Pacific Northwest Trail Thru-Hike 2017 Journal

I hiked with my son, Josh, along the 1200-mile Pacific Northwest Trail from July 13 to September 15, 2017 walking from the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park to the westernmost point in the lower 48 states at Cape Alava on the Washington coast of the Pacific ocean. This took 57 days plus a 10 day break in Idaho to do some volunteer work.
This journal is composed from my daily writings and supplemented with more pictures and thoughts.
You can click any picture to view a larger version of it, if you want.
To get an idea of where we were each day, you might open my Trail Map page.

I would be happy to answer questions you may have about our trip, or planning your trek. Your adventure will be different from ours, but our experience may help you enjoy yours more.

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Pacific Northwest Trail hike - Day 01 to 14 - Glacier to Coeur d'Alene
Pacific Northwest Trail hike - Day 15 to 30 - Coeur d'Alene to Oroville
Pacific Northwest Trail hike - Day 31 to 44 - Oroville to Burlington
Pacific Northwest Trail hike - Day 45 to 57 - Burlington to Cape Alava

Just 23 hours after boarding Amtrak in MN, we hopped off in West Glacier, MT. We walked just a couple blocks up the Going to the Sun road to a convenience store and water spigot. We then followed the road and a bike path about 3 miles to the Apgar Campground for which we had no reservation and was completely full. I'm very uncomfortable not being sure of a place, but a goal I have for this trip is to relax and try to believe that "everything tends to work out".

I was hoping to find an RV or other campers with space they could share with us, but it would be dark soon since we arrived around 9pm. A fellow taking a stroll and smoking was my first target. I asked him about maybe setting up a tent and he recommended trying the group site area just a few hundred feet away. Here, we intruded on a large group that had a few unused tent pads. Turns out they are a big family outing and were fine with us using the spot. So, here we are all set up and in tent our first night.
Oh, they also said a bear and 3 cubs were right here a day ago. :-)

Tip: [It's usually pretty easy to join a group campsite - groups will often have a couple unused spots. Just say 'Howdy', explain what you're doing, and ask if you can set up with them.]

I walked 41070 steps on the trail today.
We traveled about 17 miles today.

I do believe our first day may wind up being our toughest day of hiking.

We got up early and found the backcountry permit office on the north side of the campground. We were 5th in line. The campsite we wanted at Fifty Mountain was marked as full so we wound up getting one much farther along the trail. It would be tough to hike that far.
We walked the half mile back to the Apgar Visitor Center and got in line for the free shuttle to take us up the Going to the Sun road. It's a popular activity so we wound up waiting over an hour to finally get on a bus. The first bus got us part way to a transfer point, then a second smaller bus hauled us up the mountain. Before every stop, the driver announced the stop and then stopped. The Loop was where we wanted to get off and start hiking, but the driver chose to not stop there so we got a nice tour all the way up to Logan Pass. We quickly caught another shuttle back down to The Loop and finally got hiking around 11am.

Tip: [We researched how to get to the PNT eastern terminus. It would possibly take a few shuttles, many hours, be expensive, and difficult to get permits. Starting at Apgar was super simple - jump off the train, get permits, free shuttle, and start hiking. I think this is where the PNT should start. The only thing I'd do differently is take the shuttle to Logan Pass and start hiking the Highline Trail north instead of starting at The Loop - the trail is longer but more scenic, easy, and flat.]

The trailhead sign had Goat Haunt listed which was the direction we needed, so off we went - up up up. After a few miles we figured out that we were on the CDT which was a few miles longer than the trail we wanted but went the same way. The trail was rugged, steep, and high but the views were awesome! By the end of the day, I could barely move ahead. All my 'going up' muscles were done and we were still 8 miles from our assigned campsite.

Our most harrowing experience of the trip (besides dangerous roadwalks) happened this first day. While crossing a steeply tilted snow/ice slope, Josh lost his footing and skidded in a spray of snow down about 50 feet to the bottom of the snow and into the loose shale rock and a cloud of dust. Fortunately, he had managed to stay on his feet, knees, and hands rather than tumble over so he only got some long, deep scratches that eventually healed over the next few weeks.

The trail took us over the Continental Divide from west to east just before the Fifty Mountain campsite and the camp was empty with at least three tent spots. Though it was not our assigned spot, we stopped for the night. It was a beautiful, open area and we enjoyed the views as the sun sank.

Tip: [Making your Glacier itinerary at the start and your Olympic itinerary at the end are two of the biggest logistic items on this trek. Use Glacier Backcountry Map to plan your daily distances and desired camp spots BEFORE you get to the permit office to speed up your visit. Use Backcountry Camping page for more information. Also, make your first couple days shorter than you expect - our mistake.]

I walked 40650 steps on the trail today.
We traveled about 17 miles today.

The night at Fifty Mountain campsite was comfortable and quiet. We rose, packed, and got hiking to blue skies and sun painted peaks. The high peaks to our east provided shade as we headed north, dropping into the Waterton River valley to intersect with the actual Pacific Northwest Trail. The trail was terribly overgrown and seemed like a perfect place to meet a bear. No luck.

When we reached Waterton Lake and the Goat Haunt ranger station, I had a funny run-in with the Canadian customs. While we were looking at the big Lake Waterton, a Canadian customs guy asked where we were coming from - I pointed back South and said "back there". He asked where we were going - I pointed West and said "over there". He then asked if we had been in, or were going to, Canada - I said "no". Then, he said "well, then I don't even need to talk with you." Fine with me, he started the conversation.

Supposedly, there is a footbridge crossing the Waterton River for the CDT and PNT just west of Goat Haunt. When we headed west, following our PNT map, it showed us crossing the river right at a fording spot for horses. We hiked up our side of the river for awhile, but the trail name was wrong and there was no indication that a bridge was ahead. So, we turned around and forded the river. It was fun, but on the far side, there were three signs along the trail indicating that a footbridge was upstream. This was the first of many times that the official PNT maps would prove to be inaccurate.

While our morning was all downhill, the afternoon was a continuous climb, but not too steep. We made it to the top of Brown Pass, passing over the Continental Divide once again, this time from east to west, and spent the night at the buggiest campsite in Glacier, at least from all the warnings we got from dayhikers, rangers, and trail crews. It wasn't that bad, especially since we had our bug suits, and it topped off a serious 1000ft climb at the end of the day. The young guys that are also camping here were very impressed with our bug suits, as they were being harrassed endlessly by the mosquitoes.

Still no interesting wildlife but the mountains are wonderful and the trails not well maintained. We've met some nice folks but no other long distance hikers yet. Tomorrow is all downhill and out of Glacier.

Tip: [The PNT Association has 'official' maps in paper and digital form that you can use for navigating. The digital maps on your phone use your GPS to show right where you are and can be very helpful. Unfortunately, we found them to be often inaccurate. A new app out this summer is HikerBot for the PNT and we wound up using it for our main navigation, supplemented with the PNTA digital maps occasionally. ]

I walked 62353 steps on the trail today.
We traveled about 23 miles today.

Brown Pass, today's starting point, is on the Continental Divide so it's all downhill to the Pacific now. And our day started out extremely downhill - a very steep descent to Bowman Lake. On the way down, we saw a moose grazing about 50 yards from the trail, oblivious to us due to wind direction and noise from the waterfalls. It was nice to rest and watch it for awhile.

We stopped for lunch at the Bowman Lake campsite which I would vote as the prettiest site in Glacier. A crazy deer walked up and started chewing on an old shirt someone had left lying on the ground. It chewed away on it for at least 20 minutes, probably getting the salt from the sweat dried into it.
About a half hour after lunch, as we were getting water from a small stream running into the lake, a young lady climbed up the short distance from the lake shore. She and her two companions were having difficulty paddling their canoe west against the very strong wind that we were thankful for for keeping the bugs away. She asked us to let the rangers at the west end of the lake know of their predicament.

Hiking again, we encountered these three backpackers on a short outing. Josh noticed they wore Ultimate frisbee shirts so they all chatted for awhile, having a common connection.
After a few more hours of hiking along the north shore of the long lake, we got to the campground and told the camp host about the stranded canoers since no rangers were around.

From Bowman Lake to Polebridge is a 6 mile dusty, busy roadwalk. We had fortunately gotten water from a spigot at the camp host. The only interesting thing about the road was that we finally saw a bear! A pickup passed us and we then saw it stopped in the road after coming around a bend. They were watching the bear so we did too. It was only 20 yards from the road casually eating trees. So we walked on the other side of the pickup as they slowly drove by as a barrier for us, just in case.

We finally reached Polebridge, ate outside at the saloon (which was pretty good) for a couple hours, then hiked out of town since the publicized 'Merc' store didn't really have any backpacking food that we could find. This first bit of civilization was enhanced by our chance meeting of an older fellow and a couple at the saloon and chatting with them for quite awhile. We also saw our canoeing friend in front of the Merc - it turns out they persevered against the wind and made it on their own. We also met another PNT hiker named Alexander in Polebridge. He's staying in town at the hostel tonight while we're tenting in a wide spot by the side of an old gravel road.

I walked 34840 steps on the trail today.
We traveled about 15 miles today.

With sore legs and feet from the long dusty roadwalk yesterday, we planned to have a short day today and rest a bit. Another reason our day was short is because there is supposedly a 14 mile stretch high along a ridgeline in the Whitefish Range with no water just ahead and we didn't really want to do 30 miles, or carry enough water for the distance plus an overnight.

Bear grass is in full bloom and the pollen is thick. We brush past it much of the day and are covered at times, but it is beautiful. So, here we are spending a very relaxing afternoon and evening at Red Meadow Lake campground. It is almost a 3/4 mile walk off the trail, but the lake is wonderful. I spent a long time swatting flies and throwing them in for the trout to eat. A pit toilet, easy water, and towering mountain view make this a great spot to rest.

The trail here today was uneventful. A very long steady climb up old logging roads followed by a short stretch of recently maintained Trail 26 was the day. Whoever maintains this section did a ton of work this summer digging tread and even pounding rocks.
We met a few mountain bikers at the campground who are riding an approximate continental divide route. Then at the end of the day, Alex from Australia rode in. He started in Banff and is heading south along the same route. It was nice to talk with him a bit. We met no one on the trail today - but it is Monday I guess.

I walked 63358 steps on the trail today.
We traveled about 26 miles today.

It was a chilly 38 degrees when we got up at 5:30 this morning and there was fog rolling off the little lake. We were on the trail by 6:05 with full water and rested bodies, and it's a good thing! This 12 mile section had no water at all and, even though it looks like a nice ridge walk on the map, was up and down STEEP peaks and saddles all morning following the boundary between Lincoln and Flathead counties. The first fresh spring on the trail at 6000 feet after dropping into the Blue Sky Creek drainage was beautiful to see.

Mt. Locke was a very tough climb for me, trudging up to 7200 feet, but the views were wonderful if not a bit smokey from wildfires.
From the spring on, the trail was relatively easy all day so we added some extra miles of roadwalk on at the end. We wound up calling it a day at a wide spot in the trail where it crosses Foundation Creek on an old, rickity bridge.

We saw our first PNT trail registry out here and signed it - a map page someone no longer needed in a box. Saw that 'Parks' signed it today before us so maybe we'll find him on trail. Other than that, all entries were days or weeks old.
So, today we walked. And had great views of the mountains!

Tip: [Trail registries are a fun way to find out who is ahead of you on the trail. If you put down your name, date, and some thoughts, it lets hikers following you get to know you a bit. I find that knowing someone is not too far ahead can be incentive to push on with the hope of actually meeting them on the trail. As it turned out, we caught up to and met about half the names on this sheet.]

I walked 62190 steps on the trail today.
We traveled about 27 miles today.

We enjoyed a peaceful night's rest along the trail right by a bridge over a cascading stream. Our Ursack bags have been keeping the food safe - but there have been no attempts anyway.

The trail had another long stretch of high ridge hiking with no water. With very high temperature and very low humidity, water has been at the top of my priorities as we roll on, admiring the rugged mountains and scaring up grouse along the way.

We took our first unintentional detour offtrail today heading up Mt. Wam. I just happened to check the PNT Avenza map on my phone at the start up the mountain and the red line showed we were on the old alternate path. We stopped and dutifully followed the red line straight up a steep, crumbly slope, and fortunately ran into the trail about 30 minutes later. Sometimes, maps and apps are incorrect.

We visited a couple high mountain lakes, watched a couple Canadians fish in Bluebird Lake while we got water, and hit our northern most point of the trail - standing on the border at the 49th parallel clear cut.
The highlight of the day was meeting trail angels Stan and Betty from Eureka - out hiking on the Trail with their kin. Nice little chat with a nice family. The views were great, the mountains were tough, and I finally felt like I got enough food in me today.
Tonight, we found a flat spot on an earthen dam of a small reservoir about a dozen miles from Eureka. Real food again tomorrow and our first real town!

I walked 17490 steps on the trail today.
We traveled about 11 miles today.

Walking 7 miles of country road followed by 4 miles of fast highway traffic isn't a great morning hike but we did it. The day turned into a great relaxing break meeting a bunch of fun folks.

As soon as I got cell coverage, I emailed a listed trail angel named Nikki letting her know we were heading into town. Then, we walked. We passed a pizza place with buffet but it didn't open until 11 - it's only 9:30 and we're still north of town.
As we passed a gas station across the road, a guy waved at us and hollered so we crossed over to see what was up. This guy is hiking the PNT also. He had Melanie McManus' book 'Thousand Miler' about the Ice Age Trail and had just read about me in it, checked out hikingdude.com and saw our live map showing that we were walking his way. What a coincidence! Besides that, his trail name is 'Parks' that we saw in the registry a couple days back. He hiked out of town today so we'll probably see him on trail again.

After meeting Parks, we got a snack at Steins grocery just down the road to sit and figure out where to stay and resupply since I had no reply from Nikki yet. Just as we sat on the demo patio chairs outside the store, Nikki replied and was there 5 minutes later taking us to her home where we are tenting for the night! Another traveler named Lars from Sweden is here tonight on his way bicycling around America. Showers, food purchase, laundry, and loitering around town took the rest of the day. Nikki's husband, Jeremy, made dinner and a friend named Bob came by to visit. So, it was a nice time chatting with new friends about 'stuff'. We're loaded with food for our push to Idaho and I hope some water flavoring and a couple new food choices will help my appetite. Tomorrow has a big climb up Mt. Webb right after a long roadwalk.

I walked 59580 steps on the trail today.
We traveled about 26 miles today.

Josh checking in today! (Dad's looking at tomorrow's routes at the moment, so I'll jump into the spotlight).
Sticking true to our recently self-imposed morning routine, we got rolling bright and early at 5:30am. Started hiking from Jeremy and Nikki's backyard down the main street, leeching all the free WiFi that we could from outside the stores as we strolled by. Miles later, we made our way past some tiny convenience store along Lake Koocanusa, so I bought a snickers bar and twinkie (mostly so that I wouldn't feel crummy about enjoying the luxury of their clean bathroom and water refill in the sink. I love getting water without having to filter it!). We knew that water sources were going to be tricky today, so we chugged a bunch before refilling and pressing onwards.

While still fresh from all the rest yesterday, we quickly cranked out 17 miles of road walking and found ourselves at the bottom of Mt. Webb just minutes before 1pm. We nearly witnessed a family of deer get obliterated by the highway traffic, but luckily it didn't go down that way cuz we very well might've been in the splashzone! Feeling good about our pace in the pleasant low-temp hours of the morning, we began ascending Mt. Webb, which we had heard about plenty from the folks last night. The further we climbed, the more the incline seemed to steepen, and the hotter it felt like the sun was shining overhead. Conserving water was at the forefront of both our minds, and to accomplish this we needed to maintain a steady, yet efficient pace to minimize our exposure to the sun beaming down on our side of the mountain. We zig-zagged up to the top by 3:30pm, stopping once to nibble on some huckleberries; we were cutting it close with a few drips of water to spare, and at least 2 more miles until the next water source that we could see on the map.

We hiked the trail along the ridge line as it flattened out, expecting to see a pond to refill with but we could see nothing but forest. Huh. Water was the number one priority for the moment, so we made a mental note of our location and hopped off the trail to begin wandering downhill where any rainwater might pool up. After 10 minutes of climbing over, under, and around downed trees (that place could benefit from a forest fire to clear it up one of these years... Knock on wood) we made it to what I like to call the Puddle of Life. Or miracle puddle. Both get the point across - I was very happy to see that water. Admittedly it was more the size of a pond than a puddle. We got our water, navigated our way back to the trail, and pressed on to a creek about 5 miles further where we set up the tent, ate our calorie-dense dinners, and did the calculations to realize we had just finished our third marathon day of 26 miles. We're gonna have to slow down so we get to our destination on time!

I walked 40833 steps on the trail today.
We traveled about 14 miles today.

Both yesterday and today found us high on mountains with the noon sun pounding mercilessly. But, today we planned our hike for it and the coming days appear to be similar. Water scarcity on the PNT is much more of an issue than I expected.
We filled 3 liters each before leaving camp with an expected 10 dry miles to a possible spring on Mt. Henry. If that spring was dry then we'd have 4 more downhill miles to a large creek. It was a good plan.

From 6:30 to noon, we hiked up and down mountains and ridges with no water sources. Fortunately, it was a cool morning which made the climbs more manageable. The spring we hoped for had a small pool of water, so we could refill and add a small extra climb to the summit of Mt. Henry and see the lookout.
As we approached, a loud dog barking welcomed us, then a friendly hello from a man in the lookout. Bob, and his dog Benny, had hiked up from his truck yesterday to do volunteer maintenance on the old structure. It was a wonderful time chatting with Bob while the relentless wind roared over the mountain, chilling us in the bright sun. After a long restbreak, we still had to descend the mountain to water and over one more climb to our camp site. The trail down was on the west side and brutally hot! Once off the summit, the cool wind stopped and we continued to descend through open, arid, shadeless stretches. One interesting thing about the hot sun is that it bakes the smells out of the trees and plants. Some are good, some not so much. In a few places, it smelled just like someone was baking a huckleberry pie!

We reached Turner creek about 3pm and decided to cool off in it - very nice. Checking the maps, we still had 10 miles to go which included a 1600foot climb during the hottest part of the day and possibly no water until the end. Yuch!!! Since we are already a couple days ahead of schedule, we stopped here at Fish Lake for a very short (but strenuous) day.
The climb will wait for tomorrow and we will need to do a 25 mile day in order to complete a dry ridge and find water - see a pattern here?

I did see a huge owl silently swoop through the trees in front of me today, being chased by a small, screeching bird of some kind.
Oh, almost forgot, last night in camp around 10 or so, some large animal visited. It crunched out in the brush making a very strange noise, not like a whoof of a bear, more like a horse huffing and more high pitched than I'd expect a bear to sound. Anyway, we both grabbed our bear spray and waited until our tired eyes took over again.

I walked 60434 steps on the trail today.
We traveled about 26 miles today.

Our day began with the usual steep strenuous uphill climb. Starting at 6:30 makes a huge difference with the temperature being in the 40s instead of the 80s or 90s. Up the hill, we found our first good patch of huckleberries so we sat down and picked awhile for a break. I sat right on a small bush and now have purple stains on pants, underwear, and skin. It was worth it.

We dropped into the Yaak valley for another long roadwalk. Josh found out that Yaak is a Kootenai word for arrow. We just walked across the valley. We stopped for water before our second long uphill at the spot we thought the trail started. It turns out this was just a short trail to a beautiful waterfall. After admiring the falls and figuring out it was a deadend, we slogged the very long hot dirt roadwalk up Garver mountain.
On the way up, while we were filtering yet more water, a truck stopped. The pastor from the Yaak church was giving Batman a ride up the hill. We had heard of Batman in Eureka and thought we might run into him. He is covering the trail collecting data for an app called HikerBot that hikers use to navigate the trail. One key thing he is gathering is water sources along the way! You should check out HikerBot. Josh is planning to download it in a few days.

Our day ended with yet another long downhill in the hot late afternoon sun, dropping down to Pete's Creek. In general, the eastern slopes seem more gradual and forested while the western slopes are hot, dry, rocky, steep, and bare. Makes for nice morning hikes and not so nice afternoons.
Tonight's camp was right at mile 200 on the maps!
Tonight, we ran into Analeise at Pete's Creek camp and got to chat for a couple hours. She is hiking the trail alone, has great determination, and is gradually putting miles behind her. An injury slowed her up but she's back on trail. She was fun to talk with and never let the conversation pause very long. So, Batman, Analeise, Hiking Dude, and Josh are all in the same camp - four PNT hikers all at once!
And, Josh found the first and only tick of our entire PNT trek.

I walked 45866 steps on the trail today.
We traveled about 20 miles today.

Analeise, Batman, and the two of us all got up about the same time. Since we aren't cooking, we were on the trail (road) first but Batman caught up to us in a couple hours and we played leapfrog all day long. We've not seen Analeise but left a note for her in the second trail registry of the trip - out in the middle of no where east of Canuck Peak. In the registry, we saw that three people hiked by yesterday so there are some not too far ahead.

A 6-mile roadwalk followed by another 5 miles of mostly uphill trail brought us to a beautiful saddle and views on both sides. Rock Candy Mountain dominated the south and still had plenty of snow cornice along its ridge. It was a wonderful spot to rest a bit. Way up here above timberline, rock cairns were very helpful. Also, some very over zealous crew did an astounding amount of work on the trail coming up - thank you!
We carried all of our water containers full from the last supposedly reliable water source, but there were many spots along the trail for water. Oh well, just extra weight.

Many fresh elk tracks and droppings along the way, but that was all. I did get hit on the ankle by a grouse though. She was right on the slightly overgrown trail and I didn't see her. Her baby fluttered to the side, taking my attention, and then she exploded just as I stepped where she sat. Pretty cool. We've seen many grouse, dozens of them.

We stopped at just 4:30 and plopped the tent by the trail after doing 20 miles because we're ahead of schedule. It's a flat spot up high and has breeze but no water around. This does change the usual uphill first thing in the morning though. We'll have a huge climb up Bussard Mountain around midday - yuch. Oh, we are filthy dirty!

I walked 60454 steps on the trail today.
We traveled about 22 miles today.

We camped nearly right on the ID/MT border last night so all of today was spent hiking through Idaho. Not much difference :-) But, as you can see, the folks here are good shots and some don't seem to care for hikers. We did have some very large animals with hoofs, rather than paws, walk by our tent last night - I expect they were elk but didn't see them.

The hike down Ruby Ridge to the Moyie River was dry but cool. We stopped at the Feist River Falls resort but it was dead because we were pretty early I guess. We had heard that it was a good place to stop and meet the owners. So, on we hiked to the base of Bussard Mountain and our last water source for a dozen miles or more - sound familiar yet?

The 3400 climb feet up the hill went better than hoped but it was the usual hot, steep, and sweaty. At the top, there was a surprise - about 100 gallons of water in 5gal jugs. They were probably for trail crews but we borrowed a bit from an open jug. After that, we passed many dry spots but no water so it was a good idea.
The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent following old dirty roads down toward Bonners Ferry. We could see farmland and buildings down in the valley as we descended from the mountains. We camped on forest road 397 just a few miles from the major US95 road crossing. Not much to report but I think it's because I'm very tired and looking forward to our adventure tomorrow - trying to reach Coeur d'Alene almost 100 miles to the south.

I walked 11400 steps on the trail today.
We traveled about 5 miles today.

We actually walked about 18 miles today, but only the first 5 were on the PNT. The rest were along us95 trying to get from the trail crossing about 15 miles north of Bonners Ferry down to Coeur d'Alene about 90 miles south. We will be off trail for 10 days working at Camp Lutherhaven. Josh worked here for 2 summers and I worked here 37 years ago. This is where my wife and I met and its our 30th anniversary next week. She is driving out here with a friend to be here this weekend for a dutch oven cooking and wine tasting ladies event. I've been asked to present about cooking so that should be fun. Next week, we're just doing whatever is needed.

Anyway, we made it to CDA but it was a fun, long day getting here. Up at our usual time but in a new time zone so we were actually starting very early. No water except that which we had carried over the mountain yesterday and the day got hotter and hotter. We walked the miles on dirt road down to the busy us95 and headed south. We hiked on for two hours as cars zoomed past. I used my "To Town" sign and cars zoomed past. We stuck out our thumbs and cars zoomed past. We were getting pretty disappointed when Lynn finally stopped her little pickup. She stashed her garbage can by a tree to make room for us in the back and we were in Bonners Ferry a few minutes later. It's amazing how far a car can travel in just a few minutes.

At the grocery store, we bought more than we could eat, sat in the cool store and had lunch. Then, back into the 90+ degrees slowly walking south with thumbs up and a new "CDA" sign we made at the store. 90 minutes and 5 miles later, Gavin offered us a ride to Sandpoint so we upgraded to an air conditioned pickup. He is just starting his own construction company and is waiting to hear if he won his first house bid.

In Sandpoint, we cooled off in McDonald's and then back to the road. This time, we decided to try for an hour and, if no ride was found, we would stay and watch the new Spiderman movie. Just as our time was up, a guy stopped his pickup and honked. We piled in the back and were off down the road. A fas, hot, windy ride got us to the northern reaches of CDA. From there, we walked a couple more hours, stopping along the way to cool off in stores.
About 7pm, Josh's friend at camp contacted him and then picked us up. So, for $25 and 17 miles of walking and 13 hours, we made it from trail to 'home'. I won't be posting until we head back out.