Day 61 (ODT 28)

Day 60 (ODT 28): 22 miles

I knew it wasn’t a great sign when I was hot while packing up my tent at 8am. It was a hot day, but thankfully my umbrella helped provide some protection. It can never be in the correct position or work as I want it to, but it at least helps.

I caused a stampede of at least 200 cattle. As I approached they all came up to form a battle line and say hello. As I kept walking around them, trying not to startle them, they began running in the same direction and then circling to nowhere. I had to turn around to make sure I wasnt gonna get run over, but I was fine. They were just scared and dumb.

Later in the day I saw some real cowboys herding a bunch of cattle up the canyon. A group of the cows got scared when they saw me but I think I did the cowboys a favor cause they ran to the other side of the creek joining the big crowd. Unfortunately they didn’t offer to give me one of their horses for my crucial help.

Shortly after, I departed from the road and began a cross country stretch in a gulch making my way down to the Owyhee River. It was a tough section, but pretty. And when I saw the river off in the distance, it felt like I was reaching the promised land.

When I got to the river, the hiking even got a little more challenging. Earlier in the spring, that section wouldn’t even really be hikeable, but with lower water levels, I skirted along the banks of the river. It was easy for the most part but there were a couple parts of rock scrambling on very loose rocks where I was mostly praying they wouldn’t fall too far where I’d fall in the river.

Along the banks of the river I picked up quite a bit of trash that was exposed because of the lower water levels. Unfortunately I had to leave a couple beer bottles cause my hands were full and toilet paper cause I like the earth but I have a limit. When I got near Leslie Gulch I asked a fisherman if I could put it in his truck and he said yes. When I got near his truck, I saw some very freshly littered beer cans so I hope he actually took the trash away but who knows. I did my part for the day.