17.5 miles today. Total miles so far: 283.5.
Day 19: Mondeaux Esker to Rib Lake.
I didn't know if I could make it to the town of Rib Lake, but the though of laundry and a dry place to sleep meant I was going to try. The trail descended into mud bogs again, but I made up time on a pleasant, low-traffic road walk. Another short wooded section was followed by a thankfully brief highway section, and I finally thought I was close enough to commit to making it to town. I messaged the local trail coordinator about a shuttle into town, and I was so grateful that he was available, saving me a couple miles of off-trail road miles at the end of the day. Those couple miles don't look like much on paper, but it would have been a 20 mile day without his help. Still, I had to get to the pick up point.
Thankfully, though, the trail went uphill and stayed almost completely dry. Even with more climbing than usual for this trail, I made good time. My trail angel met me minutes after I got to the pick up point and delivered me to town. I'd been thinking about clean laundry all day, but when there wasn't enough time for both food and laundry before bed time, food won. Laundry would wait until morning. I was worn out after 90 miles in 5 days and basically couldn't function after dinner, so I chugged some chocolate milk to help with recovery and went to bed. I didn't sleep well because of my painful hip (which is an ongoing problem at night) but I was able to sleep past dawn instead of getting up early to make miles.
