Today was a somewhat hectic zero in Rawlins, Wyoming.
-
The hotel had a continental breakfast. It was satisfactory, if a little bare-bones. (Cereal, bagels, and pre-packaged food items, and supply was a little low by the time I got there.)
-
I arranged for late checkout, and then went to the Walmart half a mile a way to resupply for the next section (to South Pass City). Resupply became significantly more complicated than I planned.
- After South Pass City is Pinedale, but Pinedale requires a ten mile hike off-trail to hitch into town, or, an hour-plus ride from a trailhead further north that is reportedly very hard to hitch from.
- Since getting to Pinedale either way would kill at least a day, I decided that I didn’t really want to go there to resupply.
- The next town after Pinedale is DuBois, 168 miles north of South Pass City. With some extra food, I think I can do that in a week, though it’ll be hard.
- There is the possibility to send a resupply box to the Brooks Lake Lodge, located very close to the trail, near the road to DuBois, which would allow me to skip that town as well, however, that would significantly complicate resupply in Yellowstone, since the post offices there are currently closed due to the floods in North Yellowstone last month, and staffing issues.
- Ultimately, I decided to pick up an extra two days of food, which when added to what I have waiting in South Pass City, will allow me to reach DuBois. This means I’ll have to carry two extra days of food through the Great Divide Basin, which is not going to be fun, but it also lets me defer planning for Yellowstone for a week, when the situation might improve.
-
I checked out of my hotel room, then ran back to the Walmart to pick up a fuel canister, to ensure I have enough for the stretch to DuBois.
-
I briefly met up with Sprouts and Stumblebee, then walked back to the main part of town while they finished doing their resupply.
-
At Anong’s Thai Cusine, a couple of blocks away from my motel tonight, I had lunch with Sprouts, Stumblebee, Bass, Cool Whip, Wild Man, Velveeta, and Fuck-It. (I last saw Cool Whilp, Fuck-It and Wild Man when I returned to the trail from Silverton.) It seems I got into Rawlins yesterday ahead of them, passing them when they'd stopped for a siesta somewhere along the roadwalk. They plan to leave town this afternoon, night-hiking through the Great Divide Basin.
-
I confirmed that no one had lost the ski mask I found on the trail a few days ago, and dropped it in the hiker box at Brickyard Inn, my motel for tonight.
-
I went to the laundromat almost a mile down the road from the Brickyard. I took a bottle of soda with me, and forgot to take it out of my laundry bag when I dumped it into the washer. When the washer was done, it was certainly the cleanest (and most shaken up) bottle of soda I’ve ever had. (And fortunately, it didn’t burst open.)
-
On the way to the laundromat, I passed (entirely too close to) a deer that was munching on the plants next to a building.
-
Both the laundromat, and the 1st Choice hotel had the same page-a-day calendar, and both were still showing yesterdays date.
-
I again ordered pizza for dinner. I tried to order from a local business just down the street from the Brickyard Inn, but they never answered their phone. I then ordered from Pizza Hut, but I had to call three times; the first two times, they put me on hold after getting my address, and then forgot about me. They also had a rather irritating on-hold message. It was fine the first couple of times, but it was definitely not meant to be listened to for twenty minutes…
-
The plan tomorrow is to leave “early”. No idea what that’ll actually turn out to be, but my pack is as fully packed as it can be so all I need to do tomorrow is eat breakfast and leave. Hopefully six or earlier.
