I woke up to the smell of wildfire smoke. Not nearby or anything, but there was a haze all around the lake where I was camped. There are lots of fires burning around the West and it looks like the smoke finally made its way to the trail.
As I was hiking out today, my neighbor started singing again. He definitely didn’t know I was there.
For being a relatively short day, today was pretty tough. When I got on top of a ridge and had cell phone service I texted a trail angel in town about getting a ride from Bannock Pass. When I left camp I thought I could make the road by 2 pm but I told the guy 3:30 to give myself a little break time.
After the first few hours it was clear I wasn’t moving my usual speed. Lots of hiking uphill and on rocky 4x4 roads had me moving slowly. Eventually, I made it up to the high point of the day and it would be almost all downhill from there.
I got to the road just after 3 pm and I saw someone hiking away from the pass. Then I saw a plastic bag with a couple COLD beers in it! The hiker whistled and waved as I picked one up. Finally some trail magic!!
Not long after, Randy the trail angel, showed up and gave me a ride to town. He dropped me off at the only store in town where I had some stuff from REI sent. After almost 700 miles it was finally new shoe day!
My shoes have been messing with my feet and I’m so happy to have new shoes. I also got a new pair of sandals which should also help my feet.
I hung out at the store for a bit and met some other hikers. I bought my supplies for the next few days and then headed to the city park to set up my tent. After getting situated I headed to the only restaurant in town for dinner.
The food was good and the Trump signs were plenty. Surprisingly they gave me a paper straw? Weird.
This next section of trail will get me almost 20% of the way to Canada. I can’t believe it’s getting so close!