It's been a while since waking up under a roof with access to a fridge and counter full of food. The coffee was already brewing by the time I got up which was not late by any standards. I took my first cup on the deck with some bread, butter, and jam, along with fresh fruit. In the meantime as the rest of the house came to life we began to clean our tracks. Working together the house looked good enough for Crush to begin shuttling people back to trail. Two shifts later I hopped into the car to be dropped at the Trukee post office.
Initially meant to be a quick pickup it was clear from the beginning that receiving my much needed shoes would not be simple. After looking for my box the postal worker informed Benji and I that all general delivery packages are held at the cities other branch. However after calling them he added that since they are understaffed it has not yet been processed despite arriving two days ago. Without much else we could do we resided to stay the night hoping to grab the shoes tomorrow. So after resupplying we sat outside the grocery store for a few hours unsure where we may end up for the night. Sometime toward the evening I got chatting with the guys working the nearby sports store and learned about a street fair downtown that night which one of them offered to drop us off at after work. We accepted the offer and advice of where we might be able to post up for the night after. We figured we'd figure the night out when it came. Which we did. While at the fair rock show another guy we were chatting with enlightened us to an ideal spot behind some local warehouses beside the river. We walked around some more observing the crowd and talking with older couple managing a booth who shared their story of dragging a mattress out back to stargaze some nights, reaffirming the truth that adventure can be truly found anywhere. After a large dinner of Mexican food we walked the mile down the road for a sketchy nights sleep. Days like today remind me of all the nuances to hiking that lie beyond the trail itself.