Bama to Baxter, day 16: an unexpected day zero

During the night it rained like a hurricane, but since we were in a motel it didn’t bother us. Poor Hot Tang was up most of the night with an upset stomach, so when our alarms went off at 7:30am, he was dragging around a bit. We had booked an Uber for 9:00 to take us back to the trail, but at 8:45 I received a notification that there were no drivers in our area. Consequently, we were stuck approximately seven miles from where we had left off yesterday with no way to get back to the trail. At 9:00 we decided to try to hitchhike back to the trail.

As we walked back to the road that would allow us an easy and direct return to the trail, our spirits faltered because there wasn’t much traffic coming our way. It was also colder. Just as we reached the aforementioned highway and extended our thumbs, a Summerville police officer stopped to check on us. We explained our difficult situation; He informed us that it couldn’t take us that far outside his jurisdiction, but he offered to radio a county officer who might be able to help. He called on the radio and learned it would be a while, so he suggested we wait at a recreation center just down the street to stay warm. As Hot Tang and I walked there together, we almost simultaneously looked at each other and said, «Let’s go back to the motel and get a zero.» We waited for two meals. It didn’t take much to convince him. Fortunately, the Summerville officer was waiting at the recreation center, so we told him our news plans and he then informed the county officer to leave.

On our way back to the motel, I contacted Monk at the Pinhoti Outdoor Center to see if he knew anyone near us who could transport us the next morning. He didn’t so he suggested we contact Nathan (POC owner) who gave me a number to try. We were able to schedule a ride for 6:30 the next morning.

Back at the motel, we extended our room for one more night and spent the day lazing around, talking nonsense, eating and drinking. It was a much better way to spend the day than being on the road given the bad weather that came and went all day. At nine o’clock we were all in bed.

Happy trails. . .

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