Day 125- The Slow Day

Friday Aug 17, 2018 

Butte, MT(2554.5) to Trail Junction(2577.8) 23.3 Miles

Total Miles: 2292.2

Elevation: 7,000 ft

This is going to be a short one. It is already past 10:00pm and I’m beat. We all slept in a little bit this morning. Our hotel offered a continental breakfast and we were all stoked that there was a waffle maker. I had a waffle, apple juice, and a coffee. Enigma was the only one who seemed motivated this morning. He left the hotel almost an hour before the rest of us. Somehow my container of DEET exploded in one of my hip belt pockets. Everything that I kept in that pocket was ruined. The biggest loss was my leukotape, which I use to tape up any hotspots or blisters on my feet. The tape is a miracle cure and I’m a little worried about losing it. My hip belt pocket was also ruined. DEET will eat through any material it seems. I cleaned it up the best I could and Straws, Piñata, and I left town together. We had a huge climb leaving town. The only cool thing about it was the man made feature at the top of the mountain. We didn’t actually get a great look at it, but we could see it from town yesterday. The Lady of the Rockies is a 90 foot sculpture of the Virgin Mary set on top of the mountain. 

Lady of the Rockies 

We saw Clean Sweep and Slingshot on our way up the mountain. They were on their way to town. We only chatted with them briefly. I hope they catch up with us in the next town. It was almost noon by the time we made it to the top of the mountain. I fretted over losing my leukotape the entire climb up. Since I still had cell service I called my administrative assistant, my day, and asked him to send me some more. There was no way he could get it to me by the time I we get to the next town, so I’ll have to do without until I make it to Lincoln, MT. I haven’t used much of it this entire hike, but I don’t like not having some. The rest of the day went by slowly. We took breaks almost every hour. 

Trailhead parking lot

Life is rough on The Divide 

Scenery for the day

Remnants of an old mine

Around 5:30 we got caught up in a thunderstorm. That was the fastest we hiked all day. Getting soaking wet at the end of the day isn’t much fun. Luckily the rain wasn’t coming down too hard, but we still got soaked. We stopped for the night a little earlier than planned. Everyone was cold and hungry. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. 

“As you say goodbye to lingering disappointments and unattended grief, you will discover that every person, situation and painful incident comes bearing gifts.”

- Debbie Ford