I had been going at a pretty steady clip for a number of days. I did a long day out of Bonners Ferry with over 7000 feet of climbing. The following day I did the infamous lions head bushwhack after hiking 7 miles in the morning. Instead of taking a slow day following the bushwhack, I ended up hiking almost 18 miles to reach a beautiful campsite.

It finally caught up to me. I wasn’t moving fast getting out of upper Priest Lake, and then I just meandered along the side of it. When I came to a lovely beach I decided to go for a swim. After a wonderful dip in the lake, I rinsed some layers of dirt off my clothes. Then, even though it was still midmorning and I hadn’t walked very far, I pulled food out of my pack and cooked myself a good size meal.

I took my time really enjoying that place, watching the sun sparkle and dance on the lake. I chatted with a local man who was section hiking the Idaho Centennial Trail.

Finally I packed up and moved on down the trail, planning to take an alternate route into Metaline Falls. Due to past fires and unsafe conditions on the trail, the recommendation was to not take the official PNT. An alternate route was given, and I started out on that when I hit the junction of the two trails.

I didn’t get very far into the alternate when a dog came out to greet me along a remote Forest Road. Then the owners of the dog came out and greeted me, and soon it was clear that I wasn’t going to get any more miles down the trail. A young man, Tim, set up a folding chair for me and offered me some cold seltzer. He also provided me with a battery to charge my phone. It was running low because of using it a lot during the bushwhack. He even set up a battery powered fan and pointed it at me so I would be comfortable sitting there! He really was an exceptional young man.

He and his mother, Janet, were on a camping trip. Janet and Tim were from Wisconsin and their hospitality once again demonstrated what I came to know as “Wisconsin nice” when I did the Ice Age Trail.

His mother Janet and I instantly connected over our love of flowers and birds. We spent a while trying to figure out what a really interesting plant was. It was beautiful and I was pretty sure it was lichen but I didn’t know what kind.

I spent a lovely evening chatting with Janet about nature and Tim about some of his interesting adventures, which can be found at snafudadventures. com.

I was sorry to leave them in the morning when I once again headed out down the Forest Road towards Metaline Falls.