Friday April 19, 0mi/0km

Stanimal’s hostel (786.7)

Because of the incoming weather today (flood warnings, tornado watch), it was time for another zero day! There were 8 other hikers here doing the same thing, and Bob, Lightfoot, Cedar and I got a ride into the nearby town of Lexington to entertain ourselves for the day! It was a neat old city, lots of good food, and fancy old historical buildings.

As I discovered back on day 26 of my Te Araroa hike, the first stop in town should be at the cheese shop.

Cedar bought some tasty hard cheese.

And then, the Gelato shop…

After Gelato, there was talk of an ice cream shop, but it was raining hard and we just went next door to the hiking outfitter. We didn’t really need anything, but it was fun to browse. I did buy some Permethrin spray (to repel and kill ticks) for my shoes, shorts, and sit pad.

We also explored a local vegetarian restaurant, a brewery, and the ABC store for margarita ingredients.

Back at the hostel, we had margaritas, and I of course made a cake, and ice cream.

Calorie-loading complete, it’s time to get back on trail tomorrow!