Today was a great day. I was the last one out of camp this morning (very unusual!!) but made good time to Highway 36. At the highway, I found the rest of my posse getting ready to head into Chester. Another thru-hiker's father, Sleeping Bare, had just dropped off his son, Nugio, at the trail head and was offering a ride back to town. Given the easy hitch, everyone had decided to make the trip. I seriously considered joining as pancakes were sounding awfully tempting but wound up deciding to stick to my plan to head straight to Drakesbad. I really want to zero tomorrow and knew that heading to town would make it less likely I would reach Drakesbad tonight.
Posse gone, I hit up some fruit left at the trail head and then knocked out the 19-ish miles to Drakesbad without any issues. It was nice to be on my own for most of the day. I only saw one other hiker until I got very close to Drakesbad. The solitude was welcome. I stopped for water and foot soaks at Stover Spring and the North Fork of the Feather River where I also ate lunch but otherwise kept my breaks to a minimum. A couple miles out of Drakesbad, I did a short side trip that my guide book had recommended to see a geyser. I was able to get super close to it which was neat, but I decided it wasn't quite worth the extra effort. Once you've seen one geyser, I think you've just about seen them all!
I arrived at Drakesbad hungry but feeling good. I'd done the last 9.5-ish miles plus the side trip on a small mashed potato packet and was totally out of food. Drakesbad is great! Double Sprainbow, Mad Dog, Rapunzel, and Mr. Pibbs were all hanging out when I arrived, and Tangent and Holstein showed up during dinner. There is trail magic at the campground nearby where I am spending the night. We ate dinner at the ranch, as it has a super fancy restaurant that gives thru-hikers dinner for a significantly reduced price after the other patrons have been served. It was a little funny, but it is hard to turn down a meal of shrimp scampi lasagna, bread, chocolate mousse, and coffee for $10. We definitely got the leftovers, but they were heavenly.
Also picked up my resupply box today.....thank you Sharon for the best bars EVER! They are sooooo yummy! I shared a couple and everybody loved them. However, I didn't share nearly as many as I was planning as they were way too good to give up!
Back to the ranch tomorrow for a shower and hot springing. I expect to see the rest of my gang by early afternoon. Can't wait for some serious relaxing!
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