I slept better last night, but my desire to camp perched on a cliff meant a windy night. The tarp flapped, flapped away. Still worth it.

I had looked up the weather, and it was forcasted to be a clear, dry week! I really am lucking out with the weather. As I wound my way down the cliffs to the open range land below I had a slight breeze, and the temps were quite pleasent. I was a long dirt road walk into town, but in those moments I like to pull out a podcast and give my brain something to chew on. Before I knew it I was in town.

Coming out of the mountains

I went to the Ideal Market to retreive my box and get a few suppies, then headed over to the Say When Casino to have lunch at the cafe. A fried chicken sandwich and slice of apple pie later, I picked up my things and headed over to a picnic table I had seen down the street at the Library.

The library isn’t open on Fridays, but the table was shaded, there appeared to be a plug so I could charge the electronics, and a spigot on the front of the building was on. Score!

I spent some time repacking and reshuffling, did a little reading, a little laying around on the grass, and finally about 2:30 decided to head out. I had hiked 10 miles this morning, and I would be happy with another 5-10. It was another road walk out of town, but it was a treat to be walking towards the mountains and wondering what my “alternate” route would be like. Already this side of the valley seemed dryer. I have 5 days of food and 5 liters of water…all that adds up to a HEAVY pack, and it looked like a lot of the next 20 miles would be climbing up into the Trout Creek mountains. So worth it.

I made my way up into the foot hills, and found a spot tucked into a sagebrush ravine. There are a few cars about, I saw a sign on my way in about rock hounding…maybe I’ll find a rare and beautiful stone while I am out here!

My legs are aching. The first week or two of a long hike there is always some pain…it’s just that since I’m only doing 300 miles I’ll be done just as my body is getting used to it.