Today was a double town day. Four miles into the morning, we entered South Pass CIty, which was once WY's second largest town, during the height of gold fever. Now, the population is ~7. Now, there are maybe 3 year round residents, but the town has been restored to be an example of a historic hiking town.
Many of the buildings from the late 1800s have been preserved, and filled with period accurate artifacts. The saloon has beers, plates and cards, the boarding house has beds, socks and blankets. Fascinating place to walk though.
After we picked up our packages at the small store, we headed on to Atlantic City! Dice and sand! Actually, it's another small town, with a population of ~57. There are 2 restaurants in town, though they've come to some OPEC-like cartel arrangement and are never open on the same days. We sent our mail to the Miner's Grubstake, operated by Laurel. She's a former RN who now runs a mom & pop restaurant. And she's a kind of trail mother to the hikers like us who wander through. She was a little sassy with me when I walked in, since she was swimming in boxes with our name on them.
In addition to our resupply, it was hiker Christmas! We had a TastyKake family pack, thanks to Maron. A little bit of Philly was marvelous. And warehouse quantities of banana-flavored Laffy Taffy and Nerds ropes from Gangles' parents, Mary and Todd McNabb. These two sugar bombs formed the bulk of our resupply. We actually have planned a lunch on this next section which is solely TastyKake cupcakes. The only nutrition and class we have in our food comes courtesy of Romain and Sophie, who sent a gourmet selection of hiker goodies including fancy chocolates, licorice, fruit leather and Biscoffs. R&S, thank you for taking our food to the next level. >
Oh, and after ~800mi, I picked up a new pair of shoes. They're the same make and model as my last pair (Saucony Xodus), which is just in time. My last pair were really starting to shred, and let in too much sand. Here's the obligatory before and after shot. >
After we picked up our packages, we started to despair. We needed to mail out some stuff, plus we were waiting on Gangles' new boots. Gary wanted to head out, so we were sad to lose him, but we needed time to sort ourselves. There's no PO in AC, but a wonderful woman and fellow Delmarva native Yvonne came to the rescue. Laurel managed to track her down for us. >
> Yvonne runs the AC community center, which is a combination internet hub and small general store. She sometimes lets hikers sleep in there, and we lucked out. We were able to make phone calls and use computers to sort out logistics for the next stretch. It was my first time using a real computer since Glacier NP, which was refreshing. I was finally able to reply to some great blog comments. Apologies for the long delay! I really do love to hear from you.
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> Anyhow, Yvonne was able to mail our package for us, give us a place to sleep indoors, and feed us some delicious town goodies (i.e., fruit and soda). So, thanks, Yvonne for being a wonderful trail angel. And best of luck with your interview--you're more than qualified. You go, girl!
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> Gangles and I spent a fun afternoon dealing with all of our town chores, and running around town. We had some fun girl talk (politics, religion and men). Though AC is small, there seems to be a lot of drama afoot. It's like Peyton Place. Or the Harper Valley PTA. I heard that there may even be a reality tv show filming there. The intrigue runs deep. If I had been there a day or two longer, I would have opened up a private investigation shop. I think it would be fun to do stakeouts on an ATV. Juicy town. And wonderful, hospitable people. Definitely worth a stop in.
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> And the food at Miner's Grubstake is awesome. As a Philadelphian, I had to try the Philly Cheesesteak. It was pretty darn tasty, but it wasn't authentic because it was too high quality. The beef tasted like (and was) real prime rib. And I think it was real cheese, and not wiz. A great sandwich but too gourmet for the real thing. Seriously, though, the food is delicious.
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> p.s., Finally the moment I feared came to pass. Gangles made me watch the last 4 hours of The Bachelorette. My money was on Brooks, but Chris came out of nowhere! Plus, Juan Pablo is going to be amazing. Just watching 25 women pronounce 'Juan Pablo' will be amazing.
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> p.p.s, There was no shower or laundry available in AC. For your well-being, please sit upwind of me. Thanks.
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> Mileage: 9mi from near Hwy 26 to AC
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