Wow it was nice to sleep last night. Yesterday was so fraught with uncertainty that it was piling on with stress.
We got up and it was just so pretty. Unfortunately, we found there was a black widow nest with a resident spider in a crack under one of the planks of wood. Luckily, the tent zips up and we didn’t cowboy camp. So no danger was there overnight.
We had some water, went to the bathroom, had a little rinse off, packed up, and tried to get a ride down to the local diner for some pancakes.
No rides. It’s not a taxi day. But it was worth a try.
So we gotta hoof it. We signed up for a walk, so walk we shall. It was a pretty walk.
There were some gorgeous views of the lake, along with a Gambel’s quail.
We got to the diner and had some breakfast. I love some pancakes. It was a nice breakfast and I had a lot of decaf.
After that we walked to the exit to the city, laid our packs down and put our thumbs up.
I’d told Beth that the best hitches come from Subarus. And that Subarus are more likely to stop.
Sure enough, a pastor and her friend stopped in a later model Subaru Outback. Lynette and Sara. They gave us a ride to outside Pateros.
We got out at the rest stop along the 153 there and got our thumbs back up.
Karly and her dog, Nilla, stopped in another, older Subaru Outback. Karly said she’d get us to Winthrop. On the way she ended up changing her mind and saying she’d get us all the way to Mazama.
I called The Lion’s Den from the number listed on FarOut and got it all coordinated, along with the address. They had plenty of space and were ready for us.
We made it to Mazama round 2 pm, maybe 2:30. We set up camp and then walked to the brewery.
On the way to the brewery we saw some pretty Oregon grapes.
The brewery was great.
There was a cute Sasquatch sign with a smiley over its face.
One of the buckles on my backpack broke. We went over to the gear shop and I got a new buckle.
After that we went to the bakery to try their famous salted baguettes. They didn’t have any fresh ones, although they had plenty of frozen ones that came in two packs. We decided on that, one to take back and share, one to pack out.
We headed back to the Lion’s Den. Hanging out there was Helena, who I met in Idyllwild, Em, and one of their friends. Along with them was Minnie Mouse and a bunch of other hikers. We caught up a bit.
To my dismay, Beth didn’t get along with Em. I hate it when people I like don’t get along.
I decided to take a final shower of the trail, and the shower here was a perfect final shower.
We warmed up the baguette and shared it with everyone. It was so absurdly good. Crunchy outside, chewy inside, the perfect balance of sweet and savory flour with salt. It was a hit.
We hung out for a bit, then was time for bed. We’d get a ride out in the morning with the brother of Lion, the owner of the Lion’s Den.
We brushed up, and went to bed.