I ate breakfast at Grant Village, hitched to the main highway, then hitched again to the Heart Lake trailhead.  The first car stopped and I got a ride from a very nice younger guy on vacation. What a relief to finally get out of Grant Village – that place was really getting me down.

I felt very run down all day and took a couple of naps on the side of the trail. The hives continue to spread. They start out at a spot and radiate outward concentrically until they merge and form a giant welt that itches so bad that I end up scratching open sores in my skin. I also think I have a low grade fever, but not sure.

I’ve hiked this section to Heart Lake a few times before with Pat, so no big surprises here. There are a few small thermal features on the way into Heart Lake and the lake itself is beautiful.

The trail skirts around the north and east sides of Heart Lake and follows the Heart River to the Snake River. It then goes up the Snake River valley for a long way. This area forms the headwaters of the Snake River and it is beautiful and remote. The valley has huge meadows peppered with thick forested areas. The trail itself runs along the northeast side of the valley where the slope starts to get steep. The terrain became steeper and soon the trail degraded to a rutted mess that kept going up and down the slope above the river. This was exhausting for me at the end of the day. It is beautiful here, but all I want is a flat hidden spot out of sight of patrolling rangers where I can setup my tent and get some sleep.

I managed 18.5 miles, but that was all I had in me.  I’m stealth camping about 10 miles from the Yellowstone border on a small terrace above the trail.  I don’t think I’m visible from the trail and with any luck the rangers and bears will walk right by and never know I’m up here. I saw a deer and an elk today.