I wake up at 5am and think about packing up to get a jump on the day’s road walk. It’s still dark, and I don’t wanna walk by the deer carcass in the dark (an excuse to sleep in).

I sleep 30 more minutes and then start to get moving.

Quitter is already gone. I didn’t even hear him leave!

There’s a group of three young hikers packing up next to my tent. I’ve been calling them The Candy Kids (every time I see them they have a huge bag of candy).

They head out while I’m futzing with my bear hang.

The trail is a dirt road.

The morning light softens the surrounding landscape. I find it quite beautiful, rolling hills, interesting rocks, there’s a stream next to the road almost the whole way down.

Also, lots of private property signs. No camping here!

The sun light eventually chases away all the shade. The road spits out onto some gorgeous farmland. Hay bales dot the fields.

Sparrows burrow in an earth bank along the road. I try to get a picture but they fly away when I get near.

I’m surprised to see Quitter in the distance before me. I catch up to him right as he’s making a new friend.

We hike the rest of the road walk together. The day gets hot and the miles go by much faster with conpany.

We see two juvenile bald eagles hanging out on some farm equipment.

Check out those talons! That bird is huge!

The dirt road transitions into a paved one. We stop at a small parking lot to get water and rest in the shade of a parked truck. It looks like a great place for fishing! If I wasn’t trying to get to town fast I’d jump in for a swim.

We cross under I-90, the cars woosh by, so fast!

There’s a stretch of road with very little to no shoulder. The speed limit is 70miles an hour. Scary! Every car that comes towards us we step off into the brush several feet away from the pavement.

Thankfully that section doesn’t last too long and we’re walking along a road with a much wider shoulder.

The sun is high in the sky now and it is getting hotter.

My phone gets over heated and turns off. There was a really cool mining smoke stack as you walk by the outskirts of town. I wish I could have gotten a picture. Oh well.

I see a driver pulled over ahead of us, they’re moving an animal off the road. Oh no. As we near it, we see feathers everywhere. Someone hit an owl 😦

Poor owl. Was not expecting that. Road walks can be a bit sad. One sees a lot of road kill.

On a lighter note, we finally reach the town of Anaconda!

Quitter picks a place for lunch. He gets a burger and I order a grilled chicken sandwich with fried pickle spears. We eat in a near by park. The food tastes sooo good!

We made really good time for a 20 mile day to make it to town for lunch!

I head off to the Pintler Hostel and check in. It’s really nice! Unlimited showers, coin laundry, great kitchen and conmen room.

I shower and wash my clothes. The hostel has town clothes I can wear while I do laundry! It’s great!

I work on some blog posts then head out to find food.

Quitter and a bunch of other hikers are at a nearby taco spot and brewery. I join them and meet a bunch of new hikers and immediately forget everyone’s names. There was live music and it was loud. I’m sure I’ll see them all again in a more quiet setting.

I head back to the hostel and watch Nimona on the the TV. The hostel has Netflix!

I’m so excited to finally get to watch it! It came out while I’ve been hiking. Great job to everyone who worked on it! If you haven’t seen it I recommend checking it out!

It’s been really fun exploring Anaconda!

I may spend one more day here, I have a resupply box that hasn’t arrived at the post office yet.