I got out of camp at 7:30 and stopped only an hour in because I liked the creek I was at. I had about 16 miles to do, but none of it was particularly interesting. Just the connective tissue of the CDT getting from one nice place to another. I made the same sorts of stops on the same sort of schedule I had been making for days. I had lunch in an established campsite near a creek and some cows, and sent a message with my arrival time at the road. There were lots of blowdowns, then I came out into the open ranch on dirt roads with all the cows. It was uphill all morning and downhill for the last few miles.
I came to the road around 5:30, and mom and Gail arrived about 12 minutes later, having been driving around for an hour unsure of where the trail crossing was. No cell service interrupted their ability to Google Maps. But I didn’t have to wait long in the end so it didn’t matter.
We went to the Holiday Inn Express so I could shower and change, and an hour later we went out to the Gannett Grill for pizza, salad, and (for me) beer. The pizza was okay but the salad was pretty good.
Back at the hotel, mama and I took advantage of the hot tub and pool for the little while I had before I needed to return to the bathroom, where I spent another hour. The ongoing issue continued off the trail with even more frequency, but a solution would be found soon.
Anyway, on the whole, I was just tired all day and didn’t see much of interest.
Total miles: 15.7
