Tag: PCT2014

Day 91: July 2nd
Highway 40 to Mile 1176.5

Today we met our friend Kaboom at the Highway 80 rest area. Deb had ordered a new Golite pack and Kaboom delivered it to us along with some food to make it to Sierra City which us just two days down the trail.

We are lightening Deb’s load and she has now switched to a Golite Jam 50 from the ULA Catalyst pack she was carrying. These packs are almost opposite ends of the thru-hiker pack spectrum. The Catalyst is a large pack for heavy loads while the Jam is a very light frameless pack. Deb also sent a few more items home and gave Lon the Jetboil stove to carry. Combined, this probably shaved about five pounds of weight from Deb’s base weight.

The new pack fits Deb well (surprisingly she uses a size medium) but she has used several other Golite packs in the past so she was familiar with the sizes.

She also has a trail name, Staying Afloat, courtesy of Neon, who hiked past us a few days ago after talking with Deb about trail woes by saying “stay afloat”.

The highlight for the day was a singing pine tree – yes, the wind was blowing at just the right angle through the wood cone at the top of the tree. Deb could swear she heard Bon Jovi, Lon was convinced it sounded like Bob Dylan.

Photo: Peter Grubb hut.

Mileage: 20.9

Day 90: July 1st
Mile 1129 to Highway 40

The trail walk in the morning continued to give great views of Lake Tahoe until the PCT departed the Tahoe Rim Trail. We then began walking the trail as it wound on the west side of the mountains, until we neared trails leading to Squaw Valley ski area. At this point the PCT wound its way quite steeply up to an incredible ridge line where we had beautiful views east and west. All the hikers talked about this endless climb because the top was such a great reward for all that hard work.

We stopped at the top briefly to cook dinner, hoping the dark clouds would stay at bay, which they did. We hurried down the ridge many, many miles all the way down to Donner Summit at highway 40. This was a marathon day for us, a first for us, 26.4 miles! By the time we found water (a hose at the closed ski chalet) and made a stealth camp, we crashed: Deb with sore and tired legs,but Lon exhilarated by the day.

Mileage: 26.4

Day 89: June 30th
Dicks Lake to Mile 1129

Today was a relatively pleasant day of hiking as the Pacific Crest Trail travels west of Lake Tahoe. We were occasionally treated to lovely views of the very blue Lake Tahoe as we hiked.

The trail mostly stayed in the woods and there were fewer lakes and streams. We began treating our water again when we resumed hiking yesterday, just to be cautious – the water levels are already low.

There seem to be few good campsites (maybe because of storms leaving blowdowns and rockfalls) and we are camped with 3 other hikers here. It is only 7:20 p.m. but everyone is already quiet.

Mileage: 19.5

Day 88: June 29th
South Lake Tahoe to Dicks Lake

Overheard on the trail today:

“Daddy, this is hard,” said the three-year-old day hiking the Pacific Crest Trail along Echo Lake.

“If it were easy everybody would be doing it,” replied the father.

Truer words have never been spoken.

The day today was filled with day-hikers and weekend backpackers enjoying the trail. Even the dogs were carrying packs.

We returned to highway 50 to resume our hiking, refreshed and fed and rested. The trail was very gentle and kind today as we walked up to and around and above numerous clear blue lakes. We want to go swimming, but they are still a little too cool for us – maybe a few more hot afternoons will make them more appealing.

We passed the 1,100 mile mark and are camping at mile 1,109.7 tonight.

Mileage: 17.7

Day 86-87: June 27-28th
South Lake Tahoe

We decided to take a double zero in the town of South Lake Tahoe. It seems a number of hikers have reached this point and now need extra time to eat town food in order to build some fat reserves that have been depleted by the Sierra to Tuolumne Meadow hiking and the two subsequent sections (I and J).

We also used this town stop to buy (and ship) food for the next 3 sections. Deb is trading down to a Golite pack to help reduce her pack weight. Lon bought a new Jetboil, new hat, new socks and found new gaiters in the hiker box at the local outfitters. Deb also replaced her fleece gloves. Thanks to all the hikers who have given her advice on foods to eat in this next section to keep her energy level up.
Mike, our town trail angel, is giving us a ride back to Echo Summit at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

Day 82-85: June 23-26rd
Sonora Pass to South Lake Tahoe

This was a section full of trail magic.

The hitch out of Kennedy Meadow was not as easy as the hitch in but eventually Dina and George returned us to the trailhead. Dina was on her way to Levitt Meadow to complete the Tahoe Rim trail to Tuolumne so we gave her some trail info. Thank you Dina and George! We also encountered Coppertone, who serves root beer floats, at the trailhead for the second time this entire hike, but it was very early and we were on our way quickly.

Our hiking was uneventful all the way to Ebbetts Pass, where we found trail magic provided by Chipmunk. Scrambled eggs, topped by chili, followed by hot coffee. Just wonderful. Coffee on the trail is an incredible treat, especially for us since our stove was makeshift at this point and we had mostly given up on hot food. Thank you Chipmunk!

The very next day we hiked thru more and more forests and eventually heard from some day hikers that more trail magic was ahead! Unbelievable! Kermit and Jeannie Bug have us hot drinks and fresh and energy snacks to power us on our way on the afternoon. We haven’t been expecting any trails hoc because we began our hike ahead of the “hiker herd” but we appreciate every extra calorie and human contact on this trail.

We left the magic and the trail climbed a very exposed ridge, where powerful winds threatened to push us off the trail. There was no shelter so we struggled to stay upright and hiked until we made it down to, what we thought, was a sheltered campsite. The winds tested our tent all night. Eventually light rain drizzled about 3 am. The rain continued much of the next day. A highlight was the visitor’s center at Carson Pass where we were warmed by a fire and given even more breakfast snacks! The welcomes we are getting as PCT hikers is surreal.

This last day had us wet and cold most of the 18 miles up and down off the mountains to a trailhead 9 miles from South Lake Tahoe. We tried hitching on Highway 50 for 10 minutes (really fast car speeds) before calling from a list of trail angels providing rides to town. Mike answered our call and we were installed into the Motel 6 in no time. Thank you Mike!