SUMMARY:  We overheard some Anaconda locals grumping this morning about how “It’s gonna be a hot one today.” No kidding. But it was time to go, after getting our box from the post office and doing errands we couldn’t do yesterday because everything was closed. By 11:30am we were all done and had walked to the McD’s on the far end of Anaconda. By noon we were on our way, in unrelenting sun and heat.

We passed the famous Anaconda smelter tower and walked along Hwy 58 through what basically looked a lot like the Central Valley of California. Whew it was hot! We wasted a mile of walking because our map was not clear, but tonight we are camped at a ranch and tomorrow we’ll be back on the CDT.

DETAILS: We got to sleep in a bit before going to the Coffee Corral for breakfast.  Turns out they make really good breakfast sandwiches, but the size…for a thruhiker…is kinda small.  So we got pumpkin bread and smoothies (mine was mango) to supplement everthing.  Then I headed for the PO to get our box, while Fixit went on another errand.  Our box was there, hooray!

Then it was time go back to the motel and sort through the food and load food bags and make a list of what to buy on the way out of town.  We are behind our original schedule, so I’m almost out of melatonin (helps me get a good night’s sleep) and Fixit is having “plumbing problems” so I need to find some Imodium someplace.

By 10:30 am, our packs were ready and so were we.  It was already very warm outside, and as we walked along, we could hear even the locals complaining, “It’s gonna be a hot one today.”  We stopped at the quilting store so I could buy some batting to pad my pack hip belt.  I had this same problem late in the PCT–I get so thin that the pack belt hurts my hip bone and won’t tighten properly.  The batting really helps!

At the far end of town there’s a CVS and an Albertsons–I had to hunt through both of them to find what I needed to get.  That’s the bummer of trying to shop in a strange store–it takes forever to find anything.  But by 11:30 I was finally done (Fixit just sits outside and waits) and we headed for McD’s for lunch.  Inside, we found Shepherd (we call him “Strine” because he’s an Aussie) and we all had lunch together.  He is planning to hike straight through to Lincoln!  Wow.  We are going off at Elliston.  He’s planning to leave later today once the heat dies down a bit.

But Fixit and I did not want to wait anymore, so we headed out into the heat and sun, walking along busy Hwy. 1.  I got a couple of good pictures of the Anaconda smelter tower up on its hill.  We had thought we’d be able to go right up and look at it, but no, the whole area around it is considered to be so polluted that nobody is allowed anywhere near.  They are working on replacing the dirt, and once that’s done, they will let people come right up to it again.

It was a long, long walk in the heat, eventually turning off on Hwy. 48, but we were consoling ourselves with thoughts of cold drinks at Uncle Bucks, up ahead.  We spent a bit of time being “lost” along the way and had to do a bit of backtracking, but finally we got there, and discovered to our bitter disappointment that Uncle Bucks was closed.  Permanently.  The parking lot was weedy and inside was messy (what we could see through the windows).  We had also been counting on getting water there, and I could not find even an outside water faucet.  There were a few trailers nearby, but nobody was home.  So all we could do was sit on the shady side of the building with our backs against the wall and rest a bit.  Now I was worried about water.  All the creeks around here are considered to be polluted with smelter residue.  But I resolved to stop at a house as soon as we could, to ask for water.

We headed out again, doing our best to follow the Ley map route, but it was not very clear.  We reached a junction where we thought we were supposed to go right, but should have gone left, and it was awhile before we realized our mistake and went back.  More lost time!  And on a very hot afternoon, which was not fun, with our water almost totally gone.

There were houses along the way, but no one was home…until finally I spotted an old guy in the yard of a house below the road.  “Look!” I said to Fixit.  “I’ll ask him for water.”  Fixit does not like to to any yogi-ing, but I don’t mind at all, so I headed right on down and discovered the old guy was very sweet and he was happy to give us water.  He said many times he’s had hikers show up late in the day, and he lets them camp on his lawn.  It was still too early to stop and camp, though.

We continued on in the heat for another 5 miles.  Dramatic clouds were building over the Divide, which was off to our right, and the clouds were trying to rain.  We passed a SuperFund cleanup site (lots of heavy equipment sitting around) and we passed freshly mowed alfalfa fields (which smelled really good!)  We stopped for some supper in a small tree grove near a ranch, and then put in some more miles till we reached Cottonwood Creek Road, our turnoff that would take us back to the CDT.  We stood there looking at the situation.  We knew the road followed the creek, and had figured we’d get water there…but the creek was totally dry.  We had been really sucking up the water we got at the house, since it was so hot and we knew we were getting dehydrated, so now our water was low again.  Also, it was time to camp, and there was no flat place in sight.

So I said to Fixit, “Let’s go back just a bit to that last ranch we passed.  We could get water there and maybe they will let us camp.”  Fixit was very dubious!  But back we went and it turned out great!  There were 3 guys staying at the ranch (they were actually there to work on the SuperFund site) and not only did we get all the water we needed, and a place to camp on the lawn, but they even gave us a cold beer.  It really hit the spot after such a long hot day.  They were very interested in our hike, and we sat on the porch for awhile to talk.  They said the problem from the Anaconda smelter is the arsenic–it has permeated much of the land.  Some places are OK, but others are so bad that they are literally taking the dirt away and replacing it.

So we set up our tent and were glad of the cool evening breeze.  The sunset was spectacular–it looked like the sky was on fire.  Tomorrow we will be back on the CDT again!