August 9: The only thing better than trail magic is...more trail magic? And the only thing better than that is-- a hot yummy breakfast in a cafe followed by trail magic and then more trail magic. That's what today was like. I had a wonderfully decadent morning where I slept in until the unheard of hour of 6:30, took a completely unneeded but lovely morning shower, and then went back and lazily packed up my camp.
And I relearned, first hand, that the only thing grosser than mice is... nothing. Mice are disgusting. Mice had chewed up a cotton shirt I had washed out in the sink the night before and hung on a line to dry. Seriously? Why the hell chew up a t-shirt? I'm just glad I had an animal proof food bag!
Anyway, not one to let some pesky rodents ruin my otherwise wonderful morning, I headed to the grill to eat a huge breakfast. And then have a milkshake. And talk to some section hikers. And a thru-hiker who had gotten off trail for a few days and was just getting back on. And the owner of the resort. And, well, you get the point. I didn't end up getting back on the trail until about noon.
Back on trail, at the next road crossing, I came across a few coolers with drinks and cookies and snickers bars. I really had no need for more snacks, but I did partake in a soda and headed out with a few hikers I hadn't seen before. I got the low-down that Nick had gotten a later start out of Ashland than he had planned and that Zack was falling further behind by the day. Looks like I was hiking the rest of this baby on my own!
Shortly later, I ran back into Cookie Monster and Morning Star, a couple of familiar and friendly faces. They were hanging out at a little clearing partaking in some TRAIL MAGIC!
A really nice couple had hiked four miles up from the road with a grill, some hamburgers and hotdogs, and sodas. I hung out for a while. But I didn't really need any trail magic. I had eaten that huge breakfast. But somehow, they all convinced me to eat a cheese burger!
And I relearned, first hand, that the only thing grosser than mice is... nothing. Mice are disgusting. Mice had chewed up a cotton shirt I had washed out in the sink the night before and hung on a line to dry. Seriously? Why the hell chew up a t-shirt? I'm just glad I had an animal proof food bag!
Anyway, not one to let some pesky rodents ruin my otherwise wonderful morning, I headed to the grill to eat a huge breakfast. And then have a milkshake. And talk to some section hikers. And a thru-hiker who had gotten off trail for a few days and was just getting back on. And the owner of the resort. And, well, you get the point. I didn't end up getting back on the trail until about noon.
Back on trail, at the next road crossing, I came across a few coolers with drinks and cookies and snickers bars. I really had no need for more snacks, but I did partake in a soda and headed out with a few hikers I hadn't seen before. I got the low-down that Nick had gotten a later start out of Ashland than he had planned and that Zack was falling further behind by the day. Looks like I was hiking the rest of this baby on my own!
Shortly later, I ran back into Cookie Monster and Morning Star, a couple of familiar and friendly faces. They were hanging out at a little clearing partaking in some TRAIL MAGIC!
A really nice couple had hiked four miles up from the road with a grill, some hamburgers and hotdogs, and sodas. I hung out for a while. But I didn't really need any trail magic. I had eaten that huge breakfast. But somehow, they all convinced me to eat a cheese burger!
Somehow, despite not getting started until noon, and then stopping for a couple hours, I managed to get 18 miles in today. I camped in a beautiful spot in a learning of trees, listening to the coyotes howl all night long.
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