7:00am
After a lovely 11.5 hour sleep (we were each up for an hour or two during the night, but overall OH DAMN was it amazing to sleep so long), during which it rained and poured and pelted our tent with various precipitations, we woke up to sunny skies! We slowly got ready, and set out toward the car at 8:30. One of the geologists camped nearby set out at the same time (with a pack and an inner tube on his back), and showed us a less horrible
way to get over the pass! We trudged along – although we all felt slightly better than in recent days! Our packs weren’t too heavy! The sky wasn’t too grey! We bounded along and didn’t even care too much about the horrible snow fields! Tash was actually very happy when Nat wore
himself out kicking steps for her in the snow – for once, he was more tired than she! He had to rest before she did! This is an important event of note. We never expect it to happen again.11:30am
THE LAKE! We get our first view of the Big Sandy Lake,
which means the car is an easy, flat, talus-less 6 miles away. We pick up the pace and book it to the car. The last hour feels pretty damn hard; our feet hurt, our backs hurt, we would like some cheese with our whine. But finally, at 2:10: THE CAR! Nat has obviously parked on the far far side of the parking meadow (yes, the parking lot is a meadow), and we are all mad. Nevertheless, it’s awesome to be back, and we strip off our hiking boots and socks, and twirl around in the nice breeze.
2:30pm
Back on the road! We retrace our steps, past the redneck campers, the random people walking on the road, and the hoola-hooping hippies (we are flashed a peace sign). We pass a Subaru with a Thule on top, going toward the campground; they are clean and fresh and look very eager. We laugh at them, because now we’re grizzled and we can
do that. We go this time toward Lander, and this road is similarly gorgeous and washboardy, but it is also far more full of COWS! They lounge, meander, and mosey across the road; we drive by
them very slowly and ask very nicely that they not charge us as we pass within three inches of them (it’s a narrow road, and they DO NOT MOVE if a car is coming). We also drive by the great red canyon, which is stunning.
4:30pm
Arrive in Lander! This is a very nostalgic town for Natty, being where his 2001 NOLS trip started and ended. We drive through downtown behind a small pickup truck carrying two potted trees, standing up in the truck bed. They wavered and brushed the traffic lights as he passed under them; we were skeptical of Dude’s packing theories. We head to the Gannett Grill, where Nat
had his first post-NOLS meal years ago. We sat in silence as we completely stuffed ourselves with burgers and, for some reason, a delicious hummus plate. Also we learned that establishments allow Tash to partake of their services even though she is SO covered in mosquito bites that it looks like she has a horrible contagious old-timey disease! Seriously, it’s not pretty. We then head to the best motel available (we guess well), which sometimes calls itself the Maverick and sometimes the Frontier Lodge. Either way, it’s dirt cheap and has internet, which is basically all we ask. We spent most of the evening showering (oh, showering!), sitting down, and, of course, blogging. We also headed out to the Exxon which has a TCBY in it (obviously!). Lander TCBY employee is A+ Grade A Superb at his job. We get delicious and 
enthusiastic blizzard-knockoffs, and scurry out of the gas station – there are the characters doing some things, there. An obviously underage dude, shaking and jittering, buys a pack of cigarettes in front of us. An old lady follows us to our car, saying goodnight. It’s pretty sweet. Also the night-sky is brilliant, and we spend a while taking pictures. They turned out very medium. As you can see. We are amazingly sore, tired, and covered in bites: bed is awesome.
No comments:
Post a Comment