Mileage: 24.3 miles (2136.3-2160.6)
I woke up to Laura calling me in the motel room. It felt early, but it was past seven. I needed sleep but also had been playing phone tag for awhile with her and wanted to talk. I had my eyes closed most of the time we talked, but was almost even more present only hearing her voice and not having any other stimulus.
After we finished talking I took a shower, packed my stuff, and then headed over to the local diner, where I had 'The Working Man's Breakfast', which was a wonderfully massive plate of biscuits and gravy with some eggs and hashbrowns. I had some OJ and coffee to wash it down and left the place quite satisfied with my $12 meal. Whitehall really had the best places to eat I'd seen on the trail for awhile: affordable, big portions, and served with friendly that small town sorta vibe.
Afterwards I stopped by the post office to grab my new pair of shoes my mom had sent and since the old ones weren't holey rags attached to my feet, I sent those ones back home for later use. Putting the new ones on in the Post Office, I could feel how much cushion the last pair had lost, and thought maybe the old ones might just be good for mowing the lawn.
I set out on Highway 2 around 11:30am after dropping some extra food in front of the Lutheran Church. I couldn't bear to throw it away, though in reality they might have to since a lot of it was food I'd packaged myself in ziplocks.
I walked the highway until it hit Delmoe Lakes Road, where I passed some old Hot Springs shortly thereafter. I walked down the side road towards them but was greeted with 'No Trespassing' signs everywhere, so though I could see the old cabins, guesthouse, and probably the hot springs itself, I decided to turn around, the day before still fresh in my mind. I could have asked permission to bathe, but I was too tired to go through all that. While I was down there admiring the old buildings in the fields of bright yellow sunflowers, I once again heard the mysterious almost cluck of a
few Sandhill Cranes. I couldn't see them, but their distinctive voices gave them away.
I continued down the road, passing under I-90 and began the ascent towards Delmoe Lake where I would rejoin the CDT. A nice couple and their kids stopped and chatted with me for a few minutes and they gave me some extra water and a handful of potato chips. The man added he might be in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, just south of Glacier National Park in a few weeks and I told him I might see him there depending on the fires.
I also talked to Karma and Maniac for the first time in awhile, and they were leaving Helena, about 90 trail miles ahead of me. If they didn't take more zeroes it was gonna be hard for me to catch them. Even if I did 30's for each of their 25 mile days, it would still take almost 3 weeks for me to catch up. And at that point, they might be already finished. We all agreed it'd be great if I could catch them, but nobody can really afford to just sit around at this point not only because of we're all running out money, but more importantly, time.
I said goodbye and told them to keep me posted on the fires, hoping I might somehow catch them as I already had once before down in Pie Town. I kept pushing, finally getting back on the CDT near Delmoe Lake around 5pm. I finished out the day around 8:30pm with some mellow ascents and descents, eventually joining the Nez Pearce Trail, which apparently was no longer the official CDT. Checking out my map I realized it had been rerouted in 2014, though this trail would intersect with the new tread in about seven miles so it wasn't a big deal. I found a spot to camp, hung my food, and headed for bed.
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