I think a cow tried to get in my camp spot during the night, but I wasn’t about to share my little flat spot with a heffer! Morning came quickly and I packed up knowing I had short morning into town.

Walking a highway, oh yeah. At least the first few miles on hwy 41 were pretty quiet, I saw a few elk trying to jump over the fence that lined the road, and marveled at all the wildflowers that burst out of almost every inch of green.

When I got to the big highway I kept switching sides to stay in the visible spots around the big bends in the road, and luckily checked my map at just the right time to save myself walking more than I needed to, it was time to hitch!

Being the 5th of July there were hundreds of cars leaving Steamboat Springs, but very very few heading towards town. After 30 minutes and only about 4 cars passing I started to despair, but gave the next car driving up the pass all my energy…”Please pick me up! I’m not scary, I won’t hurt you!” Releasing that energy into the world must have helped, because the car slowed down and the young couple in the car made room for me to hop in the back. Sweet!!

The ride to town went pretty quick, and before you know it I was scoping out a place to eat another breakfast. I found Freshies, a yummy eatery, and left with full belly and a few hours to kill before I could check into my hotel.

Funny enough I was outside putting my pack on when a guy asked if I was hiking the CDT…why yes I am! And he noticed my Point6 socks too, and that’s when I met Derek and learned he worked for them, I’d be seeing him tomorrow when I stopped by the office! Small world!

I made my way downtown and picked up a few resupply items I knew I needed, stopped by a place for a small lunch and when I caught the free bus to my hotel, on got MIJ (Made in Japan) a northbound CDT hiker I had first met in central Colorado. He was on his way to the same hotel, so we talked trail and marveled that we had both been hiking solo and same as the others around us, kept to the same pocket (maybe doing similar miles) so that we never ran into each other on the trail. Even seeing someone in town, it was great to connect with another hiker! He’ll be heading out tomorrow while I have another day off, so who knows when I’ll run into him again.

I didn’t do much once I got my room…took a shower, ordered a pizza, and watched movies until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer.

This bed is divine.