We had a delicious breakfast the next morning before heading back out in the smoke. It was getting really old being on the side of the road but we had no choice, we had to keep moving. It was a hot day with little shoulder so when we saw a store open along the road, we went in to grab a beer. Once the guys at the liquor store heard about our trip, they poured tequila shots for everybody and recommended their trademark 'sloshies.' Basically a slurpie with alcohol. Our metabolism was running so fast that we were instantly intoxicated and started making our way down the trail. After a bit of confusion and getting lost, Midge picked us up. She had passed us on the road three days in a row and had offered us a place to stay in Jackson if we needed it. She had pizzas waiting in the car and took us back to her amazing house where we shared stories and ate our fill. I was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as she gave me a pillow.
The next morning she was already waiting with breakfast and coffee which was amazing. After we ate she offered to drive me about an hour to pick up a couple packages that I wouldn't be able to get because of the fires. We successfully got my stuff and headed back onto the road. Before camp we stopped at a grocery store and downed a couple pints of ice cream before realizing our mistake and waddling down the road into the forest. We found a couple deer beds next to the bike path and set up for the night. The next morning we got moving early and headed uphill to Teton pass. It was a hell of a climb but the views were pretty amazing from the top. Then it was a huge downhill to the border of Idaho where we crossed out of Wyoming for the last time on trail. We got to a town and grabbed lunch before heading on to another town just down the way. As it got darker we couldn't find a place to camp so we knocked on a church door and asked if we could set up in their yard. They obliged and even offered us showers if we needed it. We were too tired to take them up on it and fell asleep before the sun went completely behind the mountains.
We grabbed coffee at a gas station before heading down the road. After over a week of road walking we were looking for any way to make it more enjoyable. We decided to hitch hike up to Helena where a good friend of mine from the AT lives and borrow her bikes to make up the rest of the road miles. The first few hours on the bikes were great. We were moving fast and making good time. After those few hours our muscles began to hurt from not being used and it got extremely harder to peddle my bike. After about 50 miles I checked my bike and realized my back tire was completely flat and had been for the last few hours. We knocked on a nearby farm house and were met with some pretty amazing people who helped us as we tried everything to get the tire to fill with air again. After 45 minutes of tinkering with the pump and an air compressor we figured it out and the tire was like new. I was amazed with how fast I could go and how much easier it was. But after five miles it was completely flat again. I rode another twelve miles on the flat before we got to a town where we would have to wait till morning to get it fixed. The town was small and we searched everywhere for the right tube with no luck. We had to hitch a ride 30 minutes away to the next big town to get it fixed which took up most of our morning. We didn't get back to the spot we left at until after one but we moved on anyways, hoping to do some decent miles. About four miles out of town we hit a gravel road and began walking our road bikes that could not handle the unmaintained road. A car passed and we asked how long it would be until the road turned paved again. 18 miles she said. We couldn't possibly walk our bikes 18 miles before dark that day and we still needed to make it another 60 miles after that. She offered us a ride to the paved section and we took it, thinking it was the only option we had.
We got to the road and began riding again. We paralleled the Madison river where a bunch of people were slowly floating down in tubes. I wanted to be them so bad as I miserably peddled my bike and sweat dripped from every pore. After about ten miles on the road we took a break. I was wondering to myself, why am I doing this? I wanted to connect my footpath but I was making myself miserable. I tried to think of the last time I had enjoyed myself on this trail. It had been a long, long time. We had been rushing for weeks and problem after problem kept hitting us in the face. I decided that it wasn't worth it to me to make it back to where we got off the road. I wanted to enjoy the last few weeks that I had on this trail and I didn't want to rush through it anymore. So when we got to the next town, we hitch hiked with the bikes back up to Helena and took a day off to rest our butts and arms from the ride. Mile marker 2687
