Dave approved of me posting a picture of our tent but he wasn’t comfortable with me taking a picture of him with the figure he chose (sorry, Theresa - he chose one of the octopus-like ones).  He seemed tickled with the small gift, though, and put it on a shelf behind the counter.  

Since Dave didn’t open until 7, meaning we couldn’t retrieve our charging items until then, we slept in a little (a very little) and didn’t start hiking until 7:20.  

The first 13 miles were in the trees, going up, over, and around several mountains.  The weather was again perfect for hiking and, while perhaps a bit boring, it was a great day to be outside and active.  

Nick and I met at a the only water source we had today, which was about a half mile off-trail from Fletcher Pass.  The walk to the water wasn’t nearly as steep as the one I hiked yesterday and the water was much easier to collect, which was nice.  Nick arrived shortly after I did, so we ate lunch together (which you know I always enjoy).

After lunch, the trail emerged out of the trees and onto the spine again - it wasn’t easy hiking by any means (some of the inclines were so steep I felt like I was back in Colorado on the Argentine Spine), but the views were great and the weather was perfect so I’m not complaining.

While I had been pretty far ahead of Nick most of the day, he managed to catch me as I struggled with the last 2 miles of downhill.  We might have timed it perfectly, meeting at the bottom, but I had stopped to talk to Boomerang, another guy attempting a calendar year triple crown, and then again for some water about a half mile from Rogers Pass (which is where Nick finally caught up with me). 

In the Rogers Pass parking lot, I chatted with two older hikers, Grace and her brother (I forget his name), who were just finishing their day.  They have been hiking the CDT in little sections this year and Grace thinks she met me at one point, saying she remembers my tree of life necklace.  I vaguely remember meeting them, too, but none of us could remember where this occurred.

Grace said she’d love to offer us a ride, but their car was full of gear.  Besides, they were going to Helena, not Lincoln.  I thanked her anyway and made my way to the highway.

There weren’t too many cars on Highway 200 and it was getting late, which makes hitching more difficult, but we lucked out.  After only about 10 minutes, a truck pulling a trailer pulled over.  Inside was a couple, Craig and Linda, traveling with their granddaughter.  At first they said they weren’t going all the way to Lincoln but could get us pretty close, but, thankfully, they ended up taking us all the way to town.  Nick and I sat in the back of the truck with Mia, their granddaughter, and Poppy, their very gentle dog.  Craig and Linda are active and fit and I don’t think they will ever grow old.  They were both in the military and Craig now owns Montana River Outfitters in Great Falls.  If you are looking to take a fishing trip up here, consider giving him a call. 

Dave is the kind of guy who will be having Adventures for the rest of his life, although he lamented that he doesn’t think he can do much hiking anymore (I disagreed).  He said he was impressed with what we are doing and told me to keep it up.  I’m pretty sure he meant to keep it up my entire life, not just to the end of this trail, and after seeing how full of life he and Linda are I definitely will.

Even though we were in the truck together for less than 30 minutes, I almost felt like I was their daughter, particularly when Craig said they stopped partly because they could barely see us on the side of the road and were worried about our safety.  In addition to the ride, they gave Nick a beer and me a few apples to enjoy.  When we got to the historic Hotel Lincoln, there were hugs all around - I had a difficult time saying goodbye to such wonderful people and slowly made my way into the hotel, waving furiously as I went. 

After our Trail Angels drove away, we made our way upstairs to our room, quickly showered, and walked across the street to Lambkins for dinner before they closed. 

And now, clean and full, I will happily fall asleep in this king-sized bed that I have all to myself (Nick asked for two beds and they gave us a suite-like room with two beds in separate rooms; this is fine with me since Nick wants to watch TV and I just want to sleep).

Along the trail: