Mullan, pop 800' had a great PO and Postmaster. Bitterroot Coffee was an excellent stop, too. The c-store had one or two of everything.

We walked extra miles into and out of town. The trail passed a large silver and lead mine on the edge of town. A nice park was convenient for mid-afternoon snack. We continued to see traces of mining and logging most of the afternoon. 

Trail started as a gravel road then became a dirt road then dirt bike trail. At some point Trail 7 split to continue on the MT side of the stateline and another trail goes to Upper Glidden Lake. We headed down to the lake on great trail through a beautiful forest with golden late afternoon sun. We also had to hike back up more than a mile. Our tent site is on the wrong trail and we haven't seen the junction or Trail 7.

Hope we have better luck in the morning because we...

Ken found our trail before we were packed up. He climbed steeply down until he reached a trail and walked it back to our tent. Hooray!

We seemed to climb all day, probably because the day got so hot. Climbing up from Thompson Pass took forever. The trail rose at a steady incline and the trail never bent. I had to look at the gps latitude to see if we were making progress. Somebody is logging Panhandle National Forest, skidding logs steeply down across the trail and leaving slash on the trail.

We talked to a FS employee who told us rain is a possibility on Saturday and that all the smoke we see is blowing down from British Columbia were they are burning stubble.

We saw campers at Blossom Lake with their fishing gear. In a few days the Brook Trout in the lake will be poisoned and the lake restocked with a native trout.

This area is so pretty with the added bonus of water which is rare on the stateline divide. We found a spring late in the day with excellent water. I found a place for our tent in someone's logging site. An area had been smoothed and leveled. Perfect for us!

The miles were easy...all were road miles. We started on a small dirt road that rolled up and down. Mileages were marked to the next junction so we could time our pace which pushed us to walk faster. Morning was cool, shady and crisp. Each road got slightly bigger but we didn't see traffic until we hit the paved road into town. 

Two dogs teased Ken, then one lay at his feet when we took a quick break. Apples are ripening on trees planted between the road and fences. The bumper crop is so heavy that branches are breaking. We helped the poor trees by picking and tasting apples. Some were already crisp and sweet. Town food was ahead so we walked faster. 

The old railroad bridge across the huge Clark Fork has been converted to a pedestrian bridge. Once again we saw many kayakers in the slow deep water. We are at the inlet of Lake Pend Oreille. The Meriwether Inn was on the highway that runs through town. It was clean and comfy and gets extra points for a cool name. The managers were interested in hikers and gave us a news article about a woman, her horses and dog touring the US. Sandpoint Mag in the room had an article about David Thompson. I need to read his just published autobiography when I finish hiking. 

We ate lunch at the cafe and dinner down the street where the coffee house was last year. The lunch salad was HUGE and fresh. I tried to get phone and email messages while I waited for food but reception was spotty. I was told best reception was standing in the middle of the lightly traveled highway in the middle of town. 

We had our fourth on-trail showers, sixth if we count Missoula and Superior. That averages out to a weekly shower. Our clothes haven't been so lucky. This is our fifth laundry opportunity including those in Missoula and Superior, which averages out to clean clothes every ten days...eeew!