Day 30
A red pine I couldn't stop looking at in camp last night
Our hotel room had a view over the lake
Location: St. Croix Inn, Solon Springs
Distance: 3 miles
Weather: warm and sunny, a good day not to hike
Mood: good
In a further shocking development, halfway through dinner last night two more backpackers walked into camp and asked us if they could stay there too! They were hiking the Wisconsin section of the NCT westbound, opposite us and had gotten kicked out of their camp in a county park in town that had closed for the season early, and ended up here. Wow! One of them, a few years older than Dad, was on his first backpacking trip. He said he had been a lifelong trail runner and, in his retirement from being a high school English teacher, volunteered helping people find outdoor activities in Northern Wisconsin and finally got sick of recommending things he had never tried himself. He was hiking with a former student of his who was an accomplished backpacker and was showing him the ropes. The former student had thru hiked the Appalachian Trail last year and had his eye on the Continental Divide Trail for next year. We spent the rest of the evening chatting. I can't help but be amazed how unlikely our chance meetings with Westbound hikers have been; in the middle of the road walk and now here just a few miles from town where we might have missed each other completely. I'm grateful we have had the opportunity to meet them as they near the end of their journeys.
Today was an easy 3 mile jaunt into the town of Solon Springs. We stopped to do laundry, checked into our hotel and visited a coffee shop an NCT volunteer recommended (the owners are chapter members and supporters of the trail). While I drank the hot coffee I had been craving this week, I overheard some locals talking about the native people whose land this originally was, the geology of the region, how the ridges had formed, and where glacial till was closest to the surface (best for finding agates). Other guests drifted in and out of the conversation, some sat down at the same table. Everyone who came in seemed to know each other. It was enjoyable to see how the little coffee shop acted like a community center. Afterward, we went directly to lunch and as we sat on the deck overlooking the lake, someone invited themselves to our table and began telling really ludicrous and insensitive stories (none of which are worth repeating) until we finally excused ourselves and went back to our hotel room. The heads and tails of small town life, I suppose.
Grocery shopping, drying and washing gear and repacking followed. Some route replanning has us on a 20 mile itinerary for tomorrow. In bed as the sun went down for an early start.