We slept in, waking up at 6:30am and then taking our sweet old time getting out of bed.   Sadly, we couldn’t laze around too much because we had a lot to accomplish.

First, we sprayed our hiking clothes with more Permethrin as we heard the mosquitoes are still pretty bad in The Winds.  Then Nick updated the spreadsheet and mapped out an alternate route for us to take  that will allow us to spend more time in Yellowstone and will be less miles overall; this will help us finish by mid September without having to do 26+ mile days with no zeros.  While he worked on that mess, I worked on the blog (the internet is a little slow) and organized our food for the next 8 days.  

By the time we were due to meet Master Chef and Fuego for brunch, we were both starving and in need of a break.  Brunch at Oxbow was the perfect excuse to stop.  

While we were waiting for Master Chef and Fuego at Oxbow, a hiker we haven’t yet met walked in.  Forgetting I was unrecognizable in non-hiker attire, I greeted her (Cream) as I would any fellow hiker.  She seemed a little surprised by my friendliness at first, but after noticing my outstanding gaiter tan lines she put two and two together and asked if we were hiking the CDT.  She said that Soccer Mom told her a bunch of hikers were meeting for brunch, which is why she was there.  She thought it would be hikers she knew, but we told her we’d love it if she joined us, so she did.  Mark and Mary came, too, so it ended up being a lucky 7 of us at the table.  I had a fabulous time - it was EXACTLY what I needed and the chocolate chip pancake I had for dessert was most excellent.

After brunch, it was back to work.  I had to sew some torn mesh netting and a torn hip pocket on my pack, Nick went downstairs to print out the maps of the alternate route we are taking in a few weeks, and we both needed to learn how to properly use the new Ursacks.  After watching several YouTube videos on the subject and practicing tying them to a chair a few times, we then worked on figuring out how to attach the bear spray cans to our Fanny packs.  Then Nick fixed some of the faulty zippers on the tent while I uploaded more blog info.  We also cleaned our filters.  Chores chores chores.

Mary came back to the hotel in the afternoon, when we were mostly finished with all our chores, and took us to their cute campsite at the city park so we could hang out for a while.  It was great to relax a little and it was fun to see their Casita and how they decorated it since our road trip to Crazy Cook.  Mary and I even trimmed each other’s hair (Mary, I hope I didn’t mess it up too badly).

This bed is calling my name again.  We hope to get back to the trail relatively early tomorrow and I want all the sleep I can get.  Sleep is the best.