15-08-13.    Day 124.   Team Helena – Mark Trail CDT

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail CDT 2015

 Marc rapped on the bedroom door at 6:00 am. ” Leaving in twenty”.  I had a lot of logistics to accomplish. I ordered a small breakfast at Perkins as I waited for the Post Office to open. Dawn met me there and we talked about life and adventure. I needed transportation to get around Helena and what better way than by bicycle… We got all my packages and went back to drop them off at Marc and Cece’s. Then the “Bike”. Dawn is a bike host and my Bike Angel. She let me use her favorite bike. It was awkward at first then adjusted to being on wheels. THANKS Dawn.

Two hours later I loaded up twelve days of food in the backpack and rode through Helena, back to M &C’s home to repack. Six days to Benchmark Ranch, three to Lincoln, and three to carry.     I searched for the closest PO and it was a few blocks away……In the Capital Building… Great. There wasn’t a line and I received Prompt, Personal attention… Nice. While I was packing up the food, Ralph stopped and greeted me. “CDT hiker?”. “How could you tell?” jokingly. He showed me where I could ask for a tour and offered to even store my pack….Great.

Steve led the tour of the Capital Building with pride of Montana. It was awesome….Historic and entertaining. Senate and House Chambers and large meeting rooms as they were built over a hundred years ago….Beautiful. A tribute to the values of Montana and their citizens.

As I was picking up my backpack, Ralph offered to drive me back to McDonald Pass in the morning. WOW….. another task completed…

I missed the train tour by thirty minutes so  I went grocery shopping for tonight’s dinner. Steak, Potatoes, salad and shrimp appetizer.      I arrived in time to be able to tour the state museum. Very well done covering varied aspects to the states history. Another Great day…

Helena,     0 miles

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