OBSIDIAN HILLS

CDT Day 95: 23.4miles/ 37.4km

CDT SOBO Mile 850.0 – 873.4

Saturday July 20, 2019

It’s my birthday today, and I never imagined I’d be in Lima, Montana for a milestone birthday. But that’s where Hammer and I found ourselves. So in a way it was lucky that we were getting a ride back to the trail with Mike and he was leaving at 9am. That gave us time to have breakfast again at Jan’s Cafe. The hiker we met in Darby, Paya was also in town and he joined us for breakfast. In addition to the usual eggs, hash browns and bacon, I treated myself to a piece of Pecan pie and a bottomless cup of drip coffee.

So with bellies bloated we waddled to the car and were soon off to rejoin the trail. The day was bright and sunny and we knew we had a long climb back along the Montan/Idaho fence. Another couple of section hikers, Steven and Mary were also getting a ride back to the trail.

Mike dropped us off at the trailhead and waiting there were Spaghetti and Meatballs and Windman whom we flipped with from New Mexico and saw them again southbound in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. So nice to see them and hear briefly about their last few weeks. It was good to hear that they are doing much better then the last time we saw them and were enjoying the hike.

So with bags loaded for the next 100 miles to Old Faithful in Yellowstone NP we were off. We were the last to leave the road at around 10am.

We said goodbye to Paya again and wished him well with his problems ordering hiking shoes online. We walked for a bit with Steven and Mary once we caught up to them. They were from Washington State and have had quite an adventurous life, with lots of outdoor adventures. They stopped for a break and Hammer and I continued on.

It was warm and the trail followed the fence up and along a ridge still on the Idaho/Montana border. It was interesting that the geology on this side of the highway was completely different to the sections we hiked coming into Lima. There was obsidian and other volcanic rocks and boulders suggesting volcanic activity shaped this section of the landscape.

We stayed high on a forested ridge for some time with views over to very flat valleys on both sides. The wildflowers were bursting in colour and the pine forest gave off that lovely sweet smell. It was really quite pleasant hiking for most of the day. We stopped to camp by a small lake. The mosquitos were very happy to have us arrive.