July 9th
Fortunately, the bad weatherwent to both sides of me. Burnt Mountain sheltered me from the storm. It was
an amazing sunrise.
Knowing I had a dry day ahead of me, I went back to the beautiful spring to fill up. I drank a liter and then filled both my two liter water containers and placed them in the top of my pack, knowing that 8 pounds of clear spring water would be a pleasure to carry. As I turned to start my day’s hike, my right toe caught on the top of a rock. I lunged forward a step, tried to raise myself, staggered 2 more steps, but the weight of the water behind my head threw my balance off and I smashed into the ground. My hands took some of the blow, but most went to my right knee, especially the knee cap. I sort of wish I had a slow motion video, but the damage was not funny.
The trail meandered through some abandoned mines. I was listening to an audio book and failed to notice I was off track until about a mile down the wrong hill. Bonus mileage!
Eventually, the (correct) trail went through a flat valley with several abandoned log structures. It must’ve been something in its day.
Later the trail went through a wildlife management area (Mule Ranch). I saw a mother and calf moose but could not get a good photo.
A fierce rain storm accompanied a drop in temperature as I walked along a highway. I put on another top layer and my rain gear. It promised to be a wet night. As I turned up my forest service road to reach the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness, a nice local stopped and offered me a ride to the trailhead (7 miles). I thanked him and said I was trying to walk the whole way. He shared that the rain was supposed to turn to snow, so I thanked him for the information.
I eventually found a flat, high spot away from the road for a campsite. As a rule I try to get far away from roads on Friday and Saturday nights due to drunks. It did not snow,but got cold as I ended my highest mileage day yet (27).
backpacking over the hill 