Day 83 - easy walk into Anaconda (19.4 miles)

July 31, 2021

Miles: 19.1 miles

Steps: 40,345

For some reason I have no problem waking up at 5am the day I’m heading into town. Must be something about low food and the idea of a shower and clean clothes. I knew I had an easy walk into town.

I never could see the main lake that I was camping next to as there were a lot of trees and it was dark when I left camp. I did see one of the smaller lakes right next which is why I guess it’s called Twin Lakes, not as nice as the Twin Lakes in Colorado.

The first 8 miles were on very flat dirt paths, some trail and some road. I got through that area pretty quick other than the wrong turn I took.

Then once I hit highway 1 it was road walking all the way to Anaconda. Luckily I didn’t have to hike on highway 1 very much as it’s a very busy highway and cars didn’t like to move over very much. Most of the road walk was on side roads that parallel to highway 1. For the most part those were gravel and had more shade than the highway. It would have been a little short to have walked highway 1 all the way in but the reward was not worth the risk.

Got into town around noon and went straight to the grocery store to buy a few things and eat lunch at their deli. Also got a few things from the hardware store to fix my tent and pack.

After lunch I went over to the town park that has a small building for CDT hikers. To get in I had to text a trail angel for the code. Inside the building was a table, fridge, microwave, hiker box, lockers and bikes to get around town.

Spent time cleaning up and fixing my gear. Was able to fix my broken tent poles with a medal rod and heavier tape. I also got a little sewing kit to fix the rips and tears on my pack. I still need to fix the hole(s) in my air mattress but really need a bathtub to help locate them.

After getting everything fixed up I grabbed one of the bikes and went over to the RV park to get a tent spot for the night. I could have camped at the park for $10 but at the RV park I could shower and do laundry for just a few extra dollars. However I did have to go back to the store to get laundry detergent.

While waiting for my clothes to dry there were some kind of argument between the 2 owners of the park, bad enough the police had to show up. I had to wait for a break to where I could ask to go into the office to get my clothes.

Then it was off to Dairy Queen for dinner. Only when I got there a little after 7pm they had stopped cooking food and only ice cream so I had the largest and most calorie blizzard, brownie batter.

Then on the way back to the RV park I stop at a Dollar Store to grab a few things as I was still hungry.

Back at the RV I still had the bike I had borrowed from the hiker hut so I rode it back so I wouldn’t have to do that in the morning or worry about it getting stolen overnight.

Looking forward to my zero day tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll be able to get an early check in to my hotel room. Would have been nice to have 2 nights in a bed but all the hotel rooms in town were booked for tonight. I will have to walk a little over a mile to the hotel so really it won’t be a true zero day.