Wife and I and some other couples will be in the park early September. Considering belly river trail as a point to point hike: either enter at swift current and exit at customs beneath Canadian border or vice versa. What do you recommend?
If you start at CM customs both the start and end of the trip will be downhill which sounds good to me at the end of a ~20 mile day. If you start at MG you have a 700 foot climb to end the trip. Other than that it probably doesn't matter much assumming you can make the logistics work either way.
I definitely agree with Orin that the preferred route is from the Custom's trailhead to MG. I wouldn't doubt that the elevation is higher at the start that way. One twist to consider is to hike up Lee Ridge and down to the Ranger station before heading to the tunnel. That adds some distance, but the elevation gain going up is very gradual. The elevation drop going down on the Gable Pass trail is steep, so if you have bad knees or you're hauling a fair amt of weight, that might would not be the route. With that warning, I like the Lee Ridge route.
Jay
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I agree with Orin and Jay about the going down at the end. However, if it was me I would go from Swiftcurrent to Chief Mountain Customs. That section of trail from the tunnel to Elizabeth lake is just awesome going downhill (one of my favorites in the park).
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir