The Sea to Sea Route's Montana Roadwalk

I've gotta say.. finding information on the Sea to Sea route has been incredibly difficult. I ransacked Andrew Skurka's website, checked for Backpacker/Outside magazine archives, clicked on links for interviews which gave me page errors, and have done Google searches with no clear answers. This has been frustrating and honestly, a mental workout. Here are some facts I have pieced together:

• Andrew Skurka seemed to have traveled from the Montana border to the Benchmark Campground, located on the Continental Divide Trail. I gather this information from a chart at https://andrewskurka.com/adventures/sea-to-sea-route/overview/.


• The CDT portion of the C2C contains the Bob Marshall Wilderness and the Benchmark campground. Strickland quotes: "A Sea-to-Sea Route backpacker would continue south on the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) to and beyond the Bob Marshall Wilderness to the Benchmark campground. A gap of approximately 900 miles exists east from the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail to Lake Sakakawea and the North Country National Scenic Trail in North Dakota." (Ron Strickland https://ronstrickland.com/sea-to-sea-route/)"
  
  
• Although there is a Lewis & Clark Historic Trail that passes through Montana, it's not a designated hiking trail. The ArcGIS map has a warning stating that the historic trail is not a designated hiking trail and may pass through private property. The trail has two sections which split off from the Montana border: one parallels a lesser traveled country road, the other parallels an interstate, both of which are used to travel the distance by car or bike. If you zoom into the map, you'll see the trail crossing back and forth along the Yellowstone river and it says "approximate."
  
  
• Looking deeper into the Lewis & Clark historic trail, you'll find they list two ways to traverse: car and bike. They point out Adventure Cycling's route, and after much clicking, you'll see that the bike route goes along the trail by using the same roads as cars do.
  
  
• Given this vague diagram from Strickland's website, and the knowledge that the Southern route involves an interstate, we can assume that Skurka took the Northern roadwalk. If we look closely, we see that the path dips to meet the Continental Divide trail and goes along the top half of Montana. This matches nicely with the following map from Adventure Cycling's route corresponding to Section 4: Dickinson, ND to Great Falls, MT (497.1 mi.).
  
  
  
  
  
• Although there is an option of taking the Southern route to Three Forks and then connecting to Butte, a town that is right next to the CDT, we are aware that this involves walking along the interstate and would meet the CDT at a point further to the south. Here's a map from the CDT coalition (to the right). We can see that Butte is very close to the CDT. However, Skurka meets the CDT at the Benchmark campground, according to his overview. This begs the question, from where did he approach the CDT? There doesn't appear to be a road that goes from Great Falls directly to the CDT through the west (click below to enlarge).
  
  
  
  
• Looking at the Adventure Cycling route, we see that there's another section, Section 5: Great Falls, MT to Missoula, MT (470.1 mi.) This route goes south at Great Falls, and then gets really close to the CDT at Helena. This counterintuitive route will go down I-15, another interstate, with an optional (and likely preferable) alternative route (Silver City Alternative) through an 11 mile gravel road. Once you get to Helena, it is a short roadwalk through U.S. 12, which intersects the CDT.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• However, we can find another route that bypasses the interstate by taking road 200 from Simms, which connects to Great Falls by U.S. 89 and a portion of I-15. This route would intersect the CDT at a higher latitude. This route would result in less walking and less time being exposed to the interstate, but it could also be more remote. Note that there are many towns along the interstate, but there really aren't any along road 200.
  
  

Given this information, we can safely assume that Skurka used one of these two routes. Of course, you could just ask him! Just email him, or Ron Strickland?? I'm a very shy person, but I might be inclined to ask. Regardless, I think it's about personal preference and your abilities. It's important to know specific mileage and what you're capable of carrying, as well as where you will find water. You'll also note that there is plenty of water along the interstate, but it also seems like the water could be polluted due to runoff from the road. There are smaller streams along the northern route, which seem like a safer bet. I think maybe someone should ask them!! Maybe I'll gather the courage. Anyways, it's been a long one! I need to get to bed. Night.