The only problem was that I wasn’t actually looking forward to the solo. It’s one thing to sleep out in the wild with just one other person, but to do it totally alone is an entirely different thing. I wasn’t the only person who felt this way. Seth, Tomo, and Pinky all admitted that they were not sure they were looking forward to their solos. Still, we all knew we would do it.

Maybe Mike sensed that we needed some time to get mentally prepared. He had arranged for all us guys to spend the day together on the way to the solo drop-off point. So, we packed up our gear in Twin Bridges and drove north, basically along the Jefferson River.

We stopped in a town called Three Forks for lunch. And Mike showed us how, just outside of town, a river called the Madison and a river called the Gallatin merge with the Jefferson to form the huge and famous Missouri River. That’s how the town got its name— Three Forks.