Glen Ballin'

Day 90 9/10
Mileage 14
Camped at Glen Aulin

Tonight was every bit as cold as expected. Even after it started to get light, it was a nippy 26°. Since today was short, I slept in and was on trail at 10:30. After the first few miles up to lovely Miller Lake, the hiking was pretty flat and we breezed through the miles. There were some great Meadows today. We reached Glen Aulin fairly early, and went into the main building at the high Sierra camp. The guy at the desk, Andrew, said we could stop by around 7:30 and wash some dishes in exchange for leftovers. This was music to our ears. We went and set up camp, and hung out on the big granite slide that the river flows over. We did some creek laundry, and I think I made some day hikers uneasy as I cleaned myself with my dirty socks. We ate a little first dinner in camp, in case there wasn't much left. I was expecting some bread or maybe spaghetti, at best. But we found were salmon steaks. Salmon. Steaks. That's two of my favorite things. Also rice, veggies, fresh cornbread, and homemade Mead. I scrubbed dishes as Graceland played in the background and I was a very happy camper. "Camper." More like "glamper." The camp is closing Sunday, so they sent us off with some extra coffee and tea. It's so nice that we get to go behind the scenes like that as through hikers. People we meet, even non-hikers, seem to be able to dispose of formalities and just interact. It's great. Like being in a club.