Journey Day 377 | CDT Day 40

Shadowed along the Divide in Idaho in 1987.

7/22/87

The day starts cold and clear. We hike confident of the route, first on jeep road that ends along the Divide. We find a trail that we follow steeply up through light forest or rolling meadows to glorious panoramas of the Goat Mountain environs. Obvious Divide hike in sunshine, eventually come to trail tread which we follow down through forest, deadfall to blazed trail.

But it ends in forested flat, and dumbfounded we abandon route for lack of trail or blazes and begin a bushwhacking Oddysey east, first over a ridge that takes us to a creek, perhaps Sheep Creek, where we take lunch, while still in embattled high spirits.

But our bushwhack east leads us to jeep road after long, hard going over downed trees, dense overgrowth. We're dying when we come to rushing water way too strong for a creek. Then a logging road with "creek" in wrong place. Leonard realizes it's Schultz Creek Reservoir and we struggle - me pulling for more trail and bushwhacking, them to go to the road to Wisdom and hitch around.

After passing the reservoir, we come to a cross road and they agree to go down to creek trail way I favor. But it doesn't appear, Leonard realizes it's trail, not road. The others stop stubborn.

Exhausted, we continue on various ideological bents. After coin flip, I agree to go their way. And we hike hard down to a main road, then down until approaching storm, exhaustion join to cause us to camp.

Rain hits as I finish pitching near steady flowing waterway. Cook pancakes and dinner in tent vestibule. No accidents. Exhausted, I crash as rain falls. Up once during the night to clean cup, organize disarrayed vestibule