September 21st, 2024
Mile Marker: 2144.7
Miles Hiked: 2
We woke up this morning to just a smidge of frost and were surprised that it wasn’t colder. But none of us were complaining, this was exactly what we wanted.
I watched as the sun crept up above the mountains as I laid in bed. Eventually, we started getting around and as the sun started shining over the ridge, I was making my coffee and cocoa. Today was going to be a good day, it was town day!
What was even better, Lucy’s friend David was on his way to pick us up from the pass and take us into town. How perfect.
We packed up and headed down the mountain. We arrived just a little bit before Lucy and chatted with David as he gave us food and asked if we needed anything. David hiked the PCT last year when he met Lucy so he knew all about what thru hikers want and need.
Lucy arrived and we set out towards town. The morning was gorgeous and made us question if a storm was really going to roll through later or not.
We arrived in town and saw hot air balloons going off and remember that it was Saturday and that town would likely be busy.
We went to a food truck for breakfast and got unique waffle egg sandwiches. It was different than any other egg sandwich I’ve had. I didn’t love it but didn’t hate it. It was just different!
We then searched around for hotels and found out most were full for a festival in town. Thankfully we eventually found an air bnb that was available and not too busy. We couldn’t check in until 3 pm so we decided to explore town and do chores.
We walked down to the hot springs and saw a wide contrast of the fancy hot springs one could pay big money for and then on the opposite side was the free hot springs that didn’t come with towels and drinks.
That’s where we went, we are hiker trash after all.
I pulled up my pants, put my feet in, and felt the wonderful warmth of the spring. The first one was a bit too hot, turning all our feet red so we moved to another and were able to submerge more. Journey sat all the way in with his hiking shorts.
We sat and chatted and relaxed, it was just what we needed.
After an hour or so we decided to go to the local bakery so I could scope out a cinnamon roll. Unfortunately they didn’t have any available so I ordered a fresh fruit tart. It was calling my name for some reason. And it definitely hit the spot.
While in line I talked with a local and he said this was the best spot in town and if we could come back tomorrow morning, we should order their breakfast burrito. We will see if we do that!
On our walk back from the bakery we started to see the dark clouds come in, there was definitely a storm coming through no doubt.
We went and resupplied food and when we came out it was raining cats and dogs. Thankfully it was time to check in.
Journey and I were both incredibly tired so we hibernated in our bedroom, relaxing as much as we could.
Later in the evening when some of the rain clouds had cleared for a moment we could see snow on the high mountains, winter was definitely right around the corner. I was so happy we weren’t on trail for all that snow.
After a while we decided to order pizza from a local restaurant and ate at the air bnb. We wanted to spend as much time here as we could.
It was delicious pizza, garlic knots, and wonderful company. We laughed about trail and talked about random things like the guy who feeds raccoons hotdogs. If you haven’t seen the YouTube video, look it up. 😂🤭
We then decided to get ready for bed as hiker midnight is typically around 9 PM. I took an Epsom bath first too to help relax my muscles. Colorado had been a beating on our bodies.
However, just 3 more days and we will be crossing the New Mexico border!!
Yay!!
Time to rest.
Iz and Oz
Izzy + Ozzy 