First day in Bechler

I picked Trudy up a little after 8 and we were off -- over Dunraven (the Norris road was closed) and then Canyon and out through Madison. We stopped in West for coffee, whiskey, and sandwiches from Eddie's Deli. The BLT was $11 but there was a LOT of "B" so it worked.

Thank God Trudy remembered how to get to Bechler because the signage is horrible. After about 11 miles down a gravel road, we got to the parking lot. And So... many... cars. Good Lord. The last time I came down. I remember a few cars on the day we went in and only one other on our way out. Today, the lot was full. Thank god I have a mall car or we would have been waiting around for the two tours that had just come out (about 10 eating a picnic lunch and another 10 or so getting off a horse ride). 

We checked in with the backcountry office and were on our way.

The whole time we had been talking about this trip, Heidi and Trudy had been warning me about the slough crossing and the subsequent bog. We forgot it has been a very dry fall and the slough crossing was barely above my knees and the bog was completely dried out.

We knew we were about 4/5 of the way there so we stopped for a whiskey break. It was delightful. 

We continued on to 9A1 and set up camp and filtered water. We had our permit checked by a young ranger who wanted to make sure we weren't up to any tomfoolery. Then dinner and just waiting for an appropriate time to turn in.