SHT Day 6 (9/24)

This morning started out pretty foggy, both outside and inside of my head. More vivid dreams (maybe I'll lay off the vitamins and see if that helps), but this time I remember very few details.

The mornings seem to be the hardest. It's tough to get out of my warm sleeping bag and it takes my legs an hour or so to adjust to the trail. My feet have been feeling much better, so that helps.

Most if the forests I have been walking through are mixed forest of aspen, maple, birch, red pine, and a few others. My favorite are the mature maple forests. They're tall, but not too dense and I love the glow it creates when the sun is shining.

After about eight miles I stumbled upon this restaurant. A RESTAURANT. A restaurant that probably has food and beer and a bathroom where I can wash my face!

And they did! I had two beers (I almost forgot about Leinenkugels as we don't have much if that in the PNW), a root beer, a giant BBQ bacon burger with onion rings and an extra side of onion rings. I haven't been eating enough in the trail since I'm already sick of what I brought and too tired to cook most nights, so this was perfect. Yum. My mouth is watering just remembering it.

Being a lightweight with two beers in me before noon, I found the next section if the trail very entertaining. Here I am dancing to a Robyn song in the middle of an empty road.

The buzz didn't last long, so I had to go back to my solitude and the beautiful fall colors of a young aspen forest I crossed.

With only 7 more miles in my 19 mile day, I came across this sign at the beginning of the next section. I realized that this is the part the other thru-hiker had warned me about yesterday. I was just about to go for it when a couple exited the trail and told me that they tried to cross the fallen bridge and failed. There was no way through and I would have to take the 6.5 mile detour on county roads.

Walking on the road is awful when your body is used to a trail. It's hell on your feet and there is little to no shade, so I thought I'd hitch instead.

Unfortunately, I guess I don't look like the kind if guy you would pull over to pick up, even in Minnesota. I walked the 6.5 miles on the road and it was much, much more difficult than I had expected. Look what it did to my poor foot. Ouch!

After finally getting to the trailhead for the next section, I was rewarded with this incredible view of Lake Superior. I'm not sure if you can see it, but I could even see the mountains if whatever Midwestern state is on the other side of Lake Superior. Wisconsin? I should look at a map when I can.

Arrived at camp. Alone again, darn!

Oh well, it's only 7pm, but I'm so tired I might just try and go to bed now. Maybe this will help me get out of bed before 8:30?

Goodnight world!

Rob