16.5 miles today. Total miles so far: 99.5.
Today was the last day of slack packing before Jeff headed home. Some sections of the trail were very wet, mostly due to beaver dams causing flooding. The trail wound around and through a boy scout camp, computer with cabins designed to look like an old time town and an unlocked privy. I a several pairs of trumpeter swans before starting the road walk into Haugen. My appetite is kicking in, so I stopped at a little grocery there for snacks. The woman at the shop had briefly lived in Maysville, Kentucky, near Jeff's hometown. I then decided to push a couple more miles on the Wild State trail to the closest point to Rice Lake. I'd originally hoped to get to that point on day 5 rather than day 6, but I was grateful Jeff was able to stay an extra day to get me to this point, almost 100 miles into the trail. In Rice Lake, I finished a few last chores while I still had access to a vehicle, mostly getting supplies for the blister. I heavily bandaged and taped it before bed, finished final packing of the big backpack, and tried to enjoy small luxuries like running water and piles of pillows.
