HELENA, MT
Helena is a nice town. Our hotel is walking distance to the pedestrian mall. Speaking of walking, I did a lot of it. Even when off trail I am putting lots of miles on my legs.
My search for lithium batteries has been mostly fruitless. I walked all over town to find the only 2 packages of lithium AAA batteries in the state of Montana. I need them to keep my SPOT tracking device working. I don’t know how many miles I walked looking for stuff, but it was too much.
The hardware store that had them hidden in a bin until 30 minutes of searching was near Louis and Clark Brewing, where I sampled a few.
The other unfulfilled quest on the trail is donuts. Good donuts with white or chocolate cream filling are proof of civilization. I have yet to find them anywhere on trail. The one donut shop in Helena has a sign saying “Closed, thanks for 12 great years”. I did find some donuts in a grocery store that appeared to be filled. When I got back to the hotel I bit into one and found it was filled … with cream cheese. YUCK!
The iPhone charging cable I bought from Awesome Cables is clearly trash. After about 2 months of use it is useless. The company appears to be out of business
After much hassle I got my iPhone fixed. That is a relief.
We were also searching for a ride back to the trail, which was tough on a holiday weekend. Lo and behold, HoJo got a knock on the door from his parents who made a surprise visit. We got our ride and companions for drinks at Blackfoot Brewing and dinner after. HeHo!
It’s near 100 degF here. We’ll be back on trail Sunday in hopefully cooler environs.