Almost There!

At a campground near Hwy 89 and 17 ()
Day 166 – 10/4/17
Miles – 22.0
Total miles – 2562.6

Oh, what a cold night! Water froze inside our tents. Our socks froze as well as our shoes, and our Carnation Instant Breakfast had chunks of ice floating in it. Despite this, our attempts at extra insulation while we slept, worked. We managed to stay warm in our sleeping bags. Nonetheless, it was one cold night, the coldest of our entire trip. A harsh reminder, to let us know that winter is on our door steps and we need to get to the border as soon as possible. We hiked out about 8:30. A few hours later, as we crossed the ridge above St. Mary’s AJ came walking up behind us. AJ and Dundee camped a short mile ahead of us. Since it was nearly dark when we got in, we never saw or heard them. As we hiked the three miles into St. Mary’s, snow covered rugged peaks loomed above us, treating us with their magnificence. Once at St. Mary’s, we stopped at a store. AJ had already gotten there and Dundee has been waiting for all of us. To our surprise, the sisters were also there. The last time we had seen them was a day out of Lima. They have been road walking for several hundred miles, since Augusta. They wanted to avoid all snow. That explained how they had caught up with us. After getting something to eat, we all headed out for Babb, eight miles away. Yesterday afternoon as well as today, Mama Ravens’s plantars fascitis has kicked into high gear. She feels like she has an ice pick stabbing into her heel with every step. The pain is now all along the side of her feet, arch and shooting up into her lower leg. She has been putting up with this pain for a long time, but now it has become intolerable. She now hikes without putting her right heel on the ground which is altering her walk causing new aches. The miles of road walking has been hard on her foot. We only have fourteen miles more to go to Canada. Somehow she will make it. When we got to Babb, we wanted to get a room and slack pack to the border without the packs. This would make walking easier for Mama Raven. The only motel was full. We then walked to the junction with Hwy 17 and stopped at a small campground for the night. We came into the campground and no one was about. The sign said to pick a spot and someone would be by later. I walked by the four cabins, hoping that one would be open. A warm cabin would be great, but all of them were locked up. We set up the tents in one of the only places that was clear of snow and we settled down for the night. So far no one as come by. Maybe they will hold our packs for us and we can slack pack tomorrow. We will see. Either way, we will reach Canada tomorrow. Yeah!