Apocalypse Vibes in Silverton

August 28, 2024

Mile 371.4-409.7 (Silverton via bike detour)

We let ourselves sleep in this morning, waiting until the first rays of morning light touched the Duplex before even cracking our eyes. I enjoyed my coffee and read a few chapters of my book Ruthless Vows before emerging from the quilt cocoon.

We were walking by 9 heading back uphill back to the thread of dirt trail and back to the high point where a nice trail family took a picture of us. We had some nice cruisy trail afterwards but not for long. My irritation kicked in at my breathlessness on the next climb and my calves were screaming. I let the trail family pass me at a water source and hoped they would get a move on so I wouldn't have to make conversation with them again. I was feeling rather grumpy by this point.

But alas, later in the day they were spread out along the side of the trail eating lunch so I booked it past them hoping to be done playing leap frog for the day. Henry and I hiked together quietly for awhile and he stopped and pointed out a small coyote dashing through the grasses and then we spotted two bull moose taking an afternoon nap.

I listened to my new book The Indigo Girl to pass the time. A few times earlier in the day I honestly wanted nothing more to quit. Sobs would rise up in my throat and I would angrily swallow them down. I just felt like we were constantly going uphill and couldn't catch a break.

Headwaters of the Rio Grande

We reached the dirt road that was the mountain bike detour into Silverton and took a small snack break at the water source. The wind was blowing hard and it seemed like it might rain. I shoved handfuls of mini M&Ms in my mouth and felt my mood lift in small increments with every chomp. After a quick discussion we decided why not take the bike detour into town tonight? 10 miles of all downhill? Let's send it.

The road started out super steep and I had to be careful about each step so I wouldn't eat shit because of the poor traction on my trail runners. It finally leveled out some and I was able to relax a bit. We passed by an old abandoned mining building and by the time darkness fell we were only about 4 miles from town.

Once I got service the miles went faster, I booked us a room at the Avon but felt nervous because there were no specific check in instructions. I've learned on this trail that hotels are no longer staffed and there are usually instructions on how to check in yourself. I just hoped it would work out. We saw a fox in town, she scampered up a rocky cliff to our right and peered down at us with glowing eyes in the beam of our headlamps. Walking through the streets at 9 pm was like walking through a ghost town, we barely saw a soul. We reached the Avon and peered into the windows, there was no one in the lobby/dining area and the lights were dimmed. I tried the door nervously and it opened. I breathed a sigh of relief, at least if for some reason we couldn't get into our room we could sleep on the floor of the lobby. We walked inside and discovered a pitbull lying by the tables, rolling over on her back for belly scratches. I found a piece of paper with phone numbers and instructions to call after hours. A man answered the second number I tried and instructed me to go back behind the bar and grab a key from the hook and to head up to the 3rd floor. He also said to help ourselves to the commercial kitchen, walk in cooler, and hiker box behind the bar. Smooth jazz played throughout the lobby as I hung up and felt like I had walked into some kind of dream. The entire hotel was like stepping back into the 1800s during an apocalypse where we're the only people alive.

Henry and I started laughing crazily, feeling like we were in a movie or hallucinating. We helped ourselves to the Keurig and made hot apple cider and hot chocolate. We dug around through the hiker box and fridge and sat at the bar for awhile soaking in the fact that we made it to town. Eventually we headed up to our room and was surprised to find incredible vaulted ceilings and a loft, a beautiful bathroom and a huge king bed. I laid in the tub refilling the hot water four times while drinking hot chocolate. Then crawled under the blankets with Henry and passed the fuck out.