Miles: 20 Steps: 41,708 Vertical gain: Strava knows! Liquid consumed: 224 oz (!) Wildlife: Deer, huge Elk herd, grouse that scared me, squirrels Faith in Humanity: ride to Trailhead and breakfast and so much great hospitality from my buddy Chris. You know, the only 2 people I saw on trail today said it best:"I feel like I've been assaulted by a billion wildflowers!" It's unreal! Yes, the flowers are gorgeous. Probably the most amazing display of wildflowers I've ever seen in fact. But! They're relentless! They cover up the trail and make me get lost. They like all of there parts onto me. Seriously: right now I'm sticky to the touch, have about 100 small burrs attached and have a multitude of different colors on my shirt and shorts from the flowers! Kind of absurd! Oh well, kind of a unique day ok this way! I slept in until 7:30 this morning which felt glorious! I am ruler of the world, I sleep until 7:30 on blow up mattresses at friends places! And I even read for a half hour when I woke up making things even better! Finished packing up, quick shower and shave and a bowl of 3 mixed varieties of tasty cereal with almond milk and Chris dropped me off at the Cache Creek Trailhead, where I'd ridden Chris's bike to yesterday. Thank you so much again, Chris and Jitka! You were extremely kind to me and even bought my car! Haha, enjoy! I started hiking just before 10am. Bit of a late start, but sleeping in and a ride to the Trailhead was totally worth it! First up was a slightly uphill trail/old road closer to cars for 6 miles, lots of mountain bike trails that Jackson locals were out enjoying. They even have signs saying "Be Nice Say Hi" which I think is a sign that should be spread far and wide! I entered the Gros Ventre wilderness 6 mikes in and quickly the trail deteriorated. I thought about how funny it is that thousands of people go watch Old Faithful erupt ever 75 minutes but no one is out here. Sure, there's no blowing up geyser, but you'd still think there'd be enough hardcore outdoor enthusiasts to come out here and enjoy this wilderness. #vanlife is super popular, so I guess I'd think #wildernesslife would be gaining ground too? I say that with mixed emotions however: less people can be a good thing, Wilderness can definitely be loved to death by high usage and not feel like Wilderness at all. Anyway, rant over. Seriously though: although backpacking in remote places can be challenging and frustrating at times, it's also freeing and can make you feel quite accomplished! I already talked about the wildflowers, but let me expand upon getting lost due to overgrown trail: it happened. Several times today. There are these seemingly endless fields and the trail just disappears. Skirting the side of mountains plants can be slick. I fell, but only once a true fall, lots of close calls! All part of the adventure. It can be frustrating and scary getting lost, but I've found the best thing is just to relax. Take a break, eat a little food, drink some water. Look at your map and gps and go from there. Saw a huge herd of Elk move today. Hundreds of Elk. Really cool. I'm kind of camped at an Elk trail. Not so cool, but they're everywhere where I ended up at the end of the day when it came time to camp. I also risked it with no rain fly. Don't rain tonight! Haha. I'll let you know how it goes! Keep getting outside and staying positive! Set goals, not limits!