The hike to the highway was great - it was all gravel road and I had service, so I was able to catch up on messages as I walked. I also had a great view of the interesting mountain pinnacle formations, which was a promise of things to come. I got to the road just as Mark and Mary pulled up, which was perfect timing. (hitchhiking is illegal in Dubois - pronounced Da Boys), so having Mark and Mary around made life so much easier.)
We made a quick stop to the Falls Campground (where we are camping with Mark and Mary tonight) to take very quick showers and clean up a bit. Then we made our way to Dubois for lunch and chores.
Lunch at Cowboy Café was phenomenal - I ordered avocado toast with all the fixings, eggs, AND a chocolate chip pancake for dessert (if you can’t tell, chocolate chip pancakes bring me great joy these days).
my phenomenal lunch, to include a chocolate chip pancake
Doing chores was NOT phenomenal. We went to The Perch Café for some caffeine (I needed it, the lack of sleep is catching up with me) and Wi-Fi. Since I hadn’t taken the time to label any of the pictures for Theresa, it took me a long time to get her just 5 days of blog info. I still have 3 days to get to her, but that will have to wait for the next stop.
Nick had it worse. He worked on our alternate route through Yellowstone and then, when he called the Yellowstone Backcountry office to get permits for where we would be going, he was told all the trails we planned to take were closed, either due to flooding or because of a cow carcass that is attracting bears. I felt for him - it must be demoralizing to have all your hard work erased in a moment. Nick then spent a lot of time on the phone with Howard, trying to figure something out. They talked until the office closed. It’s still not completely sorted, which is frustrating, but we hope to get the permits we need when we call them back tomorrow morning.
Once we finally made it back to the campground, Mark and Mary started cooking dinner (beef stroganoff!!!), Nick set up the tent, and I sorted through the food for the next section (or what we think will be our next section, we still need to get those Yellowstone permits). Have no fear, I gave myself LOTS of extra snacks.
This nero has been more exhausting than a full day of hiking. It’s time for me to get some sleep. Mary even gave me a pillow, so I’m going to sleep like a baby.
I have a pillow!!!!
Camp:
