Day 109: Idaho!

Miles Hiked: 26.3

Total Milage: 1831.3

This morning I woke up at Summit Lake. My feet have started to hurt so I made sure to take my time doing stretches this morning. They were so painful it was a little alarming. All the muscles in my legs feels so tight. I packed up camp and grabbed water from the lake. It was warm to the touch and not super appetizing. This would be the only water source for the whole day until I got to camp 26 miles later.

The day started out by hiking five miles over very flat terrain to the Idaho Border. I ate a huckleberry lollipop to celebrate and took some pictures. I took a long break and hung out at the border while the other hikers around us all crossed the border as well. After that I continued hiking about five more miles before I sat down for another break. I only got to take a 10 minute break because it started to rain hard and thunderstorm. Luckily this time I was under tree cover during the storm. It was nice to be able to continue hiking without worrying about much. Eventually I got to a sandy gravel road that I would walk on the rest of the day all the way to camp. I didn’t stop walking for quite a long time because it kept raining. I knew if I stopped I would just get cold. I miss the shelters on the AT where I could take out my sleeping bag during a rain storm and stay warm and dry during a break. On the CDT there is no where to hide when it rains unless you get really lucky. My feet were hurting and I couldn’t wait for the sun to come out. Eventually it did and I took a break and stretched for 30 minutes!

I cooked some Idahoan mashed potatoes for dinner to celebrate. I put a mustard packet, Tabasco, and old bay in them to make them very tasty. It was a great meal to celebrate the new state I’ll walk in. When we got to the water source we had to walk a half mile off trail to a creek. We were in an area with lots of snowmobile trails and cabins marked on a map. I saw that one might be near us so I took the time to look around for it but couldn’t find it. We found a flat spot to camp in a ditch on the side of the road. I had a little bit of service at camp so I could text and it was so nice! That almost never ever happens.