We have a ride back to Hoodoo Pass (paid) that we connected with at the restaurant. There is still a chance of rain tomorrow, then clearing.

We'll go up the Stateline Trail to Mullan because we...

The price of our ride increased when the driver came to pick us up but we didn't have other options. He then delivered a monologue about all the crooks involved in local politics. We were happy to arrive at Hoodoo Pass in the misty rain.

Hiking back at Hoodoo Pass was a three hat day - my fleece sleeping hat for warmth, my Tilley to keep rain off my face and my poncho hood. Our new shoes and socks were instantly and completely wet.

Scenery was spectacular all day as we followed to rocky state line. Wildflowers are still blooming. Hiking was also very interesting as we followed the ridge up and daown, sometimes gazing into Idaho, sometimes staring steeply down into Montana.

Three dirt bikes putted by us. They are allowed on this trail but I would be terrified to negotiate the trail on any bike as there is no room for mistakes. The soil is rocky so they didn't make a muddy mess and we were glad that they were knocking the rain off the brush for us.

We crossed water draining down the hill. All this rain makes drinking and cooking water a non-issue and saves us the weight in our packs.

Camping was a challenge. We had to set the tent on the edge of the road but we hadn't seen any cars. I hope we have sun at some point tomorrow to dry out gear.

I don't mind road walking on a remote dirt road like this. We can walk side by side which makes talking easier. Navigation was a non-issue today so we got a mental rest, too.

We had good views between the trees. First thing this morning we took photos of mist in the valleys belows us as the sun rose.

We said hello to a man sitting in his pickup at a road junction (Trail crew? He had a FS walkie talkie). Farther on we stopped for morning break at a roadside spring that included tadpoles. Since we hadn't seen any vehicles on the road we spread all our gear on the road to dry while we ate.

Mid afternoon I stepped off the road to take care of business. We hadn't still seen any other people. A pickup dragging its tailpipe stopped almost before I was presentable...what were the odds! Four guys asked if we were lost so Ken also asked if they were lost.

What a pleasant day! We had a leisurely walk, dry gear and sandwiches for lunch instead of ramen.

Again, we got lucky with water at the end of the day just before camping.

Before we left the road today we saw a weird roadside camp. All the food was set out on coolers. It looked like the campers were harvesting beargrass, tying the stems in bunches and piling them beside the road. We left the road for ATV trail that carved pointless-ups-and-downs (PUDs) that were deep in dust. We lost the road at Bullion Pass under the power wires but found trail when we backtracked a short distance.

Picking up the almost invisible trail as it left the ATV road took some wandering back and forth. The trail improved for a while and we had spectacular views as we traversed high on open mountains…my kind of hiking. Our trail then frayed into multiple game trails so we finally climbed to the crest to pick up the road. Hiking was gentle in the late afternoon light.

This hiking day lasted well past sunset. We were eager to either get to or camp close to Mullan. The last couple of hours’ hike was walking down logging roads; each switchback seemed to be another junction. Our chosen route was always the branch that went down.

We were out of water, the creek below urging us downward. I was ready to set up the tent at the side of a rocky intersection when car lights approached. Two cars stopped as they saw us. The drivers were geologists that had been fishing after work in Mullan’s mine. They offered cold water out of their coolers, which we accepted and chugged, and fish which we really didn’t have a way to cook. We had a long chat. We told them our Morenci story. All of the myriad mines that we’ve hiked by were familiar to them and we liked their insider comments.

We camped where we were in the dark when the geologists left. We were too tired and didn’t have enough water to cook so we ate a lunch. Whew.