Miles: 26 Steps: 56,510 Vertical gain:3,460 feet Liquid consumed: 196 oz. (and still not fully hydrated!) Wildlife: 3 huge Elk. Squirrels, NO mosquitoes!!!!! Faith in Humanity: I'm so in love with everything! My God, the wildflowers along the Arizona creek trail? Endless and stupendous! The contrast between me Alone on a rarely used trail way out in the wilderness and the 3 foxes at Colter Bay in Grand Teton with caution tape, and easily 50 orange safety cones certainly isn't lost on me! Another amazing day! Climb climb climb this morning, I thought there were bison prints the whole way but never saw the bison. Never ending fields of wildflowers, for real! It was crazy and beautiful and stunning. And hard to find the trail! It looked to be about 12 miles on the map but ended up being 18. Oops. The Arizona creek trail was pretty incredible though I'm really happy I gave it a go and succeeded. Really cool to check out something very remote, rarely used and avoid some road walking in the process. 3 elk pranced on the mountain across the valley which was quite stunning as well! Oh my God today I didn't have to use my headnet at all due to horrid mosquitoes! So happy about that you have no idea. Then, I reached the paved road. It was busy and cars are moving pretty quick and it was also quite hot and my feet were quite wet. In all honesty, it wasn't so bad! About 8 miles on the road was kind of nice in some ways. I would have begged and/or paid $20 for a cold drink though, but no one stopped or was at any of the picnic areas so warm water had to suffice. Could be worse! I made it to my destination:Colter Bay, far quicker than I thought I would. And there was a convenience store right on the road! Ahhh the sweet nectar of ice cold Powerade. I've really been having trouble staying hydrated though and can't figure out why. Maybe it's my filtration technique? Anyway, for $12 I got a spot in the hiker/cyclist portion of the campground which is great. Even greater? I bought a salad and chocolate milk for dinner and it rang up to under $5 at the grocery store which truly stunned me. I also took a shower and shaved which felt great. It's funny being so clean cut on a journey like this though, people certainly don't assume the type of adventure you're on. I also walked down by the beach which is absolutely stunning! What an amazing view! I love it here. I am definitely taking a day off. Why rush and get hurt? I'm going to Do laundry, see about upcoming permits, and more! I tried to socialize outside the store but failed pretty hard. I went to the bar at the restaurant and quickly talked to a couple from Connecticut who were super nice! I gave them a business card so hopefully they follow along! I also attended a ranger fireside talk about the hidden wildlife in the park. Most interesting thing learned:in the 80s when the same ranger did similar programs the entire amphitheater was filled and people were standing. Now? There was less than 20% of the place filled. Kind of sad. I love the fireside talks, especially when I'm traveling solo.