Trout Lake

I woke up to a frost covered tent. I had camped in a field so I knew there’d be condensation, but I hadn’t expected it to freeze. The sun soon came up and dried it and I was hiking before 9:00. Only 14.1 miles to the road to town.

I ran into some friends I hadn’t seen since Southern California who had flipped up from Ashland and are now hiking south. It was great to see them and catch up, especially since I haven’t seen many people to talk to at all in the last couple of days.

I once again had a little bit of sun for lunch, and it started raining right after. The rain was light but it was still chilly enough that I added pants and gloves. Thunder started booming during my last mile to the road. Some motorcyclists there told me I had just missed hail.

There wasn’t much traffic but the first truck that went by turned around to get me since it was starting to rain again. They dropped me off at the Trout Lake store, where I found out that all their rooms were full. They offered me space in the garage for free to get out of the rain and I gratefully accepted.

I went over to the cafe for a late lunch and when I returned to the store, I ran into AT ’13er Poptart. I offered to split a room with her hiking group if we could find something but everywhere she called was full. A local man named Bill had been on the porch watching us and said he’d be right back. He soon came back and offered to take us to his garage, where he had just turned the heater on. We jumped on the offer of a not only dry, but warm, space. We grabbed a few things at the store and then hopped in his truck.

The garage was large and so warm! Bill’s wife Eileen came out to meet us and they offered us use of the shower as well. So generous! We had a nice time relaxing in the warmth of the garage and playing Cards Against Humanity.