Out there with Tom: A failure at Washboard a sign of decline?

Gordon Whirry with the smoke filled skies on the Rocky Mountain Front

This is where we turned back

Baneberry and Fireweed lit up the ground

I've done the 17-mile, 4,000+ feet Washboard Reef Traverse in the Bob Marshall about a half dozen times.

It has been one of my favorite hikes over the years, the last time having been 2019.

As I age into the "elderly" category at post-75 I'm trying to do some of the favorite hikes one last time.

Such was the case this week when I proposed the Washboard Traverse to hiking buddies Mark Hertenstein and Gordon Whirry, both of whom have done this hike with me before.

Well, it didn't work out as planned.

We turned back around at a little more than a third of the hike worried that we'd lost daylight at the pace we were keeping. Maybe I should say the pace I was keeping. I've slowed down incredibly and my buddies kindly waited for me on many occasions.

It could have been the heat. It was in the mid-90s in Great Falls, and in the direct sunlight even a much lower temperature could have zapped us.

No, at least in my case I'm going to have to admit that I'm slowing down, perhaps precipitously, something that has been evident for some time but something I'll have to learn to accept. I've been lagging behind in hikes for at least the past three years. I can hardly keep up with my wife when we do our daily walks around the neighborhood.

Some of it may be this heavy leg syndrome that's been hanging around for the past three years.

Maybe it's the hammertoe on my left foot and bunions on both feet that make walking uncomfortable, painful at times.

Despite the aborted trip we managed to get in 3,200 feet of gain and covered 13.2 miles.

I particularly enjoyed the walk on the Continental Divide ridge starting at Teton Pass, with its amazing 360 degree views.

The Canadian fires smoke was somewhat heavy, obscuring and distorting spectacular mountain views.

I also enjoyed the bushwhack from the top of the ridge down a perpendicular ridge that plunged into thick forest, alders and all. Mark led this part of the hike, something he's masterful at.

I don't think I'll be going back, though.


*The arrows mark our route*

Headquarters Pass

The 7.5 miles, 2,000 feet elevation gain Headquarters Pass hike in the Bob Marshall is always a good hike.

Mike Dannells and I sent our wives off for their trip to Mount Assiniboine in the Canadian Rockies and agreed to spend some of our free time more productively this way.

Despite some haze and heat and 15 cars in the trailhead parking lot, we encountered only three groups and no horse trains packing into the Chinese Wall.