Ryan & Jordan

Day 10 was a long, good day. We hiked for a lot of hours. We slept like babies–the kind that sleep really well.

We took our time in the morning, making breakfast and making friends with the incessantly bold chipmunks who wanted to eat with us. (One got in my lap, probably knowing I had trail mix in my pocket.)

We were still like the lake. It was beautiful and we were thankful.

The road trip theme of “taking things as they come” continued as we descended from our campsite toward where we started. We struck up a conversation with two other backpackers, had two delightfully surprising small-world connections in the Idahoan wilderness, and then we were friends.

We ended our hike with our new friends, said goodbye for now, and drove away.  Next stops were for natural hot springs and local ice cream in Idaho City.

And we arrived back in Boise.  We checked in to the Idaho Heritage Inn, a lovely B&B where we were welcomed and well fed by Thomas (a great and pleasantly unconventional innkeeper). We were bummed that we missed Bill Cosby, but at least he left his picture, and you can only ask for so much.