Miles: 17.4 Steps: 33,734 Vertical gain: 152 feet Liquid consumed: 124 oz. Wildlife: Cattle, Rabbits, Dogs Faith in Humanity: A few people stopped and offered me a ride, many people waved, lots of kind individuals in Circleville, UT Today the hike was cold and windy on a paved road. I still had a good time, but it was quite challenging. The terrain was really flat though so there’s an easy part! I woke up and it was quite windy outside of my tiny cabin. I was happy about my decision to stay in the cabin due to this, and got ready. I slept in a bit, because I “only” had 17 or so Miles to hike. I left, Hit the road and the wind was definitely noticeable. After a few minutes I met the RV Park owner. He pulled over and asked how my stay was and asked about my trip. Really nice guy! I left and just a few minutes later a guy in a van pulled over who didn’t seem to speak English very well and kind of hand-symbols me “hey, do you want a ride?”. I said no and continued on my way. Thanks for the offer though, that’s cool. The coldness continued. The road went through a fairly narrow river valley most the day and the wind really never let up. Winter hat, gloves, and buff covering most of my face was the name of the game today! In all honesty, it kind of sucked, but for me it’s important not to dwell too much on the negative. If this trip were easy it wouldn’t be nearly as rewarding... Eventually I passed by Butch Cassidy’s homestead. I took a brief break to look around. The famous bank robber of the West spent a lot of time in this area apparently. I don’t know much about Butch and The Sundance Kid, but kind of neat to see some history on my walk. I found a hotel that looked affordable and I wasn’t sure if it was open or not. I looked around and met the owner who is a really nice woman! $40 for a night is about as cheap as things get in 2017. I paid and as she showed me my room she immediately offered up her jeep so I can drive myself to the store and restaurant. I didn’t even ask, which is so nice! I took a shower and then hopped in the jeep for the half mile trip to the store. I bought a soda and a frozen burrito to eat for breakfast tomorrow. Then I figured since the hotel was cheap I’d go to the restaurant. The waitress was really friendly and helpful in recommending the largest menu item: roast beef dinner. I had an amazing dinner of roast beef covered in gravy, a baked potato, some roast, and a salad. It was reasonably priced, too. I met a few locals in my time at the restaurant and they were all nice. I asked one guy who mentioned he had seen me walking on the road what his initial thoughts were when he saw me earlier. “I thought: What a dumbass!” Was his response, HAHA! I asked if he thought I was homeless but he said no because I had my trekking poles. Great to get an honest opinion. A woman working at the restaurant asked “Why are you doing this trip?” I said “why not?” Then I said something along the lines of instead of taking a shortcut I enjoy traveling by taking the longcut, the waaaay long cut! Why is always a fairly difficult question to answer. I love to be outside, I love to hike. I love to explore the world at a slow pace of 2-3 miles per hour. I like to explore small rural towns, I like the feeling I get from exercising 10 hours per day. I love to live outside. I love being away from so many comforts we all get so used to, then truly appreciating those comforts when I have them again: wind protection(walls), unprocessed food, warmth, mattresses, ice, TV, all sorts of things. I relaxed in my room the rest of the day.