Continental Divide Trail – Day 80

August 11, 2023
Miles Today/ Total: 10.4 / 1,385.2

I was up and on the trail early in order to beat the heat today. I was almost 3 miles today n before the sun rose over the hills to the east.

Today was all paved roadwalk into Rawlins. I passed a couple or reservoirs and topped a hill and could see the town in the valley below.

As I entered into the town I was in a residential area and walked down the street since sidewalks were hit and miss. I had scoped out a laundromat last night that was on the way into town. This had to be one of my most frustrating laundromat visits of this hike.

In order to use the machines you had to put money onto an “easy card”. I put a $5 bill into the machine to get my “easy card” and $4 was put on the refillable card. $1 was for the card itself. The soap vending machine was out of order and the bathrooms were “out of order”. Laundromats seem to manage to keep all their washers and dryers working, but none seem to know how to fix their “out of order” toilets. Hmmmm.

On the positive side the wash was only $2.40 and I was able to find a machine that didn’t dispense all the detergent from a previous load. I broke up the clumped up detergent and used that for my load. Dryers were $0.25 for 7 minutes. That was pretty good too.

I finished my laundry and packed my bag back up. I left my “easy card” on one of the folding tables with a small balance on it for future customers.

It was a short walk to the motel, but I passed a Mexican restaurant about half way there and went in for lunch. The food was good, they had plenty of cold water and I left full.

I was able to check into the motel about 1:30 when I arrived and went upstairs and showered. Feels great to get all that sweat and dirt off.

I laid out my food, figured out what I needed and headed to Walmart for my resupply. I carried it back to the motel room and repacked it for my next 5 days.

I spent some time updating social media and booking hotels, shuttles, and buses for my Te Araroa trip. I still have one left and sent an inquiry to a your operator to see if he could accommodate my plans.

I went to Michael’s Big City Steakhouse for dinner and had a great dinner of prime rib and baked potato. It hit the spot. I walked back to the motel as it started to get dark.

Back at the motel, I packed up my backpack and got ready for bed.