Several wondwrful things happened on this section. First, as the mile crunchers pulled ahead, I found myself in with a bubble of hikers who were slowing down. Seeing how close to the end they were getting, they wanted to extend the journey. And as I was getting my trail legs and able to handle 25 per day, we met in the middle.
Much of of the day I was hiking alone, as they could go at auch faster pace than me and my hobbit legs. But we ended up camping together at night. So I had a nice trail family with Baby and her dog, Luna, Proton and Dream Catcher, Youngblood, and others.
Also- plentiful water. It's nice to only have to carry a liter and a half at a time.
Best of all- HUCKLEBERRIES! Ripe huckleberries we're everywhere and I walked along, picking them off the bushes and popping them in my mouth. What a wonderful treat than just kept appearing.
And speaking of treats, when I reached the road crossing to Trout Lake, two trail Angels were there, Coppertone and Gary, serving up root beer floats. Fresh fruit, and other goodies.
I got a ride into town very quickly and found Trout Lake to be a wonderful little town. I guess lots of other hikers did, too, since all the lodging was full. But I found a nice lady, Jean, who rented out the spare bedroom in her house with an attached bathroom and laundry room. Jean is 80 and still cross country skis in the winter.
So showered, laundry done, resupplied, and belly full of huckleberry shake, I hit the trail once again the next morning.