Our group of 5 shared the cabin with a couple who have shown open disdain for us. I don’t know what we have done to merit their looks of hatred. Bear has even tried to get them to smile before. The last time we saw them was at the shelter of shame the day before yesterday. I had bet that they were going to get up at 4a and make as much noise as possible since they were already in bed when we arrived at 7:30 last night.
I had terrible cramps in the middle of the night. I was so crammed in to the corner that there was no way I could get out to stand up. I writhed around in pain for what seemed like hours until they calmed down. To Bunny’s credit, she didn’t yell at me and tell me I was keeping her awake like she did in Scotland. Add in 3 or 4 middle of the night perimeter checks and I was not ready to get up when Bear was first up.
I was mildly motivated to get to town today. We already had reservations for the night, but the earliest we can arrive is 1. That left us plenty of time to walk the 3 miles in, hitch a ride, eat lunch, and do a little shopping before calling for a ride. I was hoping to sleep in a bit this morning. To my surprise, the Mongrel-like couple were still in bed. Maybe it’s not us they hate, but life in general.
It was a quick walk to the highway. We had set our selves up for a level to downhill stroll so each rise was an unpleasant experience. We met another hiker, Bumblebee, on the trail and talked with her a bit while hiking in. She could come in handy at the road when we are trying to hitch a ride. I’m sure Bunny and Sassy can get the job done (women always get rides), but a younger woman will get faster results. (This is the analysis Bear provided me. I’ve seen Bunny get a car to change directions.)
Hugh (the Stratton Mountain caretaker) had told me getting a ride at the parking lot is easy. I thought I’d try my luck right off the bat. I borrowed the “Hiker to Town” sign and started sticking out my thumb. I got everyone else to stand further down the road. No luck. I decided to show some skin by hiking my shorts a bit to show my pasty white thighs. This almost caused a traffic accident (and not in a good way). Cars started swerving into oncoming traffic to avoid me. Bear took me to the back of the parking lot to let the women shine. They got a ride in less than 5 minutes. We tried to get Chris to tell us which woman pulled him in, but he claimed to always pick up any hikers he sees.
We all got dropped off at the grocery store. I didn’t have a good feeling about this because we were so hungry. We had a food shipment sent to the hostel, but couldn’t remember what we had in it. There was a very real danger we were going to (and did) buy too much. I was upset that Bunny kept putting crap in the cart when I put better crap in. In the end, we kept all the crap and I knew I would end up suffering. Henceforth, only one of us will do the shopping (and it won’t be Bunny).
Now that we had about 20# of crap that we didn’t need, we decided to get some lunch. We are in pizza and burger overload so we looked for something different. We found a Thai place a few blocks away. We were a bit worried that it was too classy for dirty hikers but they never made us feel unwelcome. We did ask for a table away from everyone else to protect the innocent.
What follows lunch? Bunny, Sassy, and Bear all demanded ice cream. I tried to talk them into a nice, nondairy pastry, or even just skipping dessert altogether. I’ve never been one for sugary treats. They threatened my life, so I agreed to keep the peace. I even put up a good show of solidarity and ordered three scoops of ice cream to let them know there were no hard feelings.
In the course of events, we also stopped by the outfitter to get fuel and a few other items before we called Jeff for a ride to the hostel. He gave us directions where to meet and said he’d be there in about 10 minutes. As soon as we got to the hostel, Bear and Sassy were ready to take a zero. I agreed when I saw the Ben and Jerry pints of ice cream for $1. I am a big enough man to not hold hard feelings about their threats to my well being.
There’s a high percent chance of rain tomorrow and I will do whatever it takes to keep the peace. Even though we got all of our laundry and resupply done today, I will agree to a day of rest if only someone will be nice to me. Jeff was nice to everyone—close enough.
EFG
The shot of your face in the wind made me lol! Excellent photographic achievement!:):)
I’ve got to give photo credit to Bear on that one. The wind in my face was my dog’s idea. I just enjoyed the ride.