CDT mile 1793.2, miles hiked 29.2
A border selfie at the Idaho line
It was damn cold this morning my water had frozen along with my shoes and a thick layer of ice covered my bag. I had cowboy camped and had some great star gazing late at night with the Milky Way overhead. By the time I went for my food bag Hotshot was already long gone, she can wake and pack in about 15 minutes.
I rolled out of camp at 6:45 I said goodbye to Polar Bear and told her my plan to go to Sawtelle, she said she would try to catch up. I walked around Summit Lake there was smoke on the water as the sun rose and it wonderful to see, I walked through an old burn area and once the sun was up on me finally warmed up enough to shed a layer. I met two SOBP’s about a mile from the Idaho border we chatted a bit and then I hiked on.
My celebration beer
As I came through the woods I saw a line of rocks and an orange piece of metal that read “CDT NOBO’s welcome to Idaho,” I let out a shout of joy. I took some photos and even though it was 8:45 in the morning I cracked the tall boy PBR I had packed just for the occasion. After that, I set off with my head a buzz on my way to the Macks Inn cutoff that would take me to Sawtelle and save me about 40+ miles of up and down on the official trail.
I made some good time and was soon on some old roads that led the way. The roads had been dug up and big berms were in them so folks wouldn’t take ATV’s and the like onto them, it was a pain to walk around or over them but even with that, I was still moving well. 17 miles in I came to the only spring, it was a long ways off trail but I walked down to it and drank my fill before taking off for the rest of the hike.
Hikers always help each other out with directions
I met two mountain bikers towards the end of the dirt road, I asked them if they had seen Polar Bear, they had not. Man, she can really sleep in I thought. Eventually, the dirt changed to pavement, and I hoofed it into Macks Inn a small resort along Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. I bought a soda and then walked the last two miles along the highway to Sawtelle resort.
When I arrived I got a text from Polar Bear. She had been puking her guts out all day and wasn’t sure she would make it. An hour later when she arrived at Macks Inn. They were full so she ground out the last two miles and camped with me at the resort.
She told me of her day slowly walking and having to nap at breaks because she was so ill. She had pretty much emptied her gut so we headed over to the saloon for dinner. Polar Bear had a salad but I had the full Monty a prime rid that melted in my mouth with homemade cornbread and a twice baked potato. After gorging we headed backtor bed.
My good friend swami called me as I was headed for my tent. I walked to a playground at the resort and talked with him for a while. He wanted to check on me and make sure I was going to be ok now that I am hiking solo. It was nice for him to check on me and he said something I am taking to heart, “consider this time a gift, you can focus on you and Suzy, your life post trail and reflect on the experiences you have had”. That conversation eased a lot of nerves for me and made me feel ok going it alone. It’s nice to have a friend that understands what I am doing and going through and that call was just the push I needed.
