We walked through Oz today; the high desert is emerald green studded with yellow daisies, pink or orange Indian paintbrush, mustard, blue flowers, mallow and more. Even the sage was vibrant green instead of gray-green. Meadowlarks, songbirds and crows were noticeable all day. We tracked antelope, coyotes, lizards and some very small mammal. Wow, what a treat!

Hiking was on two track or cross country. Both were flat and rocky. Our heavy water loads made hiking hard work. Navigation was easy and the trail was marked with carsonite poles. Becki, Steve and Aiden tracked us down at mile 5 and handed over the bagels that we had forgotten in the car. Thanks!

Clouds cast a shadow on us occasionally and a frequent breeze helped keep us cool. What a great hiking day.

By the numbers: 6 gates open & shut; 2 cattle guards crossed; 1 fence crossed; 3 people seen (Becki, Steve & Aiden); nothing automated seen or heard except Steve's SUV.

Bengoechea's cabin looked like it had burned. The roof was gone and some of the rock was collapsing. Old Ben had to have been a tough old coot. We stopped near the cabin for lunch and a doe circled us in order to watch us eat. We also saw an antelope and a few jackrabbits. This was day two without seeing people.

Winter Camp had collapsing rock walls too. We seemed to be walking through on irrigation day and had to take detours around standing water in the road ruts. The setting was very green from all the water.

Ken climbed down a steep rock bank to reach the water...and realized that he was missing the filter cartridge. We had to dip the water since this is our only water stop until Hammett. Rinsing off was incredibly delicious. We camped just before the road left the valley to climb the canyon wall.

This was a long, hot 20 mile hike through the sage day. We were in a hurry to get to Bruneau Overlook that gives a great view of the Jarbidge River deep below in the canyon.

The second reason for our rush was that we wanted to order a filter cartridge. There was cell coverage at the outlook. I think we got lucky... the cartridge is being shipped overnight to Hammett from Boise.

We talked to a family of 4 at the overlook but that doesn't count for our hiker tally. I also found an ICT hiker's maps way out on a sketchy two track road.

Ken found a campsite in the grass on the side of a hill, or rather, a place to put the tent. It was lumpy but the view made up for the discomfort.

We're camped right on the Old Oregon Trail on a closed section of road behind a berm.

We had a big day starting with a fast 15 miles to Hammett for resupply, lunch and PO. The store held our box so we sorted and ate at one booth. Whew! Seven day's food is huge.

Benchmark Outfitters came through to solve the filter problem by mailing it overnight from Boise. Emil sent both a replacement cartridge that we weren't positive would fit our filter and an entire new filter with a note that we could return what we couldn't use. The replacement worked. While at the PO we signed the ICT Trail Register - first ones!

Since we had untreated water, I sent esp messages to cars to stop and ask if we needed water. It worked later today as were leaving Hammett. A IDOT worker gave us chilled water when we walked past the highway yard, chatting until the bottles were empty and the taking them back.

As we walked a mere fence separated the desert from prolific agricultural fields. Irrigation sprinklers were busily pumping out massive amounts of water pumped up from the Snake River. We had our first break while sitting on pipe stanchions while booming blasts shook the Sayer Bombing Range on the other side of the fence. We read a sign that said objects may fall from the sky...bombs, do you think?

The good news is that it is supposed to cool off tomorrow, so we