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. 

Kennedy Meadows #2

Day 63 ~ miles 1010 - 1018.5

I was so excited about our big milestone yesterday that I forgot to even mention our most epic campsite last night!   We climbed about 1,500 feet yesterday evening to a spectacular ridge.  The mountain was volcanic in nature (rather than the glacial mountains that we have been accustomed to), and basically just a huge pile of gravel lacking much vegetation.

It was so windy that we couldn't setup our tent, so cowboy camping it was.  Never have we slept in such a high and exposed site, literally right on top of a ridge with panoramic mountain views.  We watched an incredible sunset,  and did some stargazing as well.  It's funny how you can feel so very small and alone, when you know that several people are within a couple of miles.

We awoke early, it's town day!  We walked for about 8 miles along the ridge on which we slept.  It was incredibly beautiful.  We did a little travel over snow (thought we were done with that stuff).  We arrived to the road, Sonora pass, early afternoon and got a ride surprisingly quickly.  The road down to Kennedy Meadows Resort was super steep and windy; we could seriously smell the truck's brakes -- scary!  This is not the same Kennedy Meadows that we visited a few hundred miles ago, but a resort and pack station.

We arrived to find the place packed (it was Friday). All of their bunkrooms, cabins, and campsites were full, ugh.  The resort was swarming with real cowboys and herding dogs and horses...it was such a neat experience.  We did our grocery shopping in the small store, showered, and  laundered our clothes.  We sat on the back porch of the main building for hours, people watching and chatting with hikers. I cannot say enough good things about the resort, they were so hiker friendly!  We visited the saloon, and proceeded to eat a delicious, huge, and well-priced meal at the resort's restaurant.  Luckily, a hiker's sister who had come to visit had reserved a group campsite.  They invited us all to stay, perfect!

one thousand!

Day 62 ~ miles 993.5 - 1010

Guess what?!?  We've hiked 1000 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail!! 

We are so excited to have hit this tremendous milestone!  It seems that the time has flown, and it's difficult to fathom that we have walked so far.  At the same time, it's hard to remember the days when life was normal: when we slept in a bed and peed in toilets and drove cars and went to work.  Even though we've walked a super long way, we're still not even halfway to the Northern terminus of the trail!

When we arrived at the 1000th mile, a stone marker had been placed on the ground.  We gathered around with about 6 other hikers while somone played that song "I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more"...you know the one.  Another hiker was carrying some whisky and passed it around to celebrate the occasion.  We took pictures, ate snacks, and chatted and eventually went on our way. 

Here's to the next thousand, hoping they are as smooth as the first!

don't just follow the Cascadias!

Day 61 ~ miles 977.7 - 993.5

Slept late.  Again.  It wasn't even that cold out, but I reckon our body's alarm clocks have reset themselves to 7:00.  We felt strong hiking this morning, and were having a really great day.  We ate lunch by a small cascade, rested there for a while, swatting at mosquitos and rinsing out some dirty clothes.

We hit the trail, still feeling great post-lunch, and began another ascent.  Weird, I thought, as I didn't think we had to do anymore climbing today.  Oh well, I saw the tell-tale Cascadia tracks on the trail, so all was right.  Brooks Cascadias are extremely popular shoes amongst thru-hikers, and they also have a very distinct and easily recognizable tread.  We always joke that when we're not sure if we're on the trail or not, just look for the Cascadia prints.  Most of the time, this works. 

We were hiking along, when we saw a familiar face approaching. It was Bess, a hiker's girlfriend who had just come out to hike with him for a few weeks.  Her boyfriend and his brother were nowhere to be seen.  She had hiked ahead of them, and had somehow gotten off trail.  Lucky for her, we got off trail at the same junction.  Lucky for us, we ran into her; otherwise we wouldn't have even realized we were not on the PCT, we were just following the Cascadias.  In total, we walked a little more than 2 non-PCT miles, but poor Bess had done more.  We walked with her back to the PCT and hiked ahead.

Mosquito hell would be an accurate descripton of our afternoon hiking.  We wore our mosquito headnets for the first time, as mosquitos blanketed us if we paused for more than a second.  We are camped with a new face, and were happy to have a fire to keep the mosquitos away.