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| Ready to go |
Stickbuilt and Tater Chip decide to do a 'slack pack' today which means that they pay for a vehicle to drop them about 20 miles north of Erwin, so they can hike back to the hostel with just a day pack. They invite us to join them and share the cost of the shuttle. We decide against it - we are mentally prepared to hike north, and the thought of suddenly doing 20 miles in the wrong direction is not something that appeals. We are also not sure how Digby's knee would respond to the extra mileage so we decline. It helps us develop our own ethical standards for the trail - we are not against 'slack packing' as such, but we would have to walk in the right direction ie north, before we would even consider it.
We stop for lunch and test out the new menu - tortillas, with peanut butter and pepperoni - we purchased the ingregients in Erwin, and the combination is fantastic, and it becomes a trail standard lunch for us.
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| Tortilla, peanut butter and pepperoni for lunch |
We have a great forest walk along the river and then a climb. We meet Stickbuilt and Tater heading south, at a great speed - amazing to be walking without full packs. Climbing to the Beauty Spot I sprain my ankle. This is the second sprain of the trip and it slows us down. Walking is painful.
It is really windy at the campsite, and we cook under the tent fly in the shelter. About 5 other tents join us at the site.
Casting around for a campsite out of the wind, I find a sheltered nook well down off the ridge, unfortunately already occupied by a courting couple of hikers. They don't notice the voyeur, so I quietly head back to the windy ridge.
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