LET’S GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD
I
woke at 6am Thursday.
I needed to be at the Cedar Rapids, Iowa
airport by noon on Saturday. All I
needed to do to get there was to pack up, hike out 5 ½ miles, and drive 17
hours. And eat a lot. And probably sleep a lot, too. So I was pretty
motivated. Motivated enough to enjoy some
morning alpenglow at sunrise but still get on the trail by 8am.
The
hike out was uneventful. I passed one
small horse party with only 2 people. It
was starting to get pretty hot towards the end of the
hike. Fortunately
I reached the car a bit before noon. At
that point I had a few granola bars and less than an ounce of stove fuel
remaining. My phone battery was at 14%, and both of my power bricks were dead. I had a few squares of toilet paper
remaining. Either I planned well or I was lucky.
Or both.
I
also finished with 5 socks. How did I finish with 5 socks? Well, apparently I
started with 5 socks.
The extra sock was stuck inside my fleece pullover. Oddly, that actually worked
out for me, as one of the other socks developed a hole in the heel early
on. So at least I had
4 wearable socks.
On
the drive out I stopped at a bridge over Boulder Creek and took a bucket
bath. Then it was on to Cody, where I
stopped at Cody Craft Brewing for a much anticipated and deserved meal. The beer was good, but the food was
disappointing. A disappointing meal
after a 13 day backpacking trip is nearly
inconceivable. Maybe my expectations
were too high. The highlight was
probably their collection of vintage pinball machines. It was either that or the beer.
I
stopped at a post office farther down the road and mailed my bear spray
home. I enjoyed a scenic drive through
the Bighorns, but it was shocking to see that it was 93 degrees when I passed
through the community of Tensleep at 5:30. I picked up a pizza
and crashed at a hotel in Gillette that night.
I spent the evening packing for my flight.
I
had a decent breakfast at Lulu’s in Gillette the next morning. I spent the rest of my birthday driving. Most of it was pleasant, except for the
stretch between Sturgis and Rapid City.
I really need to plan these trips so that I’m nowhere near that area
during bike rally week.
I
had the obligatory lunch at Taco Johns and made it all
the way to Sioux City, Iowa for the evening.
I had a great meal – finally! – at Marto Brewing Company downtown.
I
got another early start Saturday morning.
I stopped at Panera Bread for coffee and a bagel and then drove across
Iowa. I made it to the Cedar Rapids
airport a little earlier than expected.
I returned the rental car, checked my bag, had lunch, and even had time to
buy a little stuffed cow from a gift shop for my son.
The
flight to Dallas was smooth. I had a
long layover, which became longer when I was notified that my flight from
Dallas to Asheville was cancelled. Of
course something would have to go wrong.
I was able to rebook a flight to Greenville, SC. That was inconvenient, but not as bad as
spending the night in Dallas. Then the
flight to Greenville was delayed because, apparently, someone forgot to put gas
in the plane. A
reasonable person might think that getting gas for an airplane would be really easy at a major international airport, but that
reasonable person would also be wrong. That
delay took another 2 hours, incredibly.
I was originally supposed to land in Asheville at 10pm, which would have
gotten me home by 11. I ended up landing
in Greenville at 1am and getting home at 2.
That
wraps up another great adventure in the Rockies for me. Part of me wants to do another long, solo
backpacking trip, but another part of me doesn’t want to be away from my family
that long. I’m hoping that we can do a
true family trip together next summer.
Back to Wyoming
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!