9/21/12

    I woke up at 5 AM starving. I had luckily bought a bunch of stuff from the bakery yesterday. So I ate the rest of my cinnamon roll in bed. I think I will get very fat, very quickly if I keep these eating habits up when I get home in a week. But that's still a week from now.
   I woke Lauren up at 7, and we went to breakfast. This ranch is all inclusive, which is all amazing. So we ate a lot. I had a bowl of cereal, a bowl of yogurt with blackberries, an omelet, 3 banana muffins, and two heaping plates of potatoes, sausage, bacon, and fruit. This was the best breakfast of the trail.
   The food coma set in shortly after, and I laid around the ranch the rest of the morning. It felt good to have nothing to do except relax. There is only one public phone in all of Stehekin, and it was about 10 miles away. We also had no television, radio, or any other obnoxious noise makers. We were forced to relax in one of the most beautiful places on earth that I would recommend as a vacation spot for anyone needing some serious R&R.
   We took the 11:45 bus back to the trail. It was hard to leave that luxurious place, but it felt good to be moving again, this time with Soren, Justin, and Lauren.
   We took a very leisurely 11 mile hike to a campsite along a creek. Its really starting to sink in that this journey is going to end very soon. In just 79 miles, 3 more nights, we will end an 1900 mile journey. I will be just 200 or so miles from finishing a "triple crown". But that is beside the point. This Summer I have learned a lot about myself. Also a lot about Lauren. Its been one of the best summers of my life, and I would not trade it for anything. "The road goes on forever and the party never ends."
   Had a lot of fun with our friends Soren and Justin today. Glad we finally met up with them.