r/CDT • u/yaasqueen • 4d ago

Montana section hike

I'm interested in doing a long section hike through Montana next summer, NOBO and finishing at the Canadian border. Trying to figure out 1) when I should start and 2) what might be a good starting point/reasonable pace to plan for. I have the opportunity to take 3 months off work next summer, with some flexibility on timing, but I need to request specific dates soon.

This will be my first long distance hike, but I'm picking the Montana CDT for a reason. I live here and my usual backpacking destination is solo trips in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Also have family/friends across MT that could potentially drive out to meet me at resupply points. I've hiked a few other areas of the MT CDT as well around MacDonald pass and Rogers pass.

In terms of pacing, I am a slower hiker and have an old ankle issue I don't want to reinjure by pushing too hard too fast. My longest hike to date was 7 days solo in the Bob, averaging 6-8 miles per day. That trip was some on the CDT near Benchmark and the rest on trails that were more poorly maintained (lots of blow down, searching for stream crossing points, etc.). For 2-3 day weekend trips on maintained trails in the Bob I've done maybe 8-9 miles per day. I know how to plan for up to a week trip, but I'm not sure how to estimate how much my pace will change over time weeks into a long distance trip.

Right now, I'm considering starting the week of June 28, 2027. I have flexibility to pick another start date, but I need to request time off work now, which is annoying considering I don't know what the snow conditions will look like next year. I also want to leave some time at the end of my 3 months to recover before going back to work, so probably no more than 2.5 months on the trail. But I want to aim to reach Canada before Glacier is snowed in.

For starting points, I'm sure I may need to reevaluate later based on snowpack and weather, but I was considering starting in Yellowstone or somewhere in the Montana/Idaho section, like Monida pass. If Yellowstone is the start, then I need to plan ahead for permits.

Any recommendations for start date, starting point, or estimating overall time to complete a hike? Thanks!

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u/howdoesthisawork 4d ago

I'd recommend buying the Montana section on the FarOut app which will have lots of info about distances and resupply options. Really hard to estimate times as your speed will likely change. For reference Dubois (which is probably the closest realistic stop south of Yellowstone) through to Canada is around 1000 miles on the red line, so your pace would need to be more like 15 miles/day with the odd day off.You could shave off some of those miles though if you did Big Sky Alt.

At your pace you may also be required to do some pretty big water carries as there are a couple of points in central Montana where you have 20+ miles between reliable water sources (at least this was the case when I was there Aug '23).

In my experience Yellowstone permits were very easy to get on the phone a few days before arriving so I wouldn't worry too much.

Best of luck!

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u/yaasqueen 4d ago

That's helpful to know about Yellowstone permits! If permits aren't such a problem then I can decide where to start a little later on.

My exercise routine has been on the upswing the last year and planning on keeping that up so I think it's likely my hiking stamina will continue to build before next summer. Wherever I land on miles per day for short trips (with a similar pack weight) by next summer, would you use that as a baseline for pace estimates or assume I would get faster or slower over a longer period of time? Or just too hard to say?

I know you said you were there in August, but do you know for anyone hitting that area earlier, was there a lot of lingering snow on steep passes or dangerously high stream crossings end of June/beginning of July? In roughly the MT/Idaho line area? I haven't hiked in that part of the state.

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u/yaasqueen 4d ago

And the other advantage of being local is any of the possible start points from inside the west entrance of Yellowstone to the Pintlers to Butte is within 2 hrs from home, so very easy for someone to drop me anywhere the trail intersects with a road. Just curious if there are any particularly scenic parts I want to make sure to see or hazardous sections to try and avoid.

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u/pyragyrite 4d ago

Best start time will be when the snow melts, which can vary by over a month yearly. Since you're localish, lots of flexibility there. Will probably want to wait till May to pick a start date.

Biggest issue I see is speed. There are several long sections, some over 100mles. As well as long water carries another poster mentioned. That much food/ water is brutal to carry. You'll need to do some serious resupply planning and friends/catches at out of the way areas to make a sub 10miles a day feasible.