To Darby Day 1: Lakes

I only hiked 8.3 miles today. But I hitchhiked 11 or 12 so whatever. 

I was reluctant to return to the trail. Relaxing in the air conditioning was appealing. But I left at 12:30 and hitched to the end of the pavement. My feet couldn’t do any more pavement. 

The dirt road was lined with very large mushrooms. It was hot and sunny. The dirt road became a trail to Twin lakes and it, too, was hot and sunny. My pack felt heavy with 5 days of food. There were lots of day hikers it was Saturday and the trail is not difficult or far from Anaconda. 

Eventually the forest became thick. The trees were much larger and healthier. The forest duff underfoot was soft and springy. There were side creeks and moss on the ground. 

The trail became more narrow after the two lakes. It climbed steeple first to a boulder field and a meadow and then almost straight up to Twin Lakes Pass. On the other side of the pass thunder started brewing and I hurried to Storm Lake to try and find a campsite. It started to rain. 

Mowgli appeared as I reached the lake. There were car campers at the lake and he was disappointed. I didn’t care and started looking for a good site. I found a nice one just as it stopped raining. I could hear car engines idling, kids playing and dogs barking but I didn’t care. It’s a nice lake and I’m only 3.6 miles away from the red line and I feel I can relax here, sort of continue my Nero day.