Day 28 Hamilton to Lost Trail Hot Springs 71km

A planned early start, to beat the predicted heat, is not achieved because of excessive sleepiness on my part! Kerstin is ever tolerant and takes the time to write birthday greetings to her parents. We roll out of town closer to 0900 than desired but with faith in our legs, despite the anticipated slow uphill gain of 1300ft over the course of the day. We are charmed by the town of Darby, with it's welcoming energy and old west feel. But the heat is becoming oppressive as the lady with the toy schnauzer said to her dog "come on Sweetie, let's go otherwise you will be cooked by the time we get home". We don't want to be cooked either and make good time, despite the gentle uphill into Sula for another icypole, this one cheerily named the Happy Rancher, and it is the perfect antidote for the heat. The final 7 miles to the hot spring resort is a toil uphill and visions of Bikram yoga come back to me as I sweat. When we are asked at the campground if we want to use the pool facilities the answer is a definitive yes! We spend the afternoon relaxing some sore, abused parts of ourselves in a pool fed by the hot spring, preparing ourselves for the double pass on tomorrow's agenda. Lost Trail Pass and Chief Joseph Pass beckon. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad