Goodbyes

It was sad saying goodbye to Judith and Terry.  Judith and I had some great conversations and both of them had an impact on my hike and my life.  I'm blessed to have met them.  They cooked us a wonderful breakfast and then drove us back to the trail.  We started at noon and of course the usual clouds were building.  But our spirits were high.  I had two thick slices of homemade bread slathered with butter in my pack for lunch.  We ate lunch at Brooks lake.  There is a nice lodge there and campground.  After that we passed through a meadow and forest and by another lake.  

We met three women hiking a section of the CDT to Idaho who found each other online to do the hike and had just met in person that day.  They were so happy to be starting their trip.  It was very infectious.  So even when it started raining later we were still laughing.  

We've made up a song for the bears and a song for the storms and building a repertoire of noises for warning  the bears we are coming.  One day though and I'm already getting hoarse.  So I will have to buy a noisemaker of some sort in Cody.  We are camped at the South Fork of the Buffalo river.  We will ford it in the morning.  We are glad the level is down and it is safe to cross.  A couple weeks ago it wasn't and an alternate route was necessary.  Goodnight bears,  I hope to never see you!