It was a cold morning lakeside today. We had a long road walk to start the day, but 2.5 miles from the end of it we noticed our destination was only a half mile away. There was the minor issue of some barbed wire fences and an Interstate to cross, but overall totally worth it. We arrived to our resupply location, Homestake Lodge a couple hours early and were warmly greeted by the owners, Wendy and Chris. The Lodge is mostly a winter spot for cross-country skiing, so it was quiet. They chatted with us a bit and offered us a beer. We really liked them :). We also got 6 days of food and I got new pants and a shirt.
Now, about my shirt.. An ode to my shirt? It used to be white, 3000 miles ago. It has protected me from desert sun and nasty bugs. I dunno, what struck me most was how bright the new shirt is. Also, clean. I guess I’m not too sentimental, but I somewhat wish there was a RailRiders hall of fame for the shirt to go to. (update: Ryley wrote to Rail Riders and they posted his love letter about his shirt on their blog)
Moving on, Chris gave us a shortcut back to the trail, that was a nice trek through his trails and then straight up a steep bank a thousand feet (with no trail). It was totally worth it. I figure that we hiked 17 miles today but we bypassed another 12 or so miles we had intended to walk (mostly on roads).
The rest of the day was on beautiful new trail climbing with great views to Butte. We also had glimpses of the Tobacco Root Mountains (wait for the pictures, very cool). We met an older guy named Janusz who was doing part of the CDT with his son. They were at Pipestone Pass with his wife, and when we walked up she gave us donuts and soda. Seemed like really nice people, I wish we had had more time to chat. They also told me some dirty Canadian jokes that I hadn’t heard before.
We had our first bug-free dinner in awhile and ended up in a nice spot to camp on a saddle. Planning an early day for tomorrow!
Daily Summary
Date: July 21, 2011
Day 27
Daily Distance: 17.5 miles
Trip Distance: 440.9 miles
You kind of look like a monk!