I’m grateful that the rain has stopped by morning, but it’s cold, and putting on my wet clothes is a torture. We hike briskly to our last Buffalo River crossing, the North Fork. This time we assess it carefully before wading in. It’s just a little easier than the South Fork, and I assist Ann a bit by crossing upstream from her to break the current. On the far side we bask in the sun for breakfast and start drying gear.

It looks like the hard crossings may be over for a while as we climb the North Fork, then over to the divide at Two Oceans Pass. Here Two Oceans creek splits at the “parting of the waters”, and half goes to each side of the divide. We climb steeply to a high plateau with view of storms around the nearby Tetons and a refreshing absence of mosquitoes. A light rain hits us as we descend to Mink Creek, where Pete spots a creature that very well might be a mink. The rain clears in time to set up a nice camp in a stand of pines. There has been a lot of bear scat around, and this location feels very wild. Later, a Yellowstone ranger will tell Pete that this area is “the most remote in the lower 48 states.”