CDT - Day 130 - Rain, Fog and Nostalgia
I woke up to the pitter-patter of rain on my tent, not exactly what I wanted to hear first thing in the morning. I lay there for a few minutes willing the rain to stop, but no luck. Even worse, I really needed to dig a cathole, and that couldn't wait.
I put on my rain jacket and rain pants and climbed out of my tent, only to discover that I was now in the middle of a Silent Hill scene. We had camped in the middle of a burn scar, safely away from all the dead trees, and this morning the entire area was covered in thick fog. It was incredibly eerie.
Within 20 minutes of hitting the trail, the rain stopped, and we spent the next few miles hiking through dense fog and even more burn scar. It continued to sprinkle on and off, so I kept my rain jacket on for a couple of hours.
Lately, I've been on an SNES music kick, listening to soundtracks from some of my favorite retro games. It's basically pure nostalgia, and today it made me wish I was back home playing some of those old games. On a cold, gloomy, rainy day, sitting inside playing my old SNES while eating cinnamon-sugar crêpes and drinking hot tea sounds absolutely wonderful.
The things I daydream about during these long 20-mile hikes.
After about 17 miles, it started raining again, so I asked Hiker Greg if he'd be cool with stopping a few miles short of our 23-mile goal. I'd noticed a promising campsite with a spring around the 20-mile mark, so we decided that sounded like a good place to call it.
The spring ended up being not that great, but usable if needed. The campsite, however, was pretty much perfect, with a fire ring and plenty of flat spots. It's about 0.4 miles off trail and completely peaceful. The only sounds out here are the birds and pikas.
Tomorrow, we'll hike to Johnson Lake and hopefully continue on to Warren Lake, depending on how our legs feel. Once we reach Johnson Lake, we'll officially be finished with the "Idaho So-Montana" map in FarOut and can finally switch over to the Northern Montana map.
Another big milestone. Canada keeps getting closer.