I hiked the final 15 miles to the highway without incident. I started encountering mountain bikers this morning and as I got closer to the highway their frequency increased. These guys absolutely fly down the trail and you often don’t hear them coming up behind you. I’m a little concerned about getting run over, and while I don’t mind sharing the trail and everyone was happy and friendly, I can see how hikers get tired of the bikers.

The trail here gently descends past a series of beautiful lakes that are apparently full of huge trout according to a couple of fishermen I encountered.

The trail eventually ran along an old abandoned water canal above Dumont Lake and then it was just another mile or so to the highway where I got a ride from a nice younger guy in an old beat up car. This was really lucky because it can supposedly be tough getting a hitch here.

I stayed at the Holiday Inn at the edge of town.  Gaucho is here as well, so we took the free bus to Taco Cabo and had dinner together.  It was getting late when I went back to my hotel and I still had to get groceries.  I took the free bus to City Market and while shopping it poured rain outside and started thundering. It was raining hard enough that all the shoppers paused and looked up at the metal roof above us which was ringing with hail or hard rain. I deliberately took my time hoping it would stop. It eventually did, but now it was dark, cold, and windy and I was freezing in my shorts as I waited for the bus. This was the last bus for another hour, and fortunately I didn’t have to wait long before it showed up and took me back to the hotel.