Section 3: Eureka to Bonners Ferry

Day 9: July 3, 2014

Miles Hiked: 0 (our first zero day!)

*Eureka*

Woke up early and headed over to Nicki’s for breakfast. I had slept terribly, getting soaked by the sprinklers in the park (it’s a long story). Also got rained on. Nicki made it all better, cooking up what seemed like endless hashbrowns, fried eggs, breakfast sausage and coffee.  It’s amazing how nice people have been so far. Her dogs, Hugo and Argus were pretty darn cute. Next we went to the Butcher and got our resupply, my solar panel and my tent (I switched out my 1-person tent for my preferred REI Half-Dome). Shipped the other tent home along with a nalgene, my stove (Matt’s works great!) and some extra clothes I haven’t been wearing. Got all of our food prepped for the next stretch of the trip. Got some sweet deals at the local thrift store and celebrated with some really cheap Coldsmokes ($2.50/pint!) at the VFW. They had free WIFI and Matt and I got lucky at “shake the dice” and won two more free drinks. Went swimming again in the river and made dinner (which Matt later threw up I found out). Excited to hit the trail again!

 

Day 10: July 4, 2014

Miles Hiked: 23.4 miles

Eureka -> Mt. Webb

Woke up earlyish, slept terribly again. Grabbed some coffee from the Gas Station across the road and the four of us headed out (Matt, Auds, Benzo and myself). Easy hiking for 9 miles on the Kootenai Trail along Lake Koocanusa (combination of Kootenai, Canada and USA) to the town of Rexford. Then we hiked on Highway 37 to the Koocanusa Bridge. Really hot hiking but some music really helped power us through. Stopped at a swimming hole right before the bridge and swam/filled up on water. The bridge was kind of scary, as the wind made ominous noises while we crossed it. On the other side we met Kathryn “Crazy Legs” Kolberg, a PCT and AT thru-hiker who offered us beers and ginger ales. Then we started up Mt. Webb and saw our second PNT sign! The hike up was 4 miles and steep but we made it. Met a guy named Steve at the lookout tower who gave us beer as we watched the fireworks in the valley below. Happy 4th of July!

 

Day 11: July 5, 2014

Miles Hiked: 13.5 miles

Mt. Webb -> Mt. Henry

Gonna be a short log entry. Woke up and said bye to Steve. Got on the trail and started seeing a lot more PNT signs. Day went very slow, with lots of ups and downs without many views. Gypsy lake was a Mosquito Haven, don’t camp there! Finally made it to Mt. Henry which did offer an incredible view (still able to see Glacier!). Really windy. Changed into some fresh (ish) clothes and went to bed. Lesson of the day is to always eat breakfast before moving or your first 3-4 miles will be grumpy.

 

Day 12: July 6, 2014

Miles Hiked: 22 miles

Mt. Henry -> 6 miles before TR 8 (approx. #0186)

Got our earliest start so far! Woke up at 6:30 am to “Oye Como Va” by Santana, ate a big ol’ breakfast and hiked down Mt. Henry. The descent was steep and hurt the knees. It was well worth it though because the waterfall at Vinal Creek was gorgeous. The next 3.3 miles of hiking were equally beautiful going through some old growth of Western Red Cedars (alternate route). Many different species of butterflies. Then we did some serious road walking. A quick dunk in the Yaak River and then we made it 4 miles up the road before we pooped out. No need to push ridiculous miles if you ain’t gonna enjoy them! Great bear hanging branch on of the the road switchbacks where we camped. Not such a great night though…….

 

Day 13: July 7, 2014

Miles Hiked: 15

TR 8 ->Midge Creek Trail

Unlucky day #13…. didn’t set up a tent last night (long story, but my poles didn’t make it to Eureka) and got unexpectedly rained on. Nothing like a wet down sleeping bag…. Probably slept 2 hours. No matter, we pushed on after letting my stuff dry in the morning and finally made it up to TR 8. Then we hiked TR 8 for 4 miles and met a couple on the trail. Really beautiful hiking, stark contrast between the West and East slopes. Ate a quick lunch, hike 5.5 more road miles and made it to the Midge Creek trailhead. Met a 70 year old named Ed there who had an awesome RV setup. He said he had been camping there for 2 weeks every year the last 20+ years.

 

Day 14: July 8, 2014

Miles Hiked: 23 + (2 lost and found miles)

Midge Creek -> Feist Creek Resort

Woke up at 4:30 am to get an early start. We were nervous about how long of a day it was going to be, although we knew a cheeseburger was waiting at the end of it.  Hit the trail by 6 am and got to the first ridge no problem. Then we got lost (the trail wasn’t very well marked at all) and I saw 3 wolves! Finally found the trail and continued up through Rock Candy Mountain. The trail was bad but improved as you went along. Then we did the 1.2 mile rocky bushwack that wasn’t as bad as we had imagined. Got lost again looking for the shortcut to TR 35 (really easy to find actually, we were just fatigued). Found it and were disheartened when it said 11 miles to go (we were expecting 7 based on the Trail Digest). Ended up being more like 8 miles, though they were exhausting, particularly the last 4 downhill. In a daze and exhausted we stumbled into Feist Creek probably resembling zombies more than anything else. Some of the nicest people ever at the Resort. We ordered 2 pitchers, 3 bacon cheeseburgers, onion rings and a BBQ pulled pork sandwich. When Audrey pulled out her terribly blistered feet is when we got the royal treatment. We received WIFI, free showers and a place to camp next to their trailers. If you ever meet Bill, Lisa or Shelly, send them our love! We will definitely be writing them some postcards. Bill explained that he was going in to Bonners Ferry the next day to get new tires put on the firetruck and offered us a ride. With Audrey’s feet in the state they were in, we gratefully agreed.  Excited to ride in a firetruck!

 

Day 15: July 9, 2014

Miles Hiked: 0 (hitched 24 miles)

Feist Creek Resort -> Bonners Ferry

Woke up early to meet Bill outside the resort. He picked us up in his truck and we drove to the local fire station. Matt and I got to ride up ON TOP of the fire truck and Audrey rode co-pilot. The drive was amazing and we saw a sweet bald eagle perched on top of a tree. Bill was such a nice guy, and explained he had been living here for some 67 years or so. We got into Bonners Ferry early and headed over to Soulshine (based on a yelp review and picture) for breakfast. Best decision ever. Their burritos were so delcious, so filling and so cheap. They use local ingredients. Their coffee was off the hook. We decided to come back for dinner. We went and did some much needed laundry and then hopped on over to Mugsy’s to watch the Argentina-Nederlands game.  Such a close game! So happy for Argentina and seeing the Nederlands lose is every Spaniards dream. We went to Soulshine for lunch at halftime (we are hooked on this place). Went over the fairgrounds for free camping. Then we took a nap and scooted over to the local brewery for some good beer (Pilsner and IPA were the best, Pale Ale not so much) and some disappointing food.  Soulshine for every meal from now on (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it). After dinner we got 3 pints of Ice Cream for the 4 of us (we met up with Benzo again!) and read some Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.