The magnetic draw of a town always amazes me. I have to admit, the vision of a hotel room bed and laying horizontal in air conditioned temperatures with ice and a hot shower available have been my inspiration these past three days. Being able to alternately ice and heat my aching body parts sounds like a little slice of heaven, and now it is only about 17 miles away.
I was up a little early today, mostly because I couldn’t sleep due to the pain. I ate two helpings of granola, then packed up and was on the road (literally) at 4:53am. Dallas didn’t have the motivational pain to roust her from sleep and was a few minutes behind me.
It was nice to walk in the predawn light and cool air. There was a surprising amount of traffic this morning. About 20 pickups passed going away from town, all within 20 minutes. Must be some place of work they were all heading to.
It took Dallas about three miles to catch up with me. Man, does she walk fast on pavement. The road was straight and flat and it wasn’t long before she was just a speck on the horizon. I found that when I stop for a break, about every 5 or 6 miles, it helps to get my feet elevated and let the blood drain out, especially when walking on pavement. I use the marker posts along the road to prop my feet against while I take a break.
Dallas has made arrangements to meet Magic Mike at Buck’s Sports Bar when they opened at 11:00am. That meant 16.5 miles in under 6 hours or an average speed of 2.75 mph. Dallas got there in 4.5 hours arriving at 10:00am. I got there with about 15 minutes to spare.
Walking into downtown at 10:45am on a Wednesday I noticed about 6 or 7 people on the street. They were all carrying backpacks. There are a lot of through hikers in town.
Bucks was good. I think I drank 5 large sodas to accompany my grilled chicken salad. After lunch Dallas and I hoofed it to the Post Office and thenthe 1.3 miles down to the Econolodge. In the lobby we found a crowd of hikers waiting for a room, Old Bag, Stix, Gib, and others I can’t remember. Off in the side room I found Kingo. I had not seen him since May 9th. He was now hiking with Grit. We got a chance to talk for a few minutes, then he and Grit headed out for the trail.
It took over an hour for a room to become available. Once in the room I took a shower, sorted my pack contents and rested. I met Dallas for dinner in the hotel restaurant. No one was there and the menu only had three choices, but I don’t have to walk anywhere to eat, it had a salad bar and the plate full of spaghetti was wonderful.
Now for three or four days of rest, alternating icing and heating and getting this body back in shape to complete the second half of this trek. I’m looking forward to seeing the Wind River Range and walking into Yellowstone in the next couple weeks. Come on body, heal.
That’s me walking the highway in the pre-dawn light.
Letting the blood drain from my feet during a break from walking the highway. I took two breaks on the 16 miles into town.
If you are still in Rawlins. Try the thai restaurant. It's delicious.
ReplyDeleteBlue Rabbit