Bannock Pass to Lima, MT

From Bannock Pass we started to ascend to the highest elevation obtained thus far on the trail, 10,200 feet. This section was cold! Montana had a random cold spell and it was sub freezing temperatures in our tent! The scenery was amazing throughout the entire section. Grasslands with giant mountains in the middle of it all. We saw a badger this section, 3 bull moose hanging out together, herds of elk, antelope, and a small black bear. We were so happy to arrive to the end of our section because we were greeted by Chuck, Brian's dad, halfway up the divide. We stayed in Lima, MT at a great roadside motel. For dinner we even went to a colorful restaurant where we cooked our own steaks. Now we are off to Wyoming and beyond.

Chief Joseph Pass to Bannock Pass

We started back on the trail amongst piles of hail. The sky was so dark and it was only noon. We amazingly did not get stormed on this day, but the weather was a lot cooler this section. The Bitterroot Mountains were beautiful and rugged. We followed the Montana and Idaho border the whole entire section. We paid dearly for taking two weeks off of the trail. Our bodies got reintroduced to the pain of hiking 20 miles a day, in new shoes. We were now two weeks behind all of the other southbound thru hikers that we started with. However, we started running into hikers that were northbound and had started in New Mexico in April! Towards the end of the section we began to feel like we were at home again, and the joint and foot pain started decreasing. However, there was still the mental pain of knowing that we still have 2000+ miles to hike. We just continue to take it day by day.

The Weddings

In case some of you didn't notice, by our lack of updates and SPOT transmissions, Brian and I took two weeks off of the trail to attend the weddings of our friends Lane and Rory, and Melody and Mike. We wanted to share some of the pictures because both of the weddings were so beautiful! We were so happy to see all of our friends, and make new ones, and share in the celebrations. Lane and Rory were married on "the farm" in Bozeman, MT and Melody and Mike were married on "the spit" in Homer, AK. It was also wonderful to meet the parents and family of our friends, and we wanted to say thank you to everyone.

More updates to come...

We apologize for our lack of updates over the last several weeks. We attended our close friends weddings; one in Bozeman, MT and the other in Homer, AK. We got back on the trail August 7th and hiked from Chief Joseph Pass, on the Idaho/Montana border, to Bannock Pass. It was very brutal to get back on the trail after two weeks off and with new shoes to break in. This section was beautiful through the Bitterroot Mountains up north and south into open high grasslands. In the next section we continue to make our way through Idaho on our way to Wyoming. We will make every attempt to update our web page after this next section with pictures, assuming we find a fast computer.
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