Had to pick up food from the post office (sent 3 weeks ago? from Helena!). Then there was some last minute gorging that stretched out until 10am before we finally pulled out of town with a mailman. Turns out he drives a big truck from the big post office distribution centre in Butte, dropping off all the mail for little towns, ending in Lima. Then he hangs around in Lima til the evening (he has an RV, ATV, etc there) and he reverses the route with outgoing mail. Anyways, he gets bored so he helps drive hikers to the trail.
We had a nice easy hike on dirt road and then wandered aimlessly through some huge meadows. Eventually I GPS’d my way to the trail and headed on. The now usual thunderstorms rolled in mid-afternoon and stuck around for dinner. The guidebook mentioned great views around where I am now – high in the Centennials, but the clouds were blocking everything. Oh well, the glimpses I got were pretty, hopefully it clears up by morning!
Daily Summary
Date: Aug 8, 2011
Day 45
Daily Distance: 19.5 miles
Trip Distance: 821 miles