I had to do a long distance in a short amount of time so when I woke up at like 3 am, I decided to set an alarm. I think this is the first time so far that my alarm has woken me up and as soon as it did, it started raining.
Luckily it was on and off all morning. I used my umbrella for about 20 minutes, but mostly just wore my raincoat and hoped my backpack wasn’t getting soaked.
Just like the last few days, today I followed the divide. On one particularly big and steep climb I came across the results of somebody’s bad day.
There were no ATV trails nearby so I don’t even know how someone ended up here. Maybe it was a joyride gone wrong? It looked pretty gnarly.
The last few days I’ve been seeing signs for the US Sheep Experiment station and today I finally saw some sheep. It turns out that there are dogs that live with the sheep and they do not like people being around. I got barked at for like 25 minutes while I hiked around the surprisingly big herd. I even saw comments about how hikers couldn’t get water because of the dogs.
This was one of the main water sources of the day. It was full of rainwater and the spring wasn’t running into the trough. For a minute I thought I was in trouble until I found a barely trickling pipe sticking out of the ground. I could hear some sheep in the distance and I was happy there weren’t any dogs around making this more annoying than it already was.
I spent much of the day looking at the clock. The shuttle came at 5:30 and if I wasn’t there, yesterday was for nothing. I eventually made it to the road walk which took the last 8 or so miles. I would need to walk fast, but I should make it.
Then it became even more obvious that I needed new shoes. I was walking slightly downhill when my foot just slipped out from under me like I stepped on a banana peel.
Before I knew it I was on the ground and all I thought was how embarrassing that fall was. Luckily only cows were around to see it. I was covered in dust and after cleaning off my knee, realized I was covered in blood too. Good thing I was only a few miles from town. I have new shoes waiting for me in the next town… 100 miles away.
I was surprised to find out that no other nobos were waiting for the shuttle. It was just me and one other guy that was heading south.
Both of us had worked hard to get here and we’re so happy when the shuttle showed and took us into Lima Montana. I hiked as hard as I ever had and was excited for a stay in a motel.
The motel was full. That means camping in the RV park behind the hotel. Not a bad deal though. $10 for camping, laundry, and a shower. I set up my tent and then another hiker asked if I wanted to get dinner since the steakhouse/bar in town stopped serving food early. I of course jumped at the offer and headed to the restaurant.
The steak was awesome even if it was expensive. I also got to meet some new hikers. Since breaking away from my friends that has been a lot of fun. There are still a lot of people out here even if I feel totally some sometimes.