Monday June 16, 8.4mi/13.5km

Spring Valley Pass (934.5/7720ft) to Eureka (942.9/ft) (NV)

I slept really well in that camp spot despite having weird dreams about Jacinda Ardern (former Prime Minister) rescuing puppies from the sea. Excited for town, I had an early 6am start and was moving quickly towards food.

It was a pretty easy 8 miles of mostly downhill hiking, though I did hit a little traffic.

Being stuck in a flock of sheep definitely gave me New Zealand vibes. Eventually the shepherd came by and I talked to him and he is Basque! Apparently they have a history of settlement in this region from the 1800s. I visited Basque country a couple summers ago on the HRP (Pyrenees) route. After the congestion cleared I continued towards town, passing an old abandoned mine along the way.

I got into Eureka at 9am, and noticed it’s quite a bit bigger than Austin, and had more restored historic buildings.

The Opera House!

The saloon and general store.

And of course, just like Austin, they advertised their location on “the loneliest road in America”.

Since I was right next to the post office, I went in to get my resupply box of food (thanks Mom!). This was my favorite post office, because Daisy was helping to work the counter.

Next I went to eat breakfast, at the only place open in town, the Eureka Depot coffeehouse.

That cinnamon roll was made from butter with Vermont maple syrup in it. Amazing. It was still early so I hung out for an hour, charging my phone and catching up on the world. Sounds like the “No King’s Day” demonstrations were mostly a success. On my way out I met a Kiwi wearing an “All Blacks” t-shirt, he’s from Wellington. That was my third New Zealand connection today, the universe is weird. After breakfast I went across the street and explored more of the historic and touristy parts of town. Like this five-hole outhouse!

It didn’t explain how it was historically used, but I imagine five people would sit there and hold hands?! By now it was afternoon and I went over to the hotel to try and check in early. The hotel was short-staffed so the rooms weren’t ready yet but she said I could hang out in the breakfast room on one of the sofas. They had insanely cheap soda pop so I grabbed a couple, it’s so easy to get dehydrated out there.

The Best Western sure stay really had everything, a nice laundry room right on site, a fitness room, and even a full kitchen so I could make some meals and not have to spend lots of money eating out at restaurants.

So I made dinner in that little kitchen, though once I heard the Urban Cowboy restaurant had really excellent garlic naan, I had to go down and grab some. While I was waiting, a cold Coors beckoned.

I love that this is the default beer in this part of the world. Afterwards I went back to the hotel and flipped through the channels and watched half a season of Orange is the New Black, haha.