Even though I wasn’t going into a town, today felt a little like a town day. I was going to stop by a store and get food for the next few days, I just wouldn’t have a bed to sleep in or a restaurant with food.
A lot of the day the trail followed forest roads but it did go along some big ridges that I assume are part of the Continental Divide.
Along here I came up to a fire lookout and there was a man and a woman hanging out there with a cooler and some camp chairs. The guy had a big pistol strapped to his chest and the woman had something similar, but if there was a gun, it was concealed. They asked me lots of questions about the trail and then gave me some water and part of their Body Armor drink. (Like Gatorade or Powerade) The woman seemed super interested in the hike but the guy seemed more interested in telling me that there are grizzly bears here.
We also talked about the weird little store at Stemple Pass. I guess the guy knew the previous owners of the property and the woman was really surprised there was an ultralight backpacking store way out in the middle of nowhere.
This store was insane! He doesn’t allow pictures inside for some reason but it was FULLY stocked with gear from tons of companies. He even had Feathered Friends, a sleeping bag company from Seattle. He said he was one of two stores they let sell their gear.
In addition to gear, he stocks a pretty good variety of backpacking food and the prices are fair. I was able to buy plenty of decent stuff to get me the few more days to town.
He had some cold drinks for sale too so I bought two colas and a Powerade. I had been outrunning a thunderstorm all morning and I watched it pass us by while I enjoyed my drinks and had some snacks.
My plan for the last bit was to hike every day until the end. No zeros. I think I may have walked myself into one on accident. The distance is going to work out that I can make it to the road for a ride, but it will be very late in the day.
This town is about an hour drive from the trailhead, so it won’t be easy to get back and forth. I also really need a shower and laundry. These last few days have been super humid and everything is sticky.
Luckily this “zero” doesn’t affect my schedule. It’s only happening because I was a little too fast. The next few days look like they have a ton of climbing, so an easy day is going to be really nice.