I woke up in the basement after an okay night’s sleep. Even at 10 pm, it was like 90 degrees in Boise. It did cool down enough to sleep, but I didn’t get as much as I would have liked. Then it was time to hit the road, but not before a trip to IHOP.
The 7 hour drive to Rock Springs went quickly with only a couple stops for gas and the bathroom. Soon enough we dropped off the car and we’re on our own.
We made one last stop at Wendy’s for food before hitting the road. A man saw us making a sign and said he would have offered us a ride if he was going to Rawlins but unfortunately he wasn’t. There was a baseball team in there and we wondered if maybe they were from Rawlins too, but they were not.
We did eventually get a ride from a man and his daughter. They lived in Rawlins but they were in Rock Springs for an eye appointment. He said he drives Uber sometimes and had met a lot of hikers so he picked us up. It was a long ride, but it went fast and he dropped us off near his house right on the trail. This was awesome except we didn’t have any water and there wasn’t going to be any for like 11 miles. Luckily the Bureau of Land Management office was across the street from where we were dropped off. They had a working water spigot we could use to fill up.
We didn’t get hiking until almost 7, so if we wanted to make it to water it meant night hiking. Night hiking dirt roads is great. Unfortunately, right as it was getting dark the trail veered off into the desert.
Now I had to worry about rattlesnakes, cactuses, rocks, and who knows what else. The local cows didn’t seem too happy with me either. It slowed me down quite a bit because I really really don’t want to step on a cactus again like I did in New Mexico.
After 5 days off I was feeling pretty good. On top of that I found a can of Dr. Pepper near one of the road crossings.
It almost feels like my 5 days off trail didn’t happen. Did I really drive all the way to Seattle, spend a few days in Chelan, then drive right back to the trail? It just doesn’t seem possible. I found a trail register today and there’s some old friends not too far ahead. I’m excited to try and catch them.