40 ROADWALK #5 7/24/2921 chill in morning, sunny, very hot. I packed up my tent after 5 days at the Wisdom RV park and headed out. Letting Justin sleep-in for once. The weather was quite cool and chilly. I had my windbreaker and gloves on for the next two hours of hiking. The dirt road was east and the miles flew by. I got to Pintler Trailhead at 12:15 and there was Justin! We took it easy the rest of the afternoon. I did my prep by converting from slack pack to backpack. Food, water, and set up tent all took some time. A guy stopped by the trailhead and we chatted about 15 minutes. Otherwise it was quiet. Dinner was a steak celebration for completing the road walk. As we were eating we saw a puffy white cloud appear over the tree tops. Our antennae were alerted that this might be a forest fire. So we drove a few miles to learn that it was, but on the other side of the valley. Justin is going to Anaconda tomorrow and will investigate. I’ll keep my InReach on to get messages. If I encounter anything I’m returning to this trailhead. Tomorrow will be a very hard day for me with a full pack, bear canister and two big climbs.
