I had picked a nice flat campsite, and the night was filled with crazy dreams…some all too real. A few hours before dawn I woke to go to the bathroom and saw an orange light flickering in the distance, shit! Was that a fire!!!!! I stared at it, it was only one small spot, and then it moved, and I realized I was looking at car lights on the near-by road filtered through the smokey air. Phew, so much smoke still makes me on edge.

Smokey morning

I only had a few miles to walk this morning, and by 8am I was at the gravel “highway.” Thankfully I had arranged a ride with Sam, the owner of the Leadore Inn, because only one car passed in the 2 hours I was there…going the wrong direction. I wasn’t sure how soon I would make it to the road, so told him 10am for a pick up.

G Funk arrived shortly after I did, and we drank coffee and chatted while waiting. Once Sam rolled up, we piled into his pickup and headed towards town. He is a stellar dude, having just purchased the motel a year ago, and once we arrived, found it to be one of the coziest, nicest places I’ve stayed on the whole trail. Leadore doesn’t even have a stop sign, but it has everything a hiker could need. Post office, gas station/convenience store, bar/restaurant, and motel. Perfect.

I showered and spent the rest of the day laying in bed watching a mixture of cable and netflix on my phone. Thankfully my credit and debit cards arrived, and I also got my new sleeping pad from Gossamer Gear and a big cuben patch for my tarp where I melted it in my fire accident a while back. It’s been holding up ok, but Ron and Brandon wanted to send me a patch so it would pitch better.

Dan, G Funk, and I went to dinner at the bar, met some hilarious locals, and devoured some cheesesteak sandwiches.

When I returned to the room I found the movie The Matrix on TV and soon after fell asleep.

Good nero!