CDT and next to the landscapers and wilderness of the trail it is for sure the meeting hikers and other people part along the trail which makes this journey so amazing. I have met so many wonderful people and I was given so much friendship and love from just freshly met people, which is incredible. Thanks to everyone who has enriched my journey in such a wonderful way!

And now what? I don't now yet. We will somehow have to hitch back to East Glacier, from where we fly to Last Vegas. And I for sure want to visit my friends in Denver! I was looking forward to meet them again since we met in Steamboat Spring's and oh hard times on trail that was the motivation to keep me going. The adventure ain't over yet, but it is changing and sadly slowly coming to an end...