Wednesday July 24, 21.7mi/34.9km

Yaak River Road (184.0/2992ft) to Midge Creek Campsite (205.7/4852ft) (MT)

I slept in until 8am, since Mike said he could give me a ride into town at 9am, after breakfast of course. After a nice meal of eggs, toast, and fruit, we all got in the Subaru and made the 20 minute trip into “town” (it’s like 4 buildings). Mike dropped me off at the Mercantile, and he continued down the street to the firehouse to check on some issue at work.

I asked for my box that I had mailed myself, and dumped it into my food bag. Because of the big thunderstorm and wind last night, there was no electricity today in town. So I didn’t get to buy any ice cream… so sad! The saloon across the street wasn’t open yet either. Also, it had a great name for a bar, “the dirty shame”. Haha.

Mike came back 30 minutes later, and we went back to his house. I said my goodbyes, and started walking. It was already 11am, so I wasn’t planning on going a full mileage day today. The first 14 miles were a dirt road walk, so it went by quickly.

It climbed up to a 5000ft ridgeline, but very gradually over 10mi/16km. It hardly felt like going uphill! At the top, it went into a nice pine forest on a smooth trail.

I noticed at the end of the ridgewalk, a cluster of trees that couldn’t figure out how to grow straight. Weird. I think there is a name for this phenomenon?

The view, looking north into the valley.

On the way downhill off the ridge, I passed the 200 mile mark! Now it’s starting to feel like I’m actually getting somewhere.

The last 6mi/10km of the day was on a dirt road. Only one car passed me, so it was a relaxing walk. I couldn’t find any good camp spots along the road, so I just hiked until the road ended, and camped at the trailhead. Perfect!