Day 7
8/22/17
7.7 miles
(84.7 miles total)

Welp, it was a pretty boring day of trail as expected. The real adventure began when we got to the trailhead about 10am and started our hitching.

First to Dubois to pick up a package I had waiting at the Post Office, then somehow back to the Big Sandy trailhead to retrieve the car (some 4.5 hours away). Two hitches got us to the PO in Dubois, the first of which included a 10 minute pit stop so we could all jump in a lake (cross showers off the town chores list!). After the PO, we made a quick grocery store run and had lunch at the Cowboy Cafe. By 1:00pm we had our thumbs out on the edge of town.

Five more hitches later, 7 total for the day, we were miraculously back at the car at 5:30pm!! We never had to wait more than 20 minutes for a ride. Holy trail karma I owe a lot of rides to hitchhikers!

Having spent much of the day in cars, we decided to just camp nearby for the night and head out in the morning. We are still deciding what all adventures to include on the way home.

Overall, I absolutely LOVED this trip and would highly recommend it for anyone looking for a (relatively) short high-route experience. We had pretty much perfect weather, the route was just what I wanted (tough, but rewarding), and then, of course, throwing the eclipse in there was the cherry on top! I’ve had two trips through the Winds now, and it’s not nearly enough.