I’m a believer of things happen for reasons. My friend Eiko encouraged me to take a day off after my leg injury and let the wounds heal. In another word, my injury allowed me to take a breath and take it easy. It turned out to be the best zero day (thru-hiker term for a rest day) on this entire trip!

I first went to all you can eat breakfast buffet at the beautiful historic Old Faithful Inn. There was no time limit and I took my time to enjoy the breakfast. I probably ate two dozens worth of tomato and spinach scrambled eggs with home fries, twelve stacks of French toasts with fresh berries, and 5 cups of yummy green and herbal tea. I couldn’t believe how much I could put down food in my tiny body (I’m 5’2” and now weighs about 115 lb). It was so good! 

After breakfast, I went up to the third floor and sat on the comfy chair to finish writing my blog. Then Brett and Sallie, the former Yellowstone employees, sat down near me and we started talking. By the end of the conversation, we became friends! They have such deep connection with the park and had a lot of great stories to share. Brett gave me his contact and asked me to get in touch when I get closer to Butte, MT. It would be great to see them again and hear more stories.

In the afternoon, my leg was swollen but I wanted to day hike to Grand Prismatic Spring, the Yellowstone’s largest hot spring, since I never visited there and it’s close from Old Faithful. I hitched a ride to the trailhead and hiked to the edge of the spring. I saw people across the spring on the hills much higher and I found out there was another trail that takes you to the overlook of the spring. It is called Fairly Fall trail and I hiked there to the overlook. I liked the view of the spring better from that overbook, and I took my time to just look at the incredible colors of the spring. I heard Japanese language was spoken near me so I said hello to the family from Japan. I enjoyed the conversation and I appreciated the opportunity to speak my language since I haven’t spoken for a while.

For the rest of the evening, I hang out again at the third floor of the Old Faithful Inn. By the time I finished my dinner, it was already close to 9 o’clock, and I walked out to settle in for the night. I saw people waiting for Old Faithful to erupt. The sunset was so beautiful and I had never seen Old Faithful erupting with the sunset in the background, so I joined and waited for it to happen. It was a magical time at dusk and it happened. The enormous amount of steam was coming out of the earth, and I was witnessing the earth’s breath with the twilight magical lights in the background in complete awe of beauty- a moment of immense gratitude for my life on this planet and for one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, and I will never forget that.

The next morning, I walked to a bench next to the Firehole River and made my breakfast, watching Castle Geyser shooting straight out in the air in the morning light. Then, with support from Autumn, a manager of Old Faithful Inn, and Johannah, the Old Faithful PO officer, a new friend of mine, I was able to take care of the paperwork for MediCal and I hit the trail.

After passing the boardwalk, it became a trail and took me to Artemisia Geyser. First, I had no idea how rare to see its eruption and I stumbled upon the moment it was happening. According to the person who loves this geyser and keeps his own record of eruption, the last one happened 28 hours ago and the one before that was 34 hours ago. He said that this one was hard to predict but the wait was worth it. I was lucky that I happened to be there to see it. I took it as a farewell gift from Yellowstone, whispered thanks to the geyser, and kept on going after the geyser went quiet again.

After bypassing Biscuit Basin closure, the landscape turned into a monotone lodge pole pine forest to the Summit Lake, the last water source for the next 22 miles. The next morning, I got  enough water and made it all the way to Lillian Lake. On the way, the best part was checking out a geothermal active area near Summit Lake and seeing the steam and sound coming from the ground, a reminder that the Earth is alive  and so we all are. Another highlight was seeing the sign of crossing the border between Wyoming and Idaho! I have about 1,000 miles to go from the border and for some reason, it felt so close even though it wasn’t.

From Lillian Lake for the entire morning, I was immersed in wildflower garden.

I kept stopping when I tried to capture the vast field full of wildflowers, but I knew I cannot bring Justis to the beauty that I was seeing with my photos. What took my breath away the most was hills covered with red Indian Paintbrush. I enjoyed seeing the Tetons for almost entire time before getting close to Lima, Montana. I saw moose twice and an herd of elk on the way. 

A couple of new exciting things started to happen: seeing the CDT southbound hikers! Just in the last two days, I passed at least 30 people going south.
I talked to a couple of people and they gave me valuable information. I imagined people in the past who traveled on foot probably exchanged information in this way and this is my preferred method to gather knowledge of the trail over the phone app. Another one is berries! Just before and after Aldous Lake, I harvested raspberries and huckleberries! It’s that season and I can’t wait to receive the nature’s gift of sweet jewels, especially, now I’m in the constant deficit of fresh fruit.

For the last 6 miles to I-15, I came out of the trail and walked on the dirt road. It was mostly sagebrush and cattle land and it felt very long. When I made it to I-15, I was like now what?! I planned to hitchhike to Lima, 15 miles north from the trail, for resupply and I saw a fence between the interstate and me, signaling that I should not cross it. I was like what the heck, I have to do what I have to do! I went over the fence, stood on the shoulder of I-15, waving frantically at cars to get their attention to stop for me since they were going 70 miles an hour at least! No luck for the first half an hour. I was becoming anxious since I usually find a ride within the first half an hour try. Then, an angel came and stopped for me. Austen from Idaho Falls in his fancy Mercedes SUV moved over from the passing lane and pulled over for me.

I was in joy and huge relief! Not only he took me to Lima but also waited for me to make sure I got a place to stay, shared his fresh food, and took me to the town’s only store to buy some food and brought me back to the motel. I was so touched with his generosity and also his calmness and kind energy. 

I’m so blessed! Tomorrow, I’ll pick up my resupply at the post office and hopefully another angel will help me get back to the trail. All I need is to just trust the world and believe that everything will work out. 

It always has!