In the library in Salmon we caught up with some other CDT hikers through their online journals. We speculate that Roni, a northbound CDT hiker from Israel, will arrive at this pass soon. He�s been feeling tired and lonely lately, so we leave him a note and some goodies tied to a post near the trail.

After reconnecting with I-15 we arrive in Lima, another supply town. Not much here would interest a hiker besides the café and convenience store. A few miles further up the interstate is Monida, which looks like a ghost town except for one inhabited home. Here we take off on a long dirt road that runs just north of the divide.

We stop in a free campground in the Red Rock Wildlife Refuge. It has a beautiful piped spring and is right on the large Upper Lake. We walk along the road past MacDonald Lake, where a trumpeter swan family has taken up residence. This is one of many instances I have regretted not accepting my optician friend Randy’s offer of a pair of field glasses. At the time I was too worried about the weight, but now it doesn’t matter. We strain to get a good look at these huge nesting birds. A pamphlet at the campground says they can attain a wingspan of 8 feet. They mate for life, and spend months teaching their young to fly.

We try to be social in the evening, roasting corn in our neighbor’s fire. When a fierce rainstorm hits, though, we end up munching our corn while sitting in the car. The storm shows no sign of letting up at bedtime when we make a run for the tent.