After a long day yesterday, when we were finally in our tents, we heard some scurrying yesterday. It was Little Bug and Aaron, giggling as they ran by. Apparently, they were attempting 30mi on their 30th day on the trail. The moon is waxing, and it was a bright night, so hope they had a good night hike.
We started off early today, knowing that we had somewhere between 21-23mi today, with a hitch to Sula to get in before the store closed by 6pm. Gangles and I left camp early for us, by 6:45am, and were nearly the last ones out. Even the Swiss Fits beat us out. This was accompanied by the comic sight of Very Fit pulling down the tent with Swiss Miss still inside.
I was a little delirious and sleep deprived by the early departure. About a mile after camp, I ran into a tan scrawny, naked man peering shyly at me from the trees. Great, just what I need--a naked hillbilly at 7am. I finally realized that the naked man was actually a deer, staring at me straight on, and I mistook the front legs for skinny legs on a man. The deer finally realized that I was a person, and took off down the hill.
The rest of the day was beautiful, rolling up and down the ridge. We re-entered a burn area, which made it hot, but gave clear lines of sight throughout the day. We were down to the pass by 4:30pm, which is great timing. Bigfoot, Swiss Fits and Gangles caught the first hitch out while Barrel Roll and I went up to the Visitor Center. No luck there, so BR and I went back down to the pass, where we met Grinder.
An older man with long grey braids and rainbow suspenders picked us up in his RV. He was headed for a Rainbow Gathering, and let us ride in the back on the way to Sula. His RV was a cozy little camper, with cribbage boards and wood burning stove. We were so excited when we finally arrived, and in a tizzy bought every frozen pizza in the store for dinner.
Also, ran into Chinchilla and Pyrite, who we overlapped with for a hitch to Elliston. Funny, small world, Chinchilla is from Minnetonka! Home of Prince, and pretty much where Gangles grew up. Chinchilla to Wayzata HS, which is where Gangles' cousins went to HS. Really a nice coincidence. Also, they told us that we are such a mob on the trail that we are known as 'The Nine'. Which I know can sound rowdy, but we really are nice people.
We're all safely ensconced in a cabin, planning for the next stretch. This one is going to be hard. It's a 122mi stretch with more elevation gain and loss than we've faced to date.
p.s., When ordering food for delivery to Sula, I considered adding a copy of the novel by Toni Morrison. I remember really enjoying the book back in the day.
Mileage: ~21-25mi from a few miles shy of Schulze Saddle to Lost Trail Pass
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