Wild Howse

Wow, the rest of today was wild. After the ford that wasn't so bad, I bushwhacked more up to Howse Pass, and there were two big monuments to the explorer who crossed it two hundred years ago. The pass is on the national historical register, but the signs feel way out of place since there's basically no trail so only GDT crazies go there.

Anyway, the descent started along Conway Creek and then spilled into Howse River, and I spent the entire day splish splash shchwacking my way down the Howse River flood plain. The official trail is above the river in the woods but it is wildly overgrown, and walking in the river is incredible, as are the views. But you can't just cross the river (it's huge) and occasionally it bends such that you're cliffed out and you have to climb j to the woods, and you schwack your way around the cliff.

Yeh, this is how all river hiking is, you say. It was just the scale of it. So immense. This would make an awesome packraft descent, the river was very chill.

I finished the river, came out at Mistaya canyon (Google it), walked some road, including a bridge over the North Seskatchewan, and am camping near the resort that is holding my box. I should've gone and asked for a room, but all the hiker notes complain about how expensive everything is. (Please give dollar amounts, people! Coming from the Bay Area, I feel like I'm stealing at some of these places you call expensive.) Anyway, I found some moss that is seriously mattress-level comfortable. Bummed they don't appear to have cell service, but I should be able to get WiFi (and an AYCE buffet!) in the morning when I pick up my package.

Saw two bears, one black, one possible griz. The griz could not have cared less about me. I yelled that I was not interested in what he was selling and he slowly walked off. The black one was just running across the highway.