This hitch, the crew headed back to the Pintlers to put the finishing touches on the Twin Lakes trail. We enjoyed the luxury of front country camping and spent our days working hard on clearing the trail. Upon one of our trips into town, we were approached at the gas station by an enthusiastic older woman eager to share her stories of the CCC and quiz us on mountain heights. We enjoyed her company for a short period of time and headed back to camp.

The next day, as we gathered round our fire, who should show up at our campsite but Linda! She shared more stories of her incredibly exciting life, including driving a van from Patagonia to Montana, her time in the Peace Corps in Paraguay, and climbing to Everest base camp in the Himalayas. She talked to us for around 3 hours, braving the pouring rain to tell us story after story-never quite finishing one before starting the other. She shared wisdom and let us play with her two dogs Shiloh and Myki.

Just when we thought that would be the last of Linda, she periodically stopped by our campsite with more questions and stories to share in the next few days. Her warm and jovial personality started becoming a key part of our morale and daily routines. She brought us gifts, though we had to earn them by answering her riddle-like questions-never quite being satisfied with our answers. She even followed us to the gas station on our way out just to make she we knew she had an open home if we ever were back in Anaconda. We not only were gifted memories of her and her stories, we gained a grandma in Anaconda, Montana.