The RV park where I was staying offers a few shuttles out to the trail each day and I originally wanted to take the 11:30 shuttle. That would give me plenty of time for breakfast and lots of time for hiking.
Then I looked at the weather. Possible rain storms all day until about 5 pm and then it looked clear. I wanted to take down my tent before it rained, but while I was charging my phone in the laundry room, it started raining.
Luckily there was a break in the rain a few hours later and the sun came out. My tent dried and I got everything packed up. I had some time to kill so I walked around the park a little and found this shoe tree.
This must be a popular place to get new shoes. I know that I really need a pair and they’re waiting for me in the next town. As the hike goes on, more and more gear fails. It can become pretty hard to replace when you’re in these small remote towns.
This RV park offers a pretty great deal. Ten dollars gets you a night of camping, a shower, and a load of laundry. For the shower they give you the key to an unused hotel room.
I’m pretty sure this room is set aside for hikers to shower in. Other rooms in the motel didn’t look so bad and I imagine they’re in the process of updating some of the rooms too. It wasn’t the nicest bathroom but the water was hot.
There were 4 of us trying to take the 5 pm shuttle out to the trail. As we started walking out the door to get the shuttle, we saw it drive away! I called the office of the RV Park and he called the driver to come back. I didn’t need to spend another night camping there.
With a later start, there wasn’t a ton of progress that could be made. There was 8 miles of dirt road walking before the trail goes way up on a ridge.
I made it to the end of the road and then started up the climb a little. There’s a shelf just above the road with nice flat space and cell phone service.
Some rain has fallen since I’ve gotten in my tent and some lightning is flashing in the distance. I hope the weather holds for the next few days. I planned for 3 days to go 95 miles and this is supposed to be a tough section.