CDT mile 323.5, miles hiked 36.5
Captain Slack and the crew
The only thing better than a cowboy camp is waking up being rained on, the previous night I had a mad scramble to set up my shelter as the rain pelted me. Once back asleep I dreamed of pie town; friendly hikers hanging out, eating pie, drinking beer, and all the shenanigans that go with it. When I woke up I knew where I wanted my day to end at the Toaster House.
Sweet Potato and I left camp at 6:30 in my mind we were going to town, in his mind, we were not. We ground up and down until we got to Magnus Mountain Lookout, Dave the fire lookout guy was friendly and invited us up, we learned how to shoot a line and call out fires, we also looked at the register and saw all the hikers ahead of us. We knew it would be a big time in Pie Town tonight so we packed up and carried on.
Tiny and I looking for fires
I encouraged Sweet Potato to use his phone to text Freefall and enact the Captain Slack clause, you see some years back after pulling off the TRT Sweet Potato bought a captain’s hat and slack packed us, hence becoming captain slack. I knew if I was going to get Tater to make it 36 miles he was going to need the service. So he tried but we never heard back.
I kept on the road and about 15 miles from town I see this old beat up pick up coming at me. I step aside to only be greeted by Freefall, Buttercup, and Bandit asking if I want a soda or a beer or both, both of course!
Buttercup and I shared a beer on my walk
I was overjoyed with happiness I sat there In The hot sun sucking down suds reunited with my mates. We laughed and caught up, then we ditched what we could, and Tater and I started the final grind to Pie Town. As the light began to fade we started to see town, and a few minutes later arrived at the Toaster House. I was greeted at the gate by Nita a trail angel near and dear to my heart. She showed me where the Martin Papendick award was strapped to the gate. Bandit brought us beers and chicken before we had our packs off and we stepped into the toaster house to be greeted by 30 thru-hikers. It was a party for sure!
The Martin Papendick award at home at the Toaster House
I know the past few weeks I have been a bit cranky, but getting sick was like being reborn. In my time of need, Sweet Potato was there for me, and my mates came through to get us to town. I am so happy and proud to roll with this crew and hopefully, we can keep it together for many miles to come.
Sweet Potato showing off the random town clothes at the Toaster House
