August 24th
Did not sleep well. The rain stopped and the skies cleared, but I tossed and turned. I slept in until 6:00 thinking there was no need to rush to the highway for early morning hitchiking.
Almost immediately I ran into Sweet Baby James and Moon Light Lady. I followed them to the highway and the three of us tried to hitch in to Steamboat Springs. My streak continued and we had to wait 90 minutes.
The family that picked us up had seen us and turned around. They were in a van towing a camper. They were a young couple from Michigan and had their three young kids plus a dog. SBJ, MLL, and I climbed on to the front bench seat with our backpacks on our laps.
The driver kept turning back to ask me questions about the trail and SBJ/MLL were talking to the kids. As the driver barreled down the highway, I learned the vehicle had over 200,000 miles on it and several parts had to be replaced soon. His wife was serene during all of this.
At last we descended into Steamboat Springs. They needed to visit Walmart and we agreed to split up there. I had dug out my wallet and pulled out some gas money. We went our separate ways in the parking lot and I made a beeline for a burrito joint.
Before I ordered, I checked my pockets. Panic. No wallet. I retraced my steps to the van. Sure enough I could see my wallet on the floor as their dog barked at me. Normally, I would’ve tried the van door. However, when you look and smell like I do at this point, people are immediaately suspicious. So, I sat and waited for an hour. My paranoia was that I would go into Walmart to find them and they would come out and leave me with no ID or credit cards or cash.
It all worked out. I got to my motel, ate too much, and did laundry. I did have the best meal on the trail at a place called the Ore House.
I fell asleep at 9:15.
backpacking over the hill 