I slept warmly under my rain canopy. I was safe and pretty dry. At dawn it was not raining and I fell asleep some more. When I woke up again it was raining again.
I packed up my wet things and set off back to the trailhead. I decided I would try to go to Augusta. I need to charge my battery pack and it would feel nice to be dry for a while. It would be nice to talk to Tony on the phone. I used a lot of Zoleo text messages telling him about falling in. I could upgrade my Zoleo plan in town. I also thought maybe I could buy a skirt to wear in town and then maybe I could hike fast enough to keep up with others. In other words, I could hike without underwear so it was easier to stop and pee and also in the effort to keep up with others I could just let the pee from the effort of running and straining to keep up run down my legs. It’s a bad time getting old.
Or I could just hike alone. Whatever.
By the time I reached the trailhead it seemed like the sun was trying to come out. I got water at the pump and walked over to the campground to find a picnic table so I could make coffee and maybe eat breakfast. The picnic table was wet but there was a dry spot under a tree so I made breakfast there.
The sun came out so I made a clothesline and hung my clothes to dry. As more and more sun came out I laid more things out to dry. Soon everything was drying in the sun including my bare feet. I played my strumstick while I waited.
I looked at the map and Straight Creek trail meets up with the CDT and bypasses that creek crossing. I asked some horseback riders in the campsite next to mine if they knew the trail at all but they didn’t. I checked Ley maps and comments in FarOut but no mention of Straight Creek trail. That old timer I rode with yesterday who had the cabin nearby kept saying, “Aren’t you taking Straight Creek Trail? Don’t you want to go to Straight Creek?” So maybe that’s local knowledge and a good sign I should try it.
As I soaked up the sun I kind of didn’t want to go to town anymore. But charging devices and getting fresh FarOut comments and waiting for creeks to subside seemed wise. The horseback riders in camp said the weather report showed sunny days for the next week. I had met them riding horses shortly before I fell in the creek so I told them my story. They offered a ride to Augusta if I was still around when they finished today’s ride.
Once my things were dried out I packed up and headed out. I figured if I was on the road there would be more chance of finding a ride. I also hoped to find Straight Creek trailhead for my return, which I did. I got to the airstrip walking the road. I was probably going to get all the way to Benchmark Ranch. The two old timers drive by to ask me where I was going. They assured me I would get a ride. It was seeming unlikely now due to the lack of traffic today. Today was 4th of July.
Eventually I got a ride from a nice man 30 miles on dirt road to Augusta. The scenery was staggeringly beautiful. Wide open grasslands with mesas in the distance like Arizona and craggy peaks in a semicircle surrounding us and in the sky big puffy clouds, flat on the bottom going off forever into the distance. How could anyone live here and not feel the vastness pressing on them like a vice and simultaneously feeling like you could fall off the Earth into the sky? How could you night die from the beauty of this place?
I got a tour of town, dropped off near a bar with burgers, and called Tony to catch up. Then I found camping with electricity to charge things. Thunderstorms brewed and spit until the mountains were hidden. I was happy to be here. 
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