DAY TWENTY-TWO, Disaster continued . . . ?

A few days ago on summit mountain just before heading to bed, I spotted a peculiar sight to me.  Two minivans parked back to back with a tarp draped between them.  I thought they had created some make shift tent between the vans, but it was just a clever wind screen.  I went over to tell them it was clever, and I met the bubbly, friendly, dreadlocked, Irish Paddy.
"I know it's the most Irish name ever. But, I'm Paddy."
Well, we got to talking about our journeys and when I told him I was pedal biking, he relayed a tale about he a two others bikepacking with surf boards from France to Portugal.  I told him about the two hikes I had done and that they should spend some time at this site and do at least one of them.
"Well, if you get lonely, feel free to join us"
But, it was pretty late for me, and I just hit the hay.

So, the next day, after posting, I headed to the hot springs and who do I see heading back from them??  Paddy and his crew.
"Hey! You made it here!"
He goes to shake my hand, and it is still a claw at this point.  So, I tell him about the spill, but not about my worries with the bicycle.  He tells me theyThe hot springs really help loosen up the hand.  So,  when I get back to the camp site and find Mark and Michaela gone, I inspect the bike.   It is definitely the hub/freewheel.  I definitely cannot fix this. I have to find a ride . . . So, I head over to the overflow parking lot/campground.

"Hey Paddy . . . "
"Hey, Gregg! How's it going?"
"Not great . . . Well, the hand, but also I discovered my rear hub is broken. "
"Oh, that sucks."
"Yeah, so, it's definitely something I can't fix out here.  So, I was wondering if maybe you have some room and could give my bike and I a ride to Watson Lake."
"Oh Yeah! Definitely.  It's great with me.  We can definitely make room. You can talk it over with the others too."
Well, they were all fine with it and happy to help.

Alright, finally, on to the day this post is supposively about . . . So, I got up at 7:07 thinking that would be plenty of time to get everything packed and over to their site by 8.  Well, my hand was better than the claw, but it was worse than right after the hot spring soak.  So, it took a little longer than hoped.  They set me up with some great porridge.  And, then,  they proceeded to pack all my stuff and there stuff up for the ride.   Apparently, they all met at a hostel backpacking through New Zealand or they were attached to the others that had.  They were from all over, Canada, Ireland, Australia, Britain, and ?Denmark? I wound up in the van with Aaron, Becky, and Jack.  Well,  I'm pretty sure I got that right.  It's hard to get 7 new names straight right away,  especially when they already have such a close rapport and inside jokes. But,  regardless they were a fun and funny bunch for sure.  They were very giving with their food and they definitely had plenty of room in the vans.   Our van was Jane Fhonda because it had fixed is own air conditioning.   I'm not sure how that relates, but that was the story I got.

I didn't get to take as many pictures along the several hundred stretch I hitched,  but I got to enjoy some great camraderie.  Watson Lake was nice,  but there was no place to repair my bike; I continued on with the Grizzly Road Trip crew to Whitehorse, the capitol of the Yukon.  After stopping for some samples and a pint at the Yukon Brewing Company, beer worth freezing for, we parted ways at the Robert Service Campground, after many many thanks.