While I was giving my foot a much needed rest in Republic, Sarah, also known as Mighty Mouse, who had started with me in Glacier National Park, caught up to me. I had not seen her since my first resupply in Polebridge, even though we had tried many times to reconnect. We were both looking forward to hiking together again.

The trail winds around Republic and there are a number of places where hikers can get off trail to go into town. Also, Republic has a strong network of trail angels willing to help hikers with rides. As a result I made arrangements with a trail angel also named Sarah to leave many items from my pack with her. She agreed to meet mighty mouse and I a few days further along and bring the items to us. This allowed us to leave town with much lighter packs. Because I was trying to get my pack as light as possible to give my foot a break, I even left my stove behind and only took food I could eat without preparation. Rather than carrying eight days of food, I left Republic carrying only three.

The trail out of Republic again involved a bushwhack. Once again, hikers had the choice of doing the “official” route which was an almost four mile bushwhack or do a longer route with a shorter bushwhack but a very steep climb. After talking with Karrie, I realized I could skip both of those options. It involved two extra miles of hiking, but would keep us on trails and avoid bushwhacking. Sarah was game to do this with me so when we arrived at what is known as bushwhack point, we took our own alternate route.

Our alternate included some overgrown trail with stinging nettles and a very short section during which we lost the trail together. But it never included an outright bushwhack. This route had plenty of water and also included a lovely area of huckleberries, which Sarah and I spent over an hour picking and eating. And while there was some significant descent and climb, it was much less than the other route would have been. Still, by the end of the hot day, Sarah and I were both more than ready to stop for the night when we rejoined the official trail.

I enjoyed hiking with Sarah as much as I’ve enjoyed hiking with anyone in a long time. We had an easy camaraderie and hiked at very similar paces. As we continued our loop around Republic, we shared snacks and helped each other with tasks such as gathering water so we wouldn’t both have to make the run down to the stream. It added a delightful quality to our hike and I thought how interesting it was that one of the youngest people on the trail was paired up with one of the oldest on the PNT. I enjoyed sharing what I knew with Sarah and her enthusiasm was good for me. It reminded me of the importance of cross generational activities. I thought how sad it is that in our world today so many activities are separated by age.

Trail angel Sarah met us at our prearranged spot and once again Mighty Mouse and I were lugging full packs as we headed towards Oroville.

Temps were still high and the trail did its usual climbing away from a road. There was so much smoke in the air from forest fires that my throat was burning. Sarah put on a mask to hike with. I experimented with ways to lessen the pain in my foot on the climb. I had some success on the way up, but the downhill was incredibly painful. It was even worse when we got out onto a long paved road walk. I was glad to have Sarah out in front to keep me going. We both had our umbrellas up as protection from the sun beating down on the shadeless road.

We were both ecstatic when we reached Bonaparte Lake, where we gleefully jumped in and cooled off. The water here was a delightful temperature for swimming.

The following morning we again started with a long uphill slog. Again I was able to find ways to lessen the pain in my foot during the climb. But when we came to the side trail going up to the peak I let Sarah go ahead while I slowly started the climb down. I didn’t want to walk any extra miles on that left foot, especially since there was so much smoke in the air that I didn’t expect the view from the peak to be spectacular.

Sarah caught up with me on the way down and following her inspired me to pick up my pace despite the pain in my foot. After cooking and eating dinner by a lovely stream, we dry camped for the night.

The following morning we made our way into Havillah. Even though it was only about 6 miles, I was ready to cry by the time we arrived at the Lutheran Church which welcomes hikers.

My foot was becoming way too painful for me to enjoy myself. I decided it was time to try to find out what was going on with it. My fear was that there might be a stress fracture, so after settling in at the church, eating and enjoying some of the food they had stocked for hikers, including fresh fruit and frozen pot pies, I made some phone calls to find out what my options were for my foot. The closest place for an X-ray was at the hospital in Tonasket just under twenty miles away.

Jessica, who was painting the church when we arrived, offered to drive me to the Tonasket, so I set off with her on what would turn out to be yet another adventure. But that is a story for another day!