Oooo, so close to 1700 miles for my day 100! And what a day 100 it was. I woke a few times during the night in my urban camping experience, but when I rolled over, the next time I woke up it was 7am. I’ve been sleeping later and later recently…not a big deal to wake up at a certain time out here, especially on a town day!

I pack up and upon reaching the main street noticed a diner just down the way with a ton of cars outside…that’s always a good sign, especially when entering and seeing mostly locals, I like those kind of places.

I sat down at the bar and ordered a pancake breakfast and was soon joined by Vaun, an old timer who had lived in the surrounding area for most of his life. We had a good time chatting about bears, hiking, camping, and more, and towards the end of the meal when I made a trip to the bathroom, came back to find him gone but my bill paid! Wow, so nice!!!! Thanks Vaun!

From there I went to the post office to pick up the food I had bounced from Lander (you remember all those care packages? I couldn’t carry all that during the last stretch, so sent half of it ahead after sharing some with the other hikers; I won’t need to buy much here to make it another stint down the trail!

Then I had to check out the aquatic center I had heard so much about. For $5 you get access to the huge beautiful facility for the whole day. I didn’t really gravitate towards the fitness classes or the weight room…the hot tub is what I had my eye on. I took a long luxurious shower (in some of my clothes…might as well get them clean too!) and then jumped in the hot tub. Mint. Then a swim in the pool and a trip around the lazy river. I had my eye on the water slides, but decided to give them a pass and went back to the hot tub where I had a nice conversation with a few local ladies. Then back to the shower and to the lobby where I enjoyed a few cups of hot cider and tapped into their wifi for a little blogging action and some general web surfing. Very niiiice!

I spent a little time on the patio repacking my food bag and pack, and then headed towards lunch…pizza! My go-to town meal. If I order a large pizza, eat half for lunch, then I can pack the other half out to the trail, cold pizza on the trail? Don’t mind if I do!

After that I went to the grocery store, my list wasn’t long: 4 breakfast & wetwipes (wetwipes are GOLD on the trail). While I was there I ran into Smiles, who I had been in touch with for a ride back to the trail in a few hours, but really, all my town chores were done, so we made arrangements to go back after I was done shopping.

She had decided to go up for a hike since she was driving up to the trailhead, and we had a great time chatting…she was from Portland until just a few weeks ago when she moved to Pinedale to work as a wilderness ranger in the Winds! Cool job! Since she had just hiked the CDT last year we had a lot to talk about, and the 3 miles from the parking lot went quick with trail talk and a lot of laughter, so good to be around another badass hiker chick!

I wanted a short day, so I pulled off to find camp near Miller Lake, and she kept going. I’m overlooking the lake, and there is a smattering of rain beginning to fall. The mosquitos are getting bigger and hungrier, and I’m sure glad to have my bug condom (I hang it from the top of my tarp when camping, it’s perfect!)

Tomorrow I’ll get back in the thick of the Winds and do what I do best, head north!