Day 113 - 8/16/12 -Lake of the Woods Shenannigans

Contents:  Big Springs - Highway 140 (17.6 miles)

Remember that thing called the PCT?  I think I was hiking on it earlier today and then something went terribly awry!  One thing led to another and suddenly Mellow, Smiles, Shameless, and I were standing on the side of Highway 140 with our thumbs out.  We were about 18 miles into our day and trying to get to a very spontaneous hitch to a small community called Butte Falls.  We didn't know much about this place, but Mellow thought we could reach it via 140 and he was confident we could find a lounge there.  He'd been to Butte Falls last summer while leading a trail crew in the area.

We'd just about given up on the hitch and had said we'd wait for one more car when a guy flipped a u-ee and pulled up across from us.  This very nice gentleman informed us that we were no where near Butte Falls but that there was a resort called Lake of the Woods nearby and he was happy to give us a lift.  We couldn't believe our luck!  Our friend, Mud Flap, had been planning to head into Lake of the Woods via an alternate trail earlier today.  We had declined his invitation to join but could now meet up with him.

Needless to say, the hitch was fantastic.  Our chauffeur was a doctor named Joel who had removed three uteruses today and was on his way to volunteer at a triathlon in the area.  On top of all this, he refused to let us out of his car without making us take $40 to spend on dinner.  What a guy!  It was truly magical.  We even have his phone number in case we need to ride back to the trail in the morning. 

We ran into Mud Flap as soon as we arrived at the resort.  Dinner was great, and we all got ice cream at the general store for dessert.  In addition, we somehow got invited to spend the night on a employee housing area across the lake.  This was too interesting of an opportunity to pass up and any plans of returning to the trail this evening quickly vanished.  Anyways, we killed some time on the beach in front of the restaurant before deciding it was time to make our way to the party.  And now for the best part--Shameless (being Shameless) walked right up to a couple climbing into their boat and asked if they would give us a ride across the lake.  Their response?  Hell yeah!  So before I knew it, I was zipping across the water as the sun was setting in a speed boat.  SO awesome!

The day didn't go quite as planned, but it has been a blast.  I definitely didn't expect to find myself camped in employee housing at Lake of the Woods Resort this evening, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow out here. Without a doubt, the best adventures are the ones you don't see coming!  Cheesy, but so true.  Off to bed now and back to the trail tomorrow.  Crater Lake on Saturday.