Sawtelle Resort, ID

It was hot in our room and we did not sleep well. Had breakfast at Jan's, hung my shoes on the shoe tree (new shoes!), then got dropped off where we crossed the highway. We walked the frontage road on the east side until we came to a junction with a dirt road that lead to Beaver Creek. We passed a sheep farm, went passed Long Creek, passed a herd of cows by a spring, passed Boatman Spring, got water at what would have been a nice spring, except cows had defiled it, then climbed to the Divide. We contoured around Little Table Mt., saw a mama moose and calf, got water at Pete Creek, walked the Divide toward Big Table Mt., but took a shortcut past it to a "spring." The spring was gross, so we pushed to Rock Spring. Here, we met a CDTA trail crew who were about to have dinner, and they shared their spaghetti and garlic bread with us. They even had already treated water for us. We pushed further past switchbacks, and found another lumpy campsite. DP saw a coyote. Full moon tonight!

Got lost within the first 15 minutes of hiking. Had to pull out the GPS to figure out where to go. The morning was cloudy and cool for a change, but the bugs were still bad. A lot of the trail was overgrown, and we had to keep looking for blazes. We had lunch at the trailhead for Aldous Lake, drank much more coffee, then pressed on. As we came to a well running creek, we ran into a NoBo, Thirsty Boots, who was having medical issues and was thinking of getting off trail. We thought we had enough water to get us to the next spring. We started climbing a hill, saw a bull moose (second of the day) and a hawk, when it started to rain. We took shelter in a stand of trees, had just pitched the tent when it stopped raining. We went on thinking the spring was nearby, but it was completely dry! We backtracked, saw another bull moose, calling out "Marco Polo" to find each other as we tried to find some water. DP was able to find some brackish stuff in a neck deep willow thicket that would have to do. We slogged to the bottom of some switchbacks to Taylor Mt. where we set up camp on an abandoned dirt road.

Got climbing up the switchbacks and saw a moose and calf not more than 100 yards from our campsite. The road was an old mining road, and it was easy going to Taylor Mt. A trail opened up from the road, and we set up the tent to dry out, as it had rained the previous night. We saw a coyote on the ridge across the way, so I called to it. It responded by first coming towards us, but once it realized we weren't coyotes, it ran away. We crossed a saddle and came to a dirt road. There was a spring here with a cistern, but there were two dead birds in it. We thought we had enough water to make it to Lillian Lake, bypassing Blair Lake by following a new trail to the south. We found a clear flowing stream on the trail, so we filled up. We decided to take the Macks Inn Route, instead of Henry Lake. This meant 'shwhacking along the Hell Roaring Creek. DP caught his toe on a sharp rock and tore his shoe so badly that all five toes popped out! We came to the most remote source of the entire Missouri/Mississippi. We started towards Sawtelle Peak, when I had a mental meltdown. I wasn't feeling like hiking, and wasn't sure why I was out here. DP and I had a heart to heart, and I started to feel better. We found the easy graded road down White Elephant Canyon and decided to camp by a spring near a large utility building. Once camp was made and we settled in, I heard a noise; a large animal was moving towards us! It turned out to be two more moose galumphing through the forest. Such odd creatures!

We actually started moving before 7:00 am. That hadn't happened since we hiked with Mike and RT. We started back down the road; easy walking. Some miles further while passing some homes, we caught the stench of a dead animal. There was a moose in the woods next to the road, and it's ear moved so it was not dead yet. Not sure what hurt it, but I would guess it was hit by a car. A little closer to town, we ran into another NoBo, Ice Axe. We chatted with him a bit before heading into Sawtelle for breakfast. We got a room and did our chores, then sat around doing nothing but watching TV. Had dinner then bed.