Healing rest

We decided that a day off at the Needles Outpost was the best plan to give my feet a break and let some of the blisters heal. We had been to the Outpost the previous year and had not recalled a very pleasant experience, but since they are the only place within almost two hours where I could hopefully restock on some Ibuprofen and medical tape we decided to give them another chance. Our initial greeting from the owner was as unfriendly as we had recalled from our prior visit and we almost just left, but Goose went inside and chatted for awhile until she was smiling and came outside to say "hello" to Shilo and I. We continued to have odd interactions with her throughout our time there, but she was all smiles and well wishes by the end of our stay. We were able to stock some food from the store, eat hot food and milkshakes from the grill and take cold showers. We also spent hours under our tarp, some of which were spent hiding out from an intense thunder and lightening storm directly overhead. The following day my feet were feeling a little better so we walked/hitched from the Outpost into Canyonlands National Park and found our food/water cache we has stashed a couple weeks prior. We spent the night at our cache sheltering from more thunder and lightening until the storm finally passed and we were able to sleep in a small rock alcove ready to get back on trail the following morning. I knew the time off had been invaluable and necessary for the healing of my many blisters but I was anxious to get back to hiking.