DUG, you don't post often, but when you do it's a blast! Now I can relate to your avatar every time I see it. Very cool trip report - not the typical "I hiked, I returned, it was pretty" TR. Extremely entertaining.
On the mileage misery, I can faintly relate. My first car in 1974 was a ragged-out '68 Charger with a 426 Hemi. The way I drove at 17, I was lucky to get 4 mpg. 'Course, gas was about 50 cents a gallon back then, even after the Oil Embargo, but that was damn expensive for the era. Running 8 mpg now, with California gas prices - well, your wallet has my sympathy!
