Day 98 – 7/29/13 – 12.2 mi (1733.6)

We spent the morning doing important town chores, like riding the world’s largest jackalope at the gas station down the street.

We also had to secure camping permits for Yellowstone. We spent a long time pouring over maps and figuring out mileages and campsites, particularly challenging with a group of 7 due to capacity limits at certain sites. Of course, when we called the permit office none of the campsites we wanted were available, and we had to take what we could get. For the day we get into Old Faithful, we will hitch to a car camping site 17 miles away, affording us time for touristing.

After all that headache, at least getting back to the trail was easy. Judith and Terry, the couple who brought us cookies yesterday picked us up directly from our hotel and shuttled us to the trail. They are great people and we’re very thankful for their generosity.

The skies were ominous as we walked past beautiful Brooks Lake, with a bunch of cliffy pinnacles surrounding the valley.

Not more than a few drops of rain fell until it was dinner time. We all huddled under some trees and cooked and ate quickly. Cold and wet, we only walked another mile or so on trail which had become a mud pit before camping for the night.