another day of recovery

Day 84 ~ miles 1335.1 ~ 1338.4

We lazed around until exactly checkout time, trying to muster the strength to get back to the trail.  Despite all of our rest, we were still exhausted.  We made our way to a picnic table outside of our hotel and took a while to work on rehydration.  I drank as much ginger ale and Gatorade as I could stomach and we made our way out to the road.  Before long we had a ride back to the trail, though I was secretly hoping that we wouldn't get a ride so I could rest a little more.  Upon arriving to the trailhead, we sat again, attempting to gather the energy and motivation to walk.  We struggled to walk a mile or so on the totally flat terrain, before we had to sit down and rest.  Our energy was nearly non-existent.  We hiked a bit further to a spring, where we decided to take a long break, and eventually just decided to stay the remainder of the day. 

Near the spring were huge bags of Sugar Pine cones.  A crew showed up to collect more.  They told us they sell the cones for 50 cents each!

We were preparing for an early night into the tent, when Thor and Ferntoe surprisingly showed up!  We hadn't seen them since the High Sierras, and were glad to be reunited.  They hung out for a bit and hiked on for a couple of miles.  Hoping for more energy and miles tomorrow.

sick day

Day 83 ~ zero in Chester

Unfortunately, we were forced to take a sick day in Chester.  Not how we prefer to spend our days off, of course, but we had no choice.  Typically, our days off are not restful at all.   Today was quite the opposite; we did not leave the bed until the evening, when we forced ourselves to go grocery shopping.  I still hadn't eaten a thing by that point, and nothing sounded appetizing, but I had to buy my food for the next stretch of trail.  We were glad to see that we haven't been missing out on anything good on television.  We flipped channels like it was our job!  I choked down a couple of slices of pizza before bed (probably not the best choice for my first meal).  Moonshine's appetite is nearly back to normal.   Trail rumor has it that several other hikers have been ill with the same, yuck.  Back to it tomorrow.

an unfortunate halfway celebration

Day 82 ~ miles 1318.8 - 1335.1

A huge milestone was surpassed today...THE HALFWAY POINT!!  An unimpressive monument stood at the point that was once halfway; reroutes of the trail change the halfway point often.  We took a short break at the monument to review the trail register and snap some photos.  In our excitement to reach the halfway point and to get into town, we missed the off-trail water source where we'd planned to fill up.  Our lack of water served as added motivation to hike faster.  It was hot, but fortunately we were in the shade for most of the day's miles.

We sat by a stream to rehydrate, and arrived to the road into town early afternoon in good time.  Finding a ride into town didn't take too long, and we were dropped off in the middle of the small town.  After finding that most of the hotels in town had no vacancies, we booked a room at a lower quality, but still unfortunately pricey, inn.

We settled into our ant-infested room quickly, and got started on getting ourselves and our clothes clean.  I ran across the street to the grocery store to pick up something to eat.  No requests from Moonshine; no ice cream or beer?  Weird, I thought.  When I returned to the room, he was lying in bed, claiming to be cold and achy.  Not long after started the gastrointestinal symptoms, I'll let you use your imagination.  Was it something we ate? Couldn't be, it was all nonparishable trail food.  I stayed outside of the contaminated hotel room chatting on the phone, occasionally peeking in to check on Moonshine.  Eventually I decided that I should probably get something to eat, but suddenly a ton of bricks hit me and I crawled into bed, only to have the same violent, explosive symptoms hit.  Luckily Moonshine's objective symptoms had subsided, so I had the bathroom all to myself.
  After being up all night, I don't think we'll be going anywhere tomorrow.  Not the halfway celebration we had planned on!

shaking the post-festival blues

Day 81 ~ miles 1296.4 - 1318.8

We have now realized that it is only going to get darker at 5am as we make our way north the trail. We slept in a little bit, and didn't start hiking until 7:30. There was still five miles and a couple of thousand feet left in the climb out of Belden. We felt sluggish, and the rare humidity and plentiful mosquitoes were not helping. The sky was overcast all morning, and began to darken as we reached the top. We definitely had the post-festival blues!  It opened up with a little shower that didn't last long. It was very nice after the muggy morning, but in the end contributed to that effect once the sun came back out.

We met two new hikers today, and saw an old face too. After lunch at an awesome, gushing spring (named Cold Springs), our moods lightened and the post-festie blues were gone.  The day over all was rather uneventful compared to the last couple, and another rain shower has shortened it. The tent is set up and Sideways is cooking in the rain. We will be dining indoors tonight.

-Moonshine

vacation is over

Day 80 ~ miles 1289.5 - 1296.4

We woke up early at the festival, but had no problem going back to sleep for a couple of hours after a run to the port-o-john.  We eventually packed up our stuff to find that we had inadvertently set our tent up on a pile of puke in the dark last night. Luckily, the Tyvek ground cloth was the only thing that touched it.  A few swipes of a sanitizing wipe had it back as good as new. The smell that followed the unearthing required an immediate evacuation of the area.

We said our goodbyes to Gregg and the others that we met at the campsite. We left out of the festival grounds with a vague recollection of how to get back to downtown Quincy.  We got directions from a guy hitching up his camper on the side of the road, and we were off. We walked the whole way in because we thought it wasn't worth trying to hitch. The grocery store came into view after about a mile of walking.  After picking up a few odds and ends, we started our search for "the Mexican restaraunt on Main Street". We walked down and back in the blazing heat, but no Mexican in sight. After asking a local on the sidewalk, we discovered that the restaurant was in the shopping center with the grocery store. It was too far and too hot to go back. We had to settle for Subway because it was right there and conveniently on the road we had to get a ride back to the trail on.

Since there were a lot of people leaving the festival and heading back to the Bay area on Highway 70, we figured it would be no problem getting picked up. We were mistaken. There were lots of people leaving, but no one stopping. One nice woman offered us a ride, but was unfortunately taking an exit before reaching Belden. Then, out of the blue, Celeste, who gave us a ride to the festival yesterday, pulled into the gas station to pick us up! She and her friends just so happened to be going back up to Belden and hanging out at the river. It was perfect, and we got to catch up on everyone's good time at the show last night.

The beach and the river were calling our name once we got back to the trail and we succumed to its draw. It was the hottest part of the day, and the high was 104 . After swimming and hanging out for a while, two more people that we had met at the festival showed up at the river.  We bought an awesome t-shirt from last night.  They print them with hand carved linoleum plates that they hand paint each time. They do a lot of work for Lagunitas which is one of our favorite breweries. It felt strange but awesome to know several non-hikers hanging out this afternoon.

We were finally able to get our packs on at about five and start trudging up the hill. The climb was 12 miles and 4500 feet. It didn't take us long in the blazing heat to realize that we weren't making it to the top. There was a campsite 7 miles in, so we stopped there. The mosquitoes were thick and relentless. Our chores were done while under attack, and dinner was eaten in the safety of the tent.

-Moonshine

Ain't Life Grand

Day 79 ~ miles 1272.5 - 1289.5

There was a short climb today before we began our descent to the Feather river in Belden. We had heard of an electronic music festival/rave that was going on over the weekend at a resort, which the trail passes right through. We figured we would get to see the residual effects of what had gone on over the weekend once we got down there. The last 5 miles of the hike in were extremely steep and hot. Poison oak lined the trail so constant vigilance was necessary.

When we arrived at the  Belden Town Resort, we saw all of the weekend's attendees milling around and waiting on the roadside for their rides to come pick them and their stuff up. There were people in costumes, bathing suits, and other rave attire. A good portion of them looked to be in some form of altered state, and we felt sort of the same way, but our brains were fried by the sun.

We made our way to the restaurant where we took a seat off to the side and just enjoyed being motionless for a few minutes. We saw some familiar faces, including our old friend Midway, who had enjoyed the weekend festivities along with some other hikers we knew. They all had a blast and were heading back to the trail today. We decided to get something to eat with Pixel and Shazam, and there were burgers all around.

During lunch a topic of conversation that has been popular for the last few days came up once again. The High Sierra music festival was going on in Quincy, 30 miles away, and today was the last day. Widespread Panic was headlining, so it was a very tempting proposition. Sideways began to look for tickets on Craigslist and Stub Hub, but there was nothing in the price range we were willing to pay for single day passes. By the time we got there, Widespread would probably be all we'd see. It was a great opportunity though, and Sideways had been bugging me to go for several days, so I said, "Let's go try to hitch." We quickly ate our last bites and we were on the highway with thumbs out.

Our excitement faded as the clock ticked on the burning asphalt. An hour had passed and no ride had come along. We were just discussing giving up when a gold Mercedes with a single female pulled up to the exit of the resort. She was going down to the High Sierra Festival, and had room for the both of us. We both rode in the back seat since there was stuff in the front, and I tried to maintain a conversation over the wind coming in all four windows that had deafened Sideways next to me.

We made it down to the festival grounds around 4:30-ish and parked right outside the gate.  We scored VIP wristbands and strolled through the gate. "Is this really happening?!" we thought. 

We contacted a friend from Reno, Gregg, who we figured was likely at the festival.   He was, and we found him pretty quickly.  After a few minutes of catching up over a beer, we stashed our packs in his friend's VW and headed into the festival grounds just in time for Trampled by Turtles, a great band that we've seen several times before.  In the VIP area, we ate free sandwiches, as many as we could, and enjoyed being close to the stage.

Between bands, we wandered around and saw some fellow hikers.  We returned to our stageside VIP spots for Widespread Panic.  The show was awesome!  Somehow, we managed to find our way back to our belongings after the show.  We setup our tent and crashed out hard after an extra exciting day.

-Moonshine

alternate adventure

Day 78 ~ miles 1250.9 - 1272.5

Today started out pretty much like any other day; we didn't have any idea the excitement that awaited us this afternoon.  Strewn about our campsite were some old cables, a rusty hopper, and other unknown objects.  We learned that it was an old gold mining site, and that the Feather River was one of the best known for gold mining.

We climbed and climbed in the heat; it was a long way up from the Feather River.  By a spring, we took our midmorning break; Landslide, Handbrake, Pixel, and Shazam all eventually joined us there.  Handbrake mentioned that an old friend would be arriving at a nearby campground this afternoon, and invited us to the campsite for some food and drinks.  We thanked him for the invite, but thought that we probably wouldn't be joining the party.  Our maps pointed out an alternate to the PCT, which was a road that passed by small stores, camgrounds, cabins, and restaurants, all situated around Buck's Lake; this is where the campsite was.

We hiked on and my wheels started to turn, motivated by my hiker hunger; how could we pass up this opportunity?  I realized that our next resupply point was a town 30 miles from the trail, and we only needed to buy 2 days of food; that's a lot of trouble for a little food.  With a little convincing, Moonshine agreed that it would be best to buy our food at a much closer store, on Buck's Lake.   Joined by Shazam and Pixel, we sat in the shade to study the map; the 4 of us decided we were taking the alternate route and hiked together until we got there.  The road was much busier and windier (more dangerous) than we expected.  Shazam stuck his thumb out, and immediately we had a ride.  First stop was business, so we could play later.  We bought our groceries and waited a bit for Handbrake to arrive.  Impatience was setting in, and we didn't want to wait all day, we were hungry.  When we decided that we couldn't (didn't want to) wait any longet, we quickly got a ride down the road to our next destination, a restaurant.  We sat on a lakefront deck and had a delicious meal, while watching the holiday weekend bustle on the lake.  After our meal, we all went down to the lake to swim.

We quickly got back to the trail and hiked a couple more miles to our home for the night.  A couple who we hadn't met, Wilbur and Shady, were there camping as well.  We instantly connected with them, and had the best time telling stories and belly laughing.  It's an amazing experience to connect with someone so instantly like that. Sadly, they're traveling south, but we think our paths will cross again someday.  An unforgettable day on the trail, for sure!

black bear!

Day 77 ~ miles 1224.8 - 1250.9

I slowly came out of my dream to the sound of quiet beeping from Sideways' wrist watch alarm clock. I rolled over and we looked at each other, both almost instantaneously falling back asleep. Five a.m. came quick, and there wasn't  yet much  sunlight where we were camped. We repeated this a couple of times before a successful attempt was made 40 minutes after the original alarm sounded. The first thing to pop into my head was the opening song to the play Oklahoma: "Ohhh what a beautiful morning ohh what a beautiful day....". This has been a popular one for me and Sideways to sing on the trail, after seeing our local high school's production of it just before leaving the beach. It usually reflects the mood we are in, but that was not the case this morning.

We started with a decent climb today and stayed mostly in the cover of trees. As we were walking I spotted some bear tracks in the soft duff layer on the forest floor next to the trail. I pointed them out to Sideways, and we both gazed at them for a moment wondering if it might still be around. We moved on since there was no bear immediately in sight. Not far down the trail, we came across a rather large pile of mountain lion scat. We talked about how eerie it is to know that several of those cats have probably laid eyes on us since the beginnig of the trail. Now sufficiently paranoid, I was scanning the forest for any sign of danger. We rounded a bend in the trail and something dark caught my eye down the hill. Staring back at me from a safe distance was a 300 pound black bear. As Sideways approached I directed her attention to him, just as he bolted in the other direction. We were above him, so we had a great view of the action. We both agreed we had never gotten to see a bear running at full speed for so long. It got our adrenaline going and it was comforting to see a wild bear with a healthy fear of humans.

We ended our day by the Feather River, where we cooled off and rinsed out some clothes.  The river was wide and deep, and a more enjoyable temperature than most others we've been encountering.

-Moonshine

happy Independence Day!

Day 76 ~ miles 1200 - 1224.8

Big climb this morning!  We woke up early, as to beat the heat.  After topping out, the difficulty of hiking eased up a bit.  We were feeling strong, happy, and well rested.  The miles were going fast and the hiking was good.  Oh yeah, we had almost forgotten that it was Independence Day!  It's really easy to lose track of the day/date out here, which is awesome.  Who just gets to wander around in real life never knowing the date or day of the week? (So our apologies for any missed birthdays or other occasions).  For both of us, I think this would be the first time ever without the usual July 4th festivities. 

We talked to a couple of Southbound thru-hikers who told us of the mass amounts of snow in Washington.  Most southbounders had rearranged their plans due to the impassable trail up north, so we may start seeing some of them.

Overall, a really hot and uneventful day in the wilderness.  Still just livin' the dream!

another swimming hole kinda day

Day 75 ~ miles 1197.5 - 1200

I awoke early and wandered around the quiet little town until Moonshine finally crawled out of the tent.  Over breakfast, our jaws nearly hit the table as we viewed the local meteorologist tell of the forecast: the high temperatures would range from 98-103 over the next week, including today.  We had to conquor a really big climb coming out of town, and we didn't want to do so in 100 degree heat, so we decided to wait until it cooled off a bit to hike out of town.

After finishing up our town chores, we went down to the local swimming hole in the RV park.  It was awesome!  Papa Bear joined us as we cooled off in the chilly water.  We relaxed on the porch of the general store with sevetal other hikers for the remainder of the day.  Moonshine gorged on the Gutbuster, a one pound hamburger, while I sprung for the smaller version (one of the best burgers we've had on the trail!).  It was finally beginning to cool off a bit around 6, so we decided we better make our way back to the trail.  One last stop before we got back to business, a Moxa treatment for Moonshine.  Moxa is a form of traditional Chinese medicine that entails burning dried mugwort against the skin.  Moonshine has been having some left knee pain.  Moxa, a hiker, is currently studying Chinese medicine, and offered to give him a treatment.  It was awesome to watch, hopefully he'll have good results.

Once back to the trail, we began our ascent.  Darkness was falling quickly, and I hoped we'd find a place to camp soon.  I am not so keen on night hiking, as my lack of coordination and clumsiness make it difficult enough to hike in the daylight.  Just as it was getting dark enough to require use of our headlamps, we found a small flat spot, not a bit wider than our tent.  We made it work, and we'll finish out the climb tomorrow.

an unexpected alarm

Day 74 ~ 1177.5 - 1197.5

We were both startled awake at 3am by some large mechanized vehicle very closeby, and the sounds of branches cracking.  We popped up to look out of the tent; had we mistakenly camped on a road?  Was someone driving right through the woods?  Turned out that we were camped about 100 yards to the south of a very active logging road.  The loggers started at 3:00 sharp and were going non-stop.  In hindsight, we should have just gotten up, but instead we tossed and turned until 5, while getting small bits of sleep in between loads of timber rolling by.

The hike into town wasn't too strenuous, other than the extreme heat.  We hiked along to the sounds of chainsaws, and large trees falling to the ground.  We were looking forward to cooling off in a swimming hole on the way into town, which hastened our pace.  An alternate route into town led us through a campground, where the creek had been dammed to make a swimming hole.  Several campers were relaxing in their beach chairs on the bank.  We were so hot, we didn't hesitate to jump right in.  The campers offered up a cold one, and of course we didn't turn them down.  That's been happening a lot lately, we must look thirsty!

After cooling off, we mosied into Sierra City, a tiny, quaint town, where we saw lots of unfamiliar hikers, and a few familiar faces.  What a weird feeling, who are all these people?  We want our old crew back!  There were no inexpensive rooms available in town, so we pitched our tent in the backyard of a cafe/inn.  We ended up at the local watering hole for food and drinks, where all of the new faces had also congregated.  We had a really great time, and stayed up far past hiker midnight.  Maybe these new hikers aren't so bad after all. 

hey, NorCal!

Day 73 ~ 1156.5 - 1177.5

Well, it's officially summer, and it now officially feels like it. It was so hot today; probably just as hot as it ever was in the desert!  A local guy told us it was going to be 95.

I believe that we have officially now entered into Northern California!   Central California presented the most beautiful, jawdropping scenery that we've ever seen, but not without a challenge.  We are relieved to have the most difficult behind us, and excited about a more mellow trail.

We actually passed right by an interstate rest stop today, where we took a long break.  Quality people watching ensued, and we also rinsed out some filthy articles of clothing.

Luckily, the terrain was pretty gentle, without the elevation varying too much.  The climbs and descents were short and fairly gradual. Much of the trail was without shade.  A slight breeze seldomly blew through and cooled us a bit.  Even though the walking was a little easier, the heat is so draining.  We wanted to get a little closer to town today, but long breaks and high temps didn't allow for that.  Sierra City tomorrow!

sun-daze

Day 72 ~ 1139.8 - 1156.5

Usually hiking into town is so easy; most of the time it's downhill, and we have some extra pep in our step, motivated by the treats that await us.  Well, I think we started the day with some extra pep, but it faded pretty fast.  We knew we had some climbing to do, but it proved to be much more difficult than we anticipated.

The day heated up fast,  and most of the trail was without the shade of trees.  The heat sapped our energy, and my appetite.  As we neared the road at Donner Pass, I was dazed and slow, likely dehydrated.  We were in need of food for the next section; we were tempted by the thought of going into the town of Truckee.  A quick internet search revealed no cheap lodging options for the night, so we would stick to our original plan. 

The Donner Ski Ranch had posted signs at the trailhead that they were open for lunch, just 200 yards down the road.  We treated ourselves to yet another mediocre burger, but the staff is generous enough to give thru-hikers a beer on the house.

A guy who was dining at the Ski Ranch, Viper, with his 2 children, recognized us as hikers and struck up a conversation.  He drove us a couple of miles down the road to the general store in Soda Springs.  Still feeling totally out of sorts and in a fog from the heat, I had a really difficult time figuring out what food I wanted and how much we actually needed.  The store owner picked up on my distress, and generously gave us some fruit for free.

Viper brought us back and allowed us to organize and pack our food in his ski lodge.  Their vacation was over, so they were cleaning out the fridge.  They unloaded ice cream, among other things, on us.  We walked up the road to the trail, where we sat around in the shade and talked with some hikers.  As the day began to cool a bit, we hiked a short distance before setting up camp.

a word on trail etiquette

Day 71 ~ 1116 - 1139.8

The hiking today was amazing, and we were able to put in some bigger miles...our biggest day since our marathon into Kennedy Meadows!  What a great feeling.

We saw so many day hikers today, as we entered the beautiful Granite Chief Wilderness.  A note on trail etiquette: if you are approaching a hiker head on, the person going uphill has the right of way; step over and let them proceed!  It seemed as if everyone we encountered today was unfamiliar with this unwritten rule.

We hiked along a ridge with stunning views of Lake Tahoe.all day.  I feel so captivated by the massive electric blue body of water; I feel this is surely a place we will return to visit someday. 

We were unaware of an 8 mile section of trail with no water.  This portion of trail was exposed, and it was hot!  Luckily the wind was whipping, which kept us cool and helped us to conserve our limited amount of water.  As we move north, it seems that the drought in California is becoming more apparent.

Hopefully we can maintain this momentum!

a marmot encounter

day 70 ~ 1096.6 - 1116

we started out the day by entering the Desolation Wilderness. We were informed by a sign at the trailhead at Echo Lake that this wilderness area is the most heavily used per acre in the US. This is believable judging by the number of hikers we saw on the trail.

After a short climb in the morning, we descended to, and walked beside, multiple mountain lakes. The most beautiful one was Aloha Lake. Rock islands with pine and fir growing on them dotted the lake, and there was a backdrop of snowcapped peaks, remniscent of the high Sierra. Not quite as tropical as the lake's name suggests. We had to keep moving to overcome the day's big climb up Dick's Pass.

We planned to have lunch at the top of the pass, and I arrived before Sideways. I picked a spot in the shade and rested my trekking pole against a tree. Once she arrived we decided it was too cold in the shade and moved out into the sun.

After we finished eating, Sideways was taking nap when a visitor arrived. A marmot was making its way across the field directly towards Sideways. I woke her up to look, as it approached within a couple of feet of her. I scared it away, only to have the same thing happen several more times. We had fun for a little while taking pictures and video of the daring marmot, but it eventually became a nuisance. We knew it wanted our food, or worse yet, to chew on our gear for the salt.

While I was keeping an eye on the marmot, I noticed that my trekking pole that was resting against the tree had been blown over by the wind. I thought to myself that the handle might be of interest to the marmot because of the salt on the handle, but no worries, "I'm keeping an eye on him". About 10 seconds later I turned around to check on the marmot's whereabouts, and noticed the trekking pole was no longer laying where it fell. A split second later I noticed the bottom end of the pole protruding from a nearby bush and wiggling around in mid-air. The image was so comical that I almost started laughing, but I realized that real damage was probably being done. I exclaimed, "The marmot has my trekking pole!", and took off running across the rocks in my socks towards the bush. Sideways popped up from her nap, confused to see me tugging on one end of my trekking pole while the marmot was holding the other working the handle over like corn on the cob. I got it free and saw the quick work he had made of the cork grip. I was pretty upset at first, and didn't want to see the humor in it while Sideways laughed hysterically. I got over it quickly since the damage has no bearing on the performance of the pole. I don't view marmots as being the cute fun loving creatures I once did.

-Moonshine

we got our Plinys!

Day 69 ~ miles 1092 - 1097

As tempted as we were to take another day off in this friendly little town, we knew we had to get back to the trail today.  We made one more stop to find Pliny the Elder, and our search was finally successful!  This beer is considered by some to be the best beer in the world, and we've been hearing of the hype for a couple of years, but there's no way we'd ever get this beer out east.  Even though it was nearly $10 per pint, we couldn't resist each buying a bottle to take back to the trail.  After a couple of last minute errands and phone calls, we made our way back to the trail. There was Coppertone, pouring up root beer floats.  We turned down the floats, but took advantage of Coppertone's chairs, where we sat and drank our Plinys and conversed with him and other hikers.  The beer was great, but we're not so sure it lives up to its reputation of the best beer in the world.  We hiked only a short distance; we were a little exhausted from all of the excitement of town.  Back to the grind tomorrow.

a fun day in SLT

Day 68 ~ zero in South Lake Tahoe

We had planned to take a day off here, and hoped that everything would go our way today.  We finished our chores early, so we'd have the rest of the day to do whatever we pleased.  We purchased an all day bus pass for the city so we could minimize walking, an important aspect of a day off trail.  We headed down to the casino area again, hoping for better luck this time.  We started with lunch; we ate the best pizza we've had on the trail at Basecamp Pizza (we've had a lot of pizza, so that's saying something!). 

We then  headed to Harrah's for the whole casino experience.  Imagine living in the woods by the sun with no noise or light but that provided by mother nature, and then walking into a bustling casino.  Neither of us had ever been in a casino, but it was quite the sensory overload; flashing lights, loud noises, people everywhere.  We decided to try our luck, but stuck to only the penny slot machines.  We didn't win any money, but took full advantage of the free beverage service.  Before getting too sucked in, we called it quits and headed back to South Lake Tahoe.

We stopped by the public beach, where a standup paddleboard competition was in progress.  We watched the paddleboarders for awhile before returning to our room.  We hung around for awhile and realized we needed to eat, but most places closeby were already closed.  We walked to a bar across the street and ordered food to-go.  The friendly bartender there conversed with us about the trail and craft beers.  He gave us a free beer, and escorted us to another bar in search pf a highly sought after beer we had discussed, Pliny the Elder.  The bar didn't have the beer, but he bought us a drink and returned to his bartending post at the bar across the street.  Another local bought us a beer before we headed back to the motel.  Between the friendliness of locals and entertainment, I'd say this place has lived up to its reputation of an excellent trail town!

the best laid plans...

Day 67 ~ 1079 - 1092

We had a short, fast, and easy hike into South Lake Tahoe today.  We have really been looking forward to this town stop, as it has been rumored to be one of the best stops on the trail; our eyes were on the prize as we hiked.  We arrived at the road, only to see Coppertone, offering up his usual root beer floats.  It's already shaping up to be a good stop!

After thumbing for what seemed like quite a while as we baked in the sun, standing on the asphalt, we finally got a ride.  We were dropped off at the outfitter, where we devised a plan to head down to the casino area in Stateline, NV (about 5 miles away) to get a room for the night.  We easily scored a ride from a friendly local and hopped out at Harvey's Casino, where we'd heard that hikers could stay for $60.  Not so; the rates were more than double  that for all rooms in the casino area due to a Sarah McLachlan concert that we were not the least bit interested in.  Hot, tired, hungry, and irritable after wandering around for what felt like hours, we caught the city bus back to South Lake, thinking that this stopover was no longer going as planned.

We got a room at the Motel 6, our old standby for a cheap room, and got started on our chores.  We contacted a local acquaintance, Blair, who we met last summer on the Outer Banks while he was visiting our good friend, Sean.  Blair offered to pick us up and have dinner together.  Once he arrived, he offered that we could come to his house where his roommates were cooking up a feast.  We accepted the offer without hesitation.  Blair and his roommates were so hospitable, and welcomed us to dive in to a huge spread of fish taco fixin's and other delights.  A fun time was had by all, especially us, as we enjoyed feeling like normal people, doing normal people things; not like the "hiker trash" that we are normally labeled as.  Thanks, Blair and crew, for a great time; maybe this will shape up to be the best town stop on the trail after all.

meeting Kermie

Day 66 ~ 1056.9 - 1079

It's funny, a few days ago Papa Bear mentioned that maybe with all of these upcoming road crossings, there'd be some trail magic.  Well between the second hand trail magic yesterday and the happenings today, I'd say he was right on!

It was nearing lunchtime when we passed a gentleman on a horse who told us about some trail angels up ahead.  We weren't familar with the location he'd named, and didn't ask.  We were getting hungry, and our minds filled with the endless possibilities that lie ahead.  Finally, we stopped to figure out that the trail angels were a few miles ahead.  We hiked fast, until we arrived at a trailhead parking lot, where sat a pristine 1978 VW bus in green..."Kermie".  What a fine sight!

Accompanying Kermie were Kermit and Jeannie-Bug.  We were served lots of coffee, bananas, pastries,  and coversation.  I rinsed my dirt-caked legs with their solar shower.  We sat in chairs in the shade for a long while until it was time to get back to the trail.  How amazing that perfect strangers can reach out to us dirty, stinky, unemployed hikers and do something so kind.  It makes my heart happy.

second hand trail magic

Day 65 ~ 1035.4 - 1056.9

The terrain is the most smooth we've seen in awhile, and we were actually able to put in some decent (20+) miles today, woohoo!  It has been so frustrating to hike as hard as we can, and not be able to achieve the mileage that we have desired. 

All morning, we leapfrogged with two thru-hikers we'd never met (we'd pass them, then they'd pass us, and so on).  We talked to them everytime, they were really friendly.  Their packs were tiny and they seemed to be doing big miles; after they passed us for what we thought would be the last time, we figured we may never see them again.

Everytime we cross a road, especially on a weekend, I think there's always a hope deep down that maybe, just maybe, there will be some trail magic there.  I feel guilty for thinking that way, but when you're using up everything you consume, your body cries "more, more, more"; we are total scavengers!

We arrived at the road to find no signs of trail magic: no coolers, no people, nothing.  We didn't even see a parking lot, which was strange because we had seen several day hikers.  We took a snack break, and saw the two guys we'd played leapfrog with walking down the road.  They had found the parking lot, and gotten some trail magic.  They had apple cinnamon cake and fresh cherries and honeydew melon...AND THEY SHARED!  I mentioned that we're scavengers, and I think that goes for all long distance hikers.  These starving, nearly emaciated young guys voluntarily gave us some of their goodies.  It was so kind, and some of the best cake and fruit I've had, knowing what a sacrifice it was for them to give it up.  Now we really probably will never see the guys again, but we'll always remember the second hand trail magic. 

cozy conifer forests

Day 64 ~ miles 1018.5 - 1035.4

We got back to the trail around 9:00, feeling really great.  We did some exposed ridge walking for a bit before we walked in and out of some glorious conifer forests.  Happy Summer Solstice!  To us long distance hikers, it's hike naked day!  We didn't hike naked today, I guess we're boring.  We didn't see any other naked hikers either... lame!  I can't believe no one participated!

The mountains were gentle and broad, covered in huge conifers.  The smell of the warm sun hitting the pines, the soft bed of needles blanketing  the ground, and making the trail so soft for walking on, the way the sunlight shines through the giant trees, covering the forest floor with small pieces of light; these types of forests just feel so cozy to me.

I felt an overwhelming sense of joy today, I'm not sure why.  I guess sometimes we just realize what an amazing experience this is and how lucky we are to be living it.