We overslept by an hour and a half this morning. I think we needed the rest.

At breakfast I looked at a floor to ceiling map of Idaho. A red pushpin marked our position. I was glad to see we were more than half way up the state and at the narrowest width except for the panhandle. The slow, hard, physical miles from Pistol Creek had me thinking that we would never reach Whitewater Ranch.

After a tour of the well tended ranch and buildings, fruit trees, and doe and fawn we started hiking up the Salmon River. Our pace was leisurely so we could watch the rafters. I wanted the guys with super soakers to cool me but we were too high above. Later we got sodas and bread from rafters setting up camp.

We camped at the bottom of a 5300 foot climb. We'll start in the shade to climb to Magruder Corridor tomorrow.

With that on the agenda I GottaSleep.

I smelled smoke during the night but didn't worry. Once we started to hike we could see smoke flowing down the drainage and a plume where the fire was.

We were short of water this morning so we got an early start. We made a wrong turn at a saddle, realized we didn't want to descend, went back and took a faint trail upwards.

We didn't intend to play the money game but I'm ahead 11 cents to zip. I found a dime at Lola Campground and found a penny yesterday at Wally Yates and Son's Outfitters when we passed their hunting camp.

We are sure these trails are made and maintained by outfitters or hunters. Trail is very steep without any water bars. Almost all logs across the trail have already been cut.

We've had some great views, good trail, pretty creeks and great hiking today in Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.

We stopped to talk again today... several times. July is a busy time on the Magruder Corridor.

We visited with a Fish and Wildlife couple, Dan and Jerri. They know so much about Idaho, flora, and fauna that we could have stayed even longer. They also took our mini-garbage bag. Thanks!

We considered staying on the road when we read "trail not maintained" but then we both said we wanted to stay on designated ICT trail. We made the right choice and had a gorgeous trail that showcased every vista and area of interest.

What a great day on the ICT.

Where there's smoke, there's fire.

Even though we camped at the top of a ridge our gear and tent were soaked this morning.

This was just a "walk in the woods" kind of day until late afternoon. An ATV passed us and stopped on his return to say there was a fire ahead. He zipped off but two pickups with fire crew stopped to mark the fires location on our map. They were going to access the fire but took time to ask ICT questions.

The road ended at Wally Yale and Sons Outfitters and we had to search for trail. Two Forest Service Biologist researchers said our trail didn't exist any more so we ended up one ridge to the east, another ridge away from the fire.

We have the best campsite in Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. Looking out the tent door I see the moon rising behind the trees and in a gap between the trees I see where we hiked down to the Selway River.

Hiking was fun and easy. Trail had been cleared and the route made sense. We had good views at a lake below, rock outcroppings and the landing strips far below. While we descended the afternoon got quite warm.

Ken found our box at the ranger station. As we were cooking at a picnic table behind the ranger station Pete, a packer, his wife Val, a volunteer ranger, and their son Levi chatted with us. Pete really knows the trails and went over our map with us.

We arrived here with GaterAde powder, olive oil and a couple of Tootsie Pops. We bought a couple packages of Mac and Cheese from Val just for a safety margin.

Goodnight from our peaceful, beautiful site.