At about 4 am another storm rolled in and it started pouring rain. I was really annoyed that I might have to take down my tent and hike the last few miles to town while getting soaking wet. Luckily, by the time I was ready to leave the rain had stopped and I got to walk to the trailhead in relative dryness.
The last mile I really needed to go to the bathroom, and I knew there was a toilet at the trailhead. When I finally arrived about 45 minutes early a truck was also pulling up to the trailhead. It was Frank, my ride, and he said we had to get out of there because the road was in danger of a mudslide! Luckily I still had time to go to the bathroom and he took me into town without issue. Apparently every time it rains heavily one section of the road gets covered in mud and debris. You could see it as we drove by, but it usually gets cleared quickly.
I got to town and luckily my motel had breakfast. There were a bunch of hikers I hadn’t met before so I sat down and ate with them. After that, the owners told me my room was ready and I was able to check in pretty early. That was great because I really wanted to relax and dry out my stuff. I grabbed a milkshake to go and headed to my room.
Not long after settling in, I ventured out to get lunch and my resupply. I went in and had lunch with a few more hikers at the Buckhorn Bar where Frank had suggested the burgers.
It was raining a little bit still, but it wasn’t too big of a deal. The town is small and it’s only about 5 minutes from the hotel to the bar and the grocery store. I managed to get all my food, plus some milk and Oreos.
A couple hours later I decided it was time to do laundry. I didn’t have any cash or change so I went back to the bar where they had an ATM. I grabbed some cash, got a beer, and got some change before heading back to do laundry.
When I walked in I saw a tub of laundry detergent on the ground. Great! I put my clothes in the washer, grabbed a scoop, and dumped it in. Something looked wrong about the detergent and I looked back at the tub. On the lid, someone had written “Sidewalk Salt.”
They couldn’t have picked a worse bin or place to store that salt. I put my clothes in another washer and did my best to clean out the salt. There was liquid detergent on a shelf that I could use. I started the laundry and went back to my room. On the way, I saw another hiker and mentioned the salt. Unfortunately, they had also used the powdered “detergent” but they actually ran the load…
After laundry I decided to go back to the bar for dinner and a hiker I had met in Anaconda, Diva, had just shown up. We talked a bit before heading back to the hotel. I called Meghan before going to bed and enjoyed a really relaxing stop in town.