Day 153

Trail miles: 4.9

Total: 2577.8

I’m sure you’re getting tired of hearing poop stories and I’m getting just as tired going through the trouble in the morning. I was at the hiker campsite which has no bathrooms. I’m guess the ones I could have used were down the hill and I wasn’t about to go down there just to hike all the way back up here. Good thing I was camped pretty alone. There was a big enough rock next to me where I could duck behind and dig a cat hole. Honestly my cover up skills were so good you wouldn’t have even known it was there.

After much conflict of going back and forth with myself, I decided to take the 8:00am shuttle to the bakery. After further debate, I just kept going to the lodge without having enough time for a pastry. It’s ok though, because I knew I would be back. There was no one at the lodge! Not a hiker in sight except for Brad and me. I connected to the Wi-Fi right away and FaceTimed my family. Happy Birthday Nicholas!! Woo wooo! We were too late for breakfast, but I was still able to make a hot chocolate and coffee drink. So peaceful to sit out back on the Adirondack chairs and watch the horses. I used the Wi-Fi until lunch. It was tough choosing between a deli sandwich and the Shepards pie, but the deli sandwich was the right move. Something I definitely can’t get on the trail. I stole a second chocolate chip cookie, because these are the best ones I’ve ever had in my life. I think I actually have dehydrated Shepards pie in my pack. We caught the 1:30 shuttle back to the landing area with the post office and general store. I was able to stamp my permit and Lifeguard’s at the visitor center. Then I shipped my new shirt home with some stickers and magnets from the visitors center. All in time to catch the 4:00pm shuttle back to the trailhead. I packed out a sparkling apple cider and chicken Cesar wrap for dinner. The traveling around all day worked out really well and I only had to pay $20 in the end. Brad tried to get me to switch out my shoes for a pair of Altras in the hiker box. I didn’t feel comfortable doing that since they didn’t have as much cushion as the Hokas. Eliana said they should be fine as long as the soles are still holding up. Someone gave me tape on the bus, but it is already falling off. Pulling up to the trailhead, I noticed only Raechel waited for me. Krista and Lifeguard were planning on doing 5 miles. And just like that, it went from taking a zero to just taking the bus to the trailhead the night before to only doing a couple miles to hiking 5 after 5:00pm. It always escalates and I have no choice. I did somehow manage to hike 3mph to get there before 7:00pm. That gave me enough time to eat since I packed out all my food. I’m sitting in my tent though and not at the “dinner circle” because this huge black bug keeps flying around and it’s grossing me out. Oh I should also mention that Brad pulled his final LOA and stayed in town tonight. His tent poles broke which means he might have to cowboy camp the rest of the way. We will see!