an unexpected stop

Day 7 ~ miles 115.3 - 134ish

This trail has been an unexpectedly social experience thus far...which is good thing! 

We hiked about 14 pretty easy miles to our lunch spot, which was at the next water source.  Unbeknownst to us, the water was right by Trail Angel Mike's place...the Skyranch.  This spot was right off the trail, Mike's getaway spot, so he wasn't around but had a caretaker watching over the place.  It was a mountaintop compound, with several buildings and rv's on the property.

When we arrived, there were 2 hikers there, but hikers quickly began to pour into the Skyranch until there were more than 10 of us.  The Skyranch had cold beverages to offer, and even leftover pizza from the night before. Horseshoes were thrown. Someone found a guitar lying around; a couple of hikers took their turn on it and jammed with Soapbox on the harmonica. 

A really fun an unexpected stop!  We stuck around there for almost 4 hours, and finally broke free from the gravitational pull of that place-We could see how it could possibly be quite the vortex.  We hiked on about 6 long miles after departing the Skyranch and called it a day, with a campsite just off trail to ourselves.