When I woke up it wasn't too cold nor was my tent damp with condensation so that was nice. Made breakfast and hot chocolate while I sat and enjoyed the view. Two bow hunters walked over the bridge so I waved and they waved back.
Check out this video...probably my favorite video of the trip cause it was by far the coolest campsite yet!
Back on the trail it slowly kept climbing eventually dropping down into a cool little lake. Took a little snack break and kept on going.
I came to the last water supply for 22 miles so I stopped and filled my CamelBak with 3 liters and my water filter bag with 32 oz. Boy was it heavy. Don't think I needed that much but if I planned to make dinner and breakfast than I wanted to make sure I had enough.
When I passed a guy talking on his cell phone I was surprised he got service way out in the middle of nowhere. I decided to turn my phone on to see if I got service and sure enough I did.
Checked my emails and text messages. My mom had sent some text message asking me and my other family members if she should contact the ranger as they never received my morning check-in from my Spot GPS thing. She was starting to get worried and even Aspen Mike agreed that it was weird not to get a check-in from me.
I'm almost 100% sure I checked-in that morning but maybe I didn't hold the button long enough or maybe my Spot wasn't working properly. I checked and the tracking was still on so they should have been able to see I was up and moving along the trail. Anyways I immediately sent a text stating I was OK and continued on.
I came to the top of a hill and there was a huge group of mt bike guys camping. They took some photos of me and asked if I wanted a beer. I really wanted to go 8 more miles to camp but I figured one beer wouldn't hurt.
There were about 15 guys and they were all from the Bay Area in San Francisco. They had hired a tour company to shuttle them around the mountains and cook food for them. It was a pretty sweet setup.
They were curious about the unicycle so I sat around talking about it for a bit. One of the guys convinced me to take a tequila shot and peer pressure got the best of me. I decided to have one more beer and then hit the road.
Well, the tour guide, Michael Ackerman, wanted to do a radio interview for Bikepackers Magazine with me so I agreed and he recorded our conversation. Here is the interview if you want to listen to it...turned out pretty well especially since we all had a buzz going on! After we finished the guys said I should just spend the night and have dinner with them. Very tempting as they were a bunch of nice guys and I was having fun.
After another tequila shot and after the guide showed me a map and explained the rest of the trail to me (stating it was mostly downhill from here) I decided to stay. This would mean I have to do 38 miles tomorrow to finish but I thought it was mostly downhill and I've ridden the last 10 miles of the CT and know it's mostly ride-able and fast so I should be able to do it. I'll just wake up super early.
Set up my tent at mile 446.5 and then they had dinner ready. Chicken with koosh koosh, carrots and watermelon. Delicious! Was so nice that it wasn't dry food again.
As it got dark everyone moved around the nice big fire they had going. After a few more beers and a joint we passed around they decided to do some grease fire bombs in the fire. I've never seen this before but it was pretty cool. Just put a can full of grease in the fire, let it boil, add water and presto you have a big fireball. Did it several different times with one of them getting pretty big. A wee bit dangrous but sweet!
At about 9:30pm I decided I best go to bed as I wanted to wake up at 5:30am so I was on the trail by 7am. Said goodbye and goodnight to the fun group of guys. Also thanked them for the food, beer, shots and hospitality.
As I laid in bed I found it funny how the night had worked out. Originally I had thought all day that it was my last night camping so I would spend it alone with a small campfire by myself reflecting on my trip. Was totally opposite of that but I very much enjoyed their company. Plus I left out one of the best parts. They had s'mores for dessert which really hit the spot.
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