This morning would be the last morning in my farmhouse bed. The fresh garlic from last nights dinner sure stuck with me throughout the night. We didn't have to get up early since we had a 9 mile day so we decided on a 9am shuttle. Nuke and Ravioli got up around 6:30-7:00, Lynn around 7:30 and me a little after that. I packaged up my box to send back home and went downstairs for breakfast. I was excited to try the French toast muffins I got the night before at the IGA and they were delicious! I made tea and Nuke made us egg sandwiches. I walked by Roanan's bunk and saw a very meticulous, planned out food plan. Seems he eats the same breakfast, snacks, lunch, and dinner-everyday. I had to take a photo of the very OCD military hiker. I said my goodbyes to the Farmhouse and it's lake view and settled up with Stavey and Shane. This hostel in a few years is going to be the place to be, even though it already is. The couple has big plans for the place and I am hopeful to come back one day to see the improvements. Currently there is a commercial kitchen that needs some work before it is up and operating, a milk parlor that is being converted to more bunks and showers, and the basement has a full bar that will be renovated as well. One day Shane hopes to build a house for Stacey on the lake and have the Farmhouse soley for the hostel. We jumped in Shane's truck and started our hour journey to the dirt road leading to the trail. We stopped by the Stratton motel on the way to drop off some extra things like my new sleeping bag. On the way up the dirt road we talked of Inchworm's dissapearence last year. Shane thinks she is in the river or the lake, and doesn't understand why they haven't searched it as much as they should. Once we got to the trail we said our goodbyes and walked the .5 miles to the trail. The hike wasn't bad, then our first main climb had some big boulders similar to New York terrain. As we climbed, we had a few good views. At the top, there was a viewpoint 75 yards off so we went there for a snack. It was sun exposed and light wind so it was so nice. I had some of my yogurt covered pretzel and raisins, and sunflower mix. Then I had my leftover bow tie pasta and peas from last night, finishing it off with a cosmic brownie. We hiked down, and then back up to our last climb of the day; no big deal. There was no view at the top however, there was Pinecone, Big Gulp, Songbird, Mailman, No Rush, Southbound, and Sloth to hang out with. After hiking on we had a lot of downhill but it was all as pleasant as downhill can be. Once we got to the road, we hitched for a minute until we heard Miss Janet's nostalgic horn. We walked back over to the parking lot and after she unloaded some hikers, we got a ride back into Stratton. We checked into our room where our packs had been dropped off, and Lynn and Ravioli were playing tired hikers, I was ready for dinner. I sat tight for a little and then we were ready to go. We walked over to White Wolf for dinner and sat for awhile. I ordered a non-GMO burger with bacon, mushrooms, cheese, BBQ, and mayo with sweet potato fries. Once our food finally came I devoured my burger and fries. I decided to order a brownie for dessert and it came wrapped up and cold, ok I can deal with this. I opened it up and took a bite; something was off. Did it taste like chemicals? Did it taste like the smell of something else? Did it taste like Christmas? I couldn't tell you, but something was not right. And I ate it all. Puzzle got a job for after the trail in New Mexico, so that is exciting for him. After dinner Lynn and I went over to the small store and I got a Vitamin C bottled drink, 3 bananas, bagels and cream cheese, a Greek yogurt, and a Gatorade. We went back to the motel and I got in the shower, or I tried to. I turned on the water and waited, and waited, and 10 minutes later the water was still cold. For fun I turned it to cold, it got hot. Damn it. I took my Opposite Day shower and then passed along the trick of the trade. We sat and watched part of Austin Powers, and then flipped through channels; Love Actually, Bucket List, Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, and so on. The lower miles didn't wipe us out since we are still wide awake at hiker midnight (9:00.) Tomorrow we have our last slack pack day and it is a big one, the Bigelows; 16.7 miles. I hope the weather holds out, the clouds part way to some blue skies, and the climb is enjoyable; cheers to that!
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