Breakfast wasn't served until 8:00 so we slept in. We ate breakfast at the lodge so we were slow to leave. We walked the extra 1.5 miles back to the trailhead and started our 3000' climb. As we passed trail crew they told us that blueberries were ripe just ahead. We followed a pair of day hikers from Boise for a while until a trail junction.

Our trail followed the path of a burn. Instead of being depressing, the burn opened up views of picturesque mountains and allowed rampant wildflowers to bloom. Once we were over the top and down a long sandy wash we ended up strolling through a marshy area, sharing the trail with mountain bikers and day hikers.

The campground was full. We should have kept hiking but the host found a spot for us at the back of the sites. Ken went off to get water from an old fashioned pump that didn't produce. At the same time the CG host's grandson delivered water and invited us to dinner! We declined dinner but couldn't pass up watermelon.

We ambled back to our tent in the unofficial tent site past a beaver pond, seeing two beavers.

Tomorrow we have to make up the miles that we didn't hike today or we'll run out of food.

Whew! We did make up for yesterday. We had an easy, fun day and entered the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness late this afternoon. We met many day hikers and three backpackers in this popular recreation area. Many of our miles were road walks so the miles flew by.

Our early start was past the beaver pond again, this time with steam rising off the surface but no beavers. We hiked over Elk Mtn. These mountains are some of the most gorgeous I've seen now that they're still draped with strips of snow from the tops.

We talked to a Ranger in the afternoon. He wanted to give us a USFS map of the area but we said "no, thanks". I hope that wasn't a mistake. (In hindsite we should have taken that map. It would have been helpful.)

Our final miles took us into the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness along with many hikers out for a stroll. The river referred to is the Salmon River and it's multiple forks.

Our campsite was under a huge tree on the needle duff. Small plinks on out tent were made by tiny worms falling out of the the tree. I hope that the tree will be well.

We wanted lunch at Dagger Falls. The Ranger that offered us a map said to enjoy the falls for him so we knew that the falls were beautiful. When we got to the campground at the falls the day was already hot. We choose a table in the shade for lunch…quite civilized!

We baked on the road walk climbing to the trail head, a staging area for both rafters and equestrians. A pickup drove past us several times, the riders looking for their missing horses.

We were back on trail from the trailhead, hiking out of a burned area into a really scenic area with three day hikers. When our trail led back to the river we started seeing kayakers and rafters. I’m sure they weren’t as hot as we were on the trail high above the river.

We were getting worried about finding a campsite when we were still hiking on the sheer wall above the river. Finally our trail descended to the river. Three backpackers were nestled in the rocks beside the river. They’d had a hard day and really looked thrashed. A short distance past their camp we got to a huge, sandy rafters campsite. It was ours for the night. What a set up: water at our feet, soft ground, soothing river sounds, gorgeous canyon views and a (smelly) hot spring at the river.

We left our large campsite and continued down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. The river now seems to be a raft, kayak and pontoon highway and we saw the same crafts repeatedly as they passed us then took a shore break. They all looked like they were having fun so I tried to figure out a way to aqua blaze. We hear at least twenty small planes landing or taking off at nearby landing strips. The wilderness is not boring or lonely.