Great day today. Flappy, Amigo, and I woke up super early in order to ensure that we'd make the 9 AM bus to Stehekin. For the past several days (and until the end of the trip), Flappy has been waking us up to the song A Living Thing by Electric Light Orchestra. It's a great song but one you don't hear too often......maybe every 5 years or so. Flappy's goal is to train us like Pavlov's dogs so that we relive these last mornings together whenever we hear this song forever more. It's definitely working, and I wake up with a smile every morning.
Anyways, I was the first of our trio to leave camp around 5 after a quick breakfast of two tortillas, each with half a string cheese and half a fruit bar inside. I didn't want to take the time for oatmeal which I usually eat warm (though most people eat it cold out here). Huckleberry and Chow-Down had also joined us in camp, and I hiked most of the 9.5 miles to the bus with Huck. The walking was easy and we made good time, arriving around 8. Surprisingly, we passed Smiles, Shameless, and Mellow sleeping next to the trail about 5 miles from the road. We woke them up and managed to convince Smiles and Shameless to motivate for the 9:00 bus.
The bus stop was awesome. Tons of hikers came out of nowhere. It's funny-I started from the Mexico border with many, many people. As we headed north, we got spread out. In spite of this, almost all of us planned to finish by the end of September/first of October. This end date is bringing us all back together, and I'm running into people I haven't met or haven't seen in lots of miles. I love it!
The bus ride was good. It was about 8 miles to the eagerly anticipated Stehekin Bakery. The bus was mostly full of thru-hikers but there were a few other folks who got on when we stopped at a hotel. Many were from Alabama and they were all super nice. One of the guys had done his undergrad at Auburn and then gone to law school at University of Alabama, just like my dad. At first, I thought they might know each other, but the man on the bus turned out to be quite a bit younger. They were fun to talk to though!
The bakery was awesome....it definitely met expectations. Most people hopped right back on the bus, but Flappy, Amigo, Smiles, Shameless, and I hung out for the entire morning. The hikers definitely cleaned 'em out....I actually showed some of the most restraint of the group, and came away with just one cinnamon roll, two apples, a salad, and a hot chocolate. It hit the spot though the cinnamon roll didn't come close to measuring up to my Mom's. Add a little Calvin and Hobbes reading and some chess and it was a pretty great morning.
I accidentally missed the bus. Shameless, Flappy, Amigo, and Smiles took from the bakery to the main town area but was able to catch a different one a few minutes later. Mellow was on that bus too, so we were all accounted for with the exception of Action Pack and Sunday.
The afternoon was spent picking up my boxes at the PO, showering, doing laundry, making a few phone calls, etc. I'm currently sitting outside next to Lake Chelan with a bunch of people. It is beautiful here but still really smokey.....I would love to come back here someday.
We have a dinner reservation for 12-ish at 5:30 at the only restaurant in the area and there is free camping for tonight. We are pretty much the only folks in town this late in the season....it is pretty nice. Back to the trail tomorrow......the final push is on!
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