July 16 Mileage: zero By some stroke of magic, there's a sliding-scale clinic in Dillon where office visits only cost $20. I don't have insurance and I'm paying for everything out of pocket, so this is kind of amazing. There's hardly anyone at the clinic, I don't have to wait, and everyone is super friendly … Continue reading CDT day 73 and 74: and the mystery is solved

July 15 Mileage: 25 1,326.5 miles hiked It's too warm when I wake up in the morning. Why do I feel so hot? I wriggle out of my sleeping bag, releasing all the farts. I claw off my puffy jacket. As soon as I sit up- wham. The fatigue hits me like a truck. Waking … Continue reading CDT day 72: no-one in the history of anything has ever felt as tired as I do right now

July 14 Mileage: 25 1301.5 miles hiked I sleep so goood behind the library in Leadore, on the concrete sidewalk under the overhang. I pack up slow and we sit outside the general store, warming in the sun. Once it opens Spark and Track Meat buy wonderful gas station breakfast- sausage blueberry pancake "corndogs", apple … Continue reading CDT day 71: out of Leadore, back into the mountains

July 13 Mileage: zero Our luck hitchhiking back to Leadore is the opposite of our luck hitching to Missoula. Basically we spend all day standing on the shoulder of the road in the sun/heat/rain/cold in beautiful/depressing Hamilton/Darby/random rest area/Salmon eating gas station curly fries/chicken wings/leftover chips and get rides from liberal/conservative/intoxicated/friendly folks and finally we … Continue reading CDT day 70: the longest hitch

July 12 Mileage: zero Breakfast burritos, gluten-free baked goods, watching a marathon. Sitting for hours at the doctor's office in a gown, listening to all the bustle around me. Blood samples, poop samples. I'll get the results by phone in the next couple of days. Just sitting there I feel dizzy and exhausted again, like … Continue reading CDT day 69: much relax

July 11 Mileage 7.5 1,276.5 miles hiked 7.5 miles on a jeep track through the gently blowing grass and the sagebrush to the highway, the sun bright and blustery overhead. We wait a long time for a ride, sitting in the gravel leaning on our packs. Spark shows me how to play Magic. There's a … Continue reading Cdt day 68: and then we went to Missoula

July 10 Mileage 31 1,269 miles hiked I'm awake too early, although I had some amazing dreams. Where am I? I feel like shit today. I'm the dizziest I've been, and I'm exhausted. The long steep climbs are comically difficult. Caffeinated crystal light does nothing! I'm in a dark mood. Hiking is supposed to be … Continue reading CDT day 67: I just want to nap for a hundred years

July 9 Mileage 29 1,238 miles hiked I sleep wonderfully and pound a packet of grape-flavored caffeinated crystal light in the morning. Or, as my friend Chance calls it, caffeinated crystal meth. My god, I feel amazing now! Let's hike! We climb all morning, through the monotonous lodgepole forest. (Is it lodgepole? I think so.) … Continue reading CDT day 66: choose your own brutality

July 8 Mileage 31 1,209 miles hiked The light-headedness is back this morning. I feel frustrated and bummed by this. Physical exertion makes me feel a little like I'm gonna fall over. Oh well. Time to hike. Huge climbs today- or maybe they're not that big. I wouldn't know. Everything feels hard. I fall behind, … Continue reading CDT day 65: more adventures in bummersville

July 7 Mileage 21 1,178 miles hiked It's hard to leave Darby. We do a good job though. We've eaten breakfast, caught a ride, and we're back on the trail by... eleven a.m.! I think that's some sort of record! We're playing the Post Office Game again this section. The Post Office Game is such: … Continue reading CDT day 64: the Post Office Game