Longstride

Today was a “rest” day in Pagosa Springs, which involved a lot of running around town preparing for the next segment of my hike.

Town of Pagosa Springs

• I slept in, not getting up until well after 8 am.
• Mr. Freeze and I went to The Rose, a breakfast restaurant next door to our Air B&B. Everyone else was already there.
• I called one of the outfitters in town regarding repairing my pack, and was recommended to go to Let Er Rip Alterations.
• We found that Pagosa Springs has a bus loop that runs hourly, going as far as the Walmart, a couple of miles west of town. Conveniently, there was a stop only a minute’s walk from where we were staying. Boss, Patches, Mr. Freeze, and I took the bus to Walmart to get food.
• I got off early to go to Let Er Rip, conveniently located about halfway to the Walmart. The bus driver also recommended the shop, and suggested bribing the staff there with chocolate.
• On closer inspection, it turned out that my pack’s shoulder strap was barely hanging on by a few threads. It likely would not have survived another week on trail.
• Because of my pack’s construction, the section needing repair was too thick to fit into their sewing machines, They said they would look at doing it by hand. I left my pack there and walked to the Walmart, where I met Boss, Patches, Mr. Freeze, who had already started shopping.
• The four of us finished our resupply only a couple minutes before the bus returned on its loop. We got six days of food, which should take us 82 miles to Silverton, halfway around the “horseshoe”, part of the trail in southern Colorado that forms a U-shape around (to the west) of the Rio Grande Reservior. (An alternate we’re not taking, the Creede Cutoff, bypasses this mountainous area by dropping into the valley and cutting straight north, through the town of Creede and connecting the two ends of the horseshoe.)
• On the way back to our Air B&B, I got a call that my pack was ready. I gave my shopping to Boss and Patches to bring in, so I wouldn’t have to lug it all around town, and took the bus back out to get my pack.
• Let Er Rip also gave me a needle and some of the heavy-duty thread they used for the repair. It looks like the shoulder strap is firmly attached, but even if this pack survives the next 2,000 miles to Canada, this will probably be the last hike for this pack.
• I walked back to the Air B&B to drop of my pack, and then to the east side of town to get more fuel for my stove. I attempted to get an extra water bottle to replace the one I lost, but the outfitter didn’t sell them.
• Patches and the K2s made dinner, spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread. It was excellent.
• Given that we plan to return to the trail tomorrow, we were all up surprisingly late. At least four of us were still up at quarter-to-midnight.
• My cold, or whatever it was, seems significantly improved since the morning.

Tomorrow: we return to the trail to begin our next section, six days and 82 miles to Silverton.