Last day of the luxury hiking

We have two miles left to Haugen which has a breakfast place. Do we get breakfast first or hike the miles first? Mmm…. the options we have with car support…. We decide to work up our appetite and hike the two miles first. Troll drops us off and meets us at the restaurant. There is a cheese counter with a large selection but unfortunately for Troll, no chicken fried steak. He settles for biscuits and gravy instead.

The rest of the day is all converted rail trail. Easy walking. A bit more gravel on the Wild Rivers section and smoother with more shade on the Tuscobia section. We pass by an Amish farm and see a family with horse and carriage on the rail trail. Troll meets us every few miles and we go ultra lightweight just carrying some water and an umbrella for the sun. We gotta live it up on this last day of car support!

We say goodbye at the motel. Troll has been such a good friend and support over the last month. The Natchez Trace would have been so much more challenging without him. I’m sad to see him go.

On the other hand I’m excited to be truly backpacking again.

I randomly got a message from my friend Walkie Talkie who I met on the NCT last fall. She says she’s only 2.5 hrs from me and wants to meet for dinner! Yay!!

We go out to the Bluegill restaurant where they don’t have bluegill but they do have cheese curds and bingo! It’s so fun to catch up and reminisce about the yucky early snow hike we had last November.