Miles Hiked: 1.5
Total Milage:
Today I woke up pretty late since we got to camp so late last night. It was still really smoky when we woke up. We hiked 1.5 miles to Bannock Pass where we decided to hitch around the fire closure from. We would have hiked 25ish more miles to Lemhi pass where the closure actually started but I figured it would make more sense when I come back to hike the section to start at Bannock Pass. Logistically I think it will be a lot easier to get there to fill in the section. Not only that but I didn’t really want to hike in really smoky conditions if it wasn’t necessary.
Bannock Pass was a gravel road with very little traffic. We got there around 7:30am and waited until 9:30am for a car to give us a ride. In that time about 4 cars drove by and a couple more went up into the woods from there. 12 pack and I were willing to hitch either direction to get to a busier road with more traffic. Today is the biggest hitch I’ve ever had to do and I expected it to take us most of the day but we got so lucky. The first person who picked us up was super nice and drove us almost an hour to a different highway where we could hitch straight to Wisdom. It was on his way to where he was going. On that highway we waited about 30 minutes before another very nice lady picked us up and drove us another hour straight to Wisdom which was also on her way as well. We got there around noon right before the post office closed and I was able to pick up my box. What luck! I figured the hitch would take us so long that I might have to take a zero to get my box on Monday. It was a miracle.
Once in town, we got food to eat at one of two restaurants that were open. It was one of the best meals and service I’ve had in a while. I got some butterfly shrimp with Texas toast and sweet potato fries. In retrospect maybe I should have gotten a salad but the shrimp sounded so good! After that we went to the mercantile to get some more snacks before walking to our campground 0.5 miles out of town. The campground was a donation based campground provided by the American legion. It had picnic tables, pit toilets, and a small building to charge things in. It also had WiFi which ironically was the best WiFi I’ve had in hundreds of miles. I was so thankful I was able to get so much work done on my blog but it took me such a long time. It was a very overwhelming task I didn’t want to do but it was worth it to get it done and over with.
I cleaned out my pack and sorted through the resupply box that my mom sent me. It was so nice! I will definitely be eating well for the next couple of days. Getting treats from home is so nice when I feel so homesick. Later, 12 pack and I went to go get more snacks and a drink at the bar. Earlier when I was getting cash from the ATM I saw a pineapple cider I really wanted to try. It ended up tasting amazing! I could only finish half the glass. On top of my low alcohol tolerance I’ve been having digestive issues that have been making me avoid alcohol as much as I can. At the bar we ran into three other hikers named Exxon, Lefty and Helium.
For the rest of the night I just hung out at the campground.
Happy Trails!
-Early Bird
Des Hikes Thru 