Day 3 was Sunday, and it was the day of rest that God intended. I didn’t do anything but sleep, sleep and sleep. In the late morning the sun had come over the hills to beat down on my tent, making me feel like a Thanksgiving turkey in the oven. I got out long enough to move my tent a couple times to a shady area. But because I was trying to use as little energy as possible, I tried to just lift the tent by the poles rather than move it more carefully. One of them broke, making the tent collapse in one corner. Most of the structure was still intact and I still had plenty of room inside, so I figured it wasn’t critical to fix right away. I went back in and slept for another hour. But as the day wore on, even the shade was too hot to relax in. I got up and went for a walk by the river. My body was still mad at me for what I did to it the day before and it let me know every time I called on it to exert a little energy. But I knew I needed to move around a little to keep the blood flowing.
I found a great spot by the river and sat down to relax. It was a campsite that had been used the night before; the campfire was still smoldering. It was an ideal site near the river with some shade and a nice breeze blowing through the camp. But it was at least a quarter mile from my tent and I didn’t like it enough to pack up and move. I returned to this site several times throughout the week to eat lunch, take a nap, or just sit for a while. The river at that spot was also where I took my baths. It was a very nice place to hang out.
Now that I was conscious I decided to do an injury assessment. The inside of my right forearm looked like it had been attacked by a cheese grater, but it actually didn’t hurt at all. It had been scraped up from the tree I used to dangle myself from when making room for the horses on the trail. It didn’t actually need any attention, it just looked nasty. I brought some flip-flops with me to wear around camp. My hiking boots are very good, but the flip flops felt luxurious because my feet could breathe. I had blisters on the ends of my second toes, presumably from the downhill hikes when crossing creeks. I broke them open with my clippers and my toes instantly felt better once the pressure was relieved. The side of my left heel was also blistering, but nothing too serious. Overall, my feet were in pretty good shape after an 11 mile hike. The combination of polypropylene liners and wool hiking socks were as good as advertised.
I walked up to the bridge and watched the river for a while. Every once in a while I saw rafters drift under the bridge headed downstream. 
Rafting through the Bob Marshall Wilderness (a.k.a “The Bob”) is popular with outfitters during the summer months. They put in as far away as the other side of Big Prairie, some forty miles upstream from the Meadow Creek Trail Head. The river was still very high and fast, so rafting trips didn’t take as long as usual for this time of year. The river boasts a few class IV rapids, which doesn’t mean a lot to me but seems to be significant to rafters.
My plan for the week was to fish up and down from the cabin a couple miles and then explore some spots further upstream. I started to feel guilty for not making progress on the agenda when I reminded myself that I was on vacation, and I didn’t have to do anything. It’s hard to change gears from a daily habit of plowing through a list of action items. Once I fully grasped that concept I started to really relax and enjoy where I was. The weather was perfect and the scenery was breathtaking. I had a whole week to explore and fish, and taking a day to rest wasn’t going to ruin the trip.
I could feel the tension draining out from my body from the pressures and deadlines built up from my job. The great thing about being out in the wilderness is that you don’t have to feel guilty about the things you should be doing. You can’t fix anything around the house, can’t catch up in email or work projects, can’t pay bills or take the dog for a walk. All you can do is relax, which is what vacations are supposed to be about. On day 3, it was.
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