Oct 19: stayed up far too late enjoying having internet/cell service/ access to the world outside the trail. Only two weeks left! Got the number of a shuttle company from the hotel front desk, so we get dropped off at the intersection we stopped tracking at. Long flat road paralleling the interstates so traffic is quiet - these are the plains I'm familiar with and was expecting in Minnesota. Nothing but hydroelectric transmission lines and stubbly fields for miles and miles and miles - think Highway 16 through Saskatchewan. Alternatively, if not from the prairies, imagine the move Fargo but no snow. Actually, we're quite near Fargo. Its very windy, smells like the autumn of my childhood; dry concrete, burning straw, and the bready scent of a nearby malting plant. Not unpleasant. Only 40 miles from MN/ND border, only 15 days left on trail! I can't imagine what not hiking every day is like. 404, file not found. Stopped at Rothsay truck stop for water and C encountered peanut butter squares for the first time - enormous ones, 4x the size of normal. Ate our treats on a bench behind the ice machine outside because the wind was picking up. And then it was really, really windy for miles on a straight flat road, crosswind screaming in your ears and pushing you sideways into the shoulder. The kind of wind that makes you wait eagerly for trees just for a moment of peace and quiet. Couldn't find a windbreak to camp near so setting up the tent was a two-person job. Wind made my brain too tired to write
Share this post
NCT Diary: Oct 19-Nov 3
Share this post
Oct 19: stayed up far too late enjoying having internet/cell service/ access to the world outside the trail. Only two weeks left! Got the number of a shuttle company from the hotel front desk, so we get dropped off at the intersection we stopped tracking at. Long flat road paralleling the interstates so traffic is quiet - these are the plains I'm familiar with and was expecting in Minnesota. Nothing but hydroelectric transmission lines and stubbly fields for miles and miles and miles - think Highway 16 through Saskatchewan. Alternatively, if not from the prairies, imagine the move Fargo but no snow. Actually, we're quite near Fargo. Its very windy, smells like the autumn of my childhood; dry concrete, burning straw, and the bready scent of a nearby malting plant. Not unpleasant. Only 40 miles from MN/ND border, only 15 days left on trail! I can't imagine what not hiking every day is like. 404, file not found. Stopped at Rothsay truck stop for water and C encountered peanut butter squares for the first time - enormous ones, 4x the size of normal. Ate our treats on a bench behind the ice machine outside because the wind was picking up. And then it was really, really windy for miles on a straight flat road, crosswind screaming in your ears and pushing you sideways into the shoulder. The kind of wind that makes you wait eagerly for trees just for a moment of peace and quiet. Couldn't find a windbreak to camp near so setting up the tent was a two-person job. Wind made my brain too tired to write