South Lake Tahoe:
Due too the extended forecast we decided to take a zero day in South Lake Tahoe. Not only did this allow for us to sleep in, we also got a lot of town chores completed.
First on the list was to get to the outfitter where we bought new stuff bags for hanging our food. We are finally past the point where we don't have to use the bear vaults. They are heavy and a pain in the ass to pack into the backpack. That means second on the list was a stop at the Post Office to mail our bulky BV 500's home.
Then shopping! One of the stops was a K Mart where we purchased a 6 pack of cheap socks. We are going through socks so fast there doesn't seem any point to buying more expensive wool ones. I still carry 1 pair to sleep in and 1 wool pair to hike in if the weather turns really cold. Otherwise I would rather put the wear and tear on socks I don't feel bad about throwing away in 4 weeks.
Note, as the rain came down throughout our day of chores we felt better and better about our decision to zero in South Lake Tahoe.
We already had 3 days of food that we mailed ourselves to Echo Lake when we originally intended to hike through. Instead of stopping in Soda Springs off of Donner Pass we decided we would add two days of food to our load. The grocery store was great here and I ended up with more like six days of food. That is why you should not shop hungry! Hiking I have grown accustom to always having a snack on hand and continually feeding myself thought the day. I did not have a snack with me on our hike through town running chores.
That evening we spent re-packing food, eating in the room, and catching up on unimportant, but very entertaining TV shows. We turned in at hikers midnight (9pm).
Back on trail:
This stretch of trail has been marked with mosquitos and flies. We pass through so many boggy Meadows and green hillsides. You cannot complain about the veiws, but the bugs are horrible! We are both happy to have head nets. They look ridiculous, but provide a slice of sanity when you can no longer take the constant high pitched buzz by your ear.
Our first night we found it hard to find a good camp spot near where we wanted to stop. We were hoping to gain some elevation and put ourselves out of mosquito range. No luck. We camped with Papa Joe and Postholer, but everyone was in their tents to avoid the mosquitos.
The next morning we walked 2 minutes out of camp and found Brownie packing up his camp. Funny how you can be so close to other hikers and not even know it. We hiked off and on with Brownie and Team Siesta throughout the day. I didn't get the whole story, but as far as I understand Team Siesta is a group of 5 that has been hiking together since near the beginning. As their name suggests, they enjoy long breaks in the middle of the day. We have not seen them since their break at Barker Pass.
On our second night out we camped with Brownie and the three of us discussed what we were hoping to order tomorrow at Donner Ranch. According to the guide book and trail rumors Donner Ranch is a .2 mile walk off trail to a restaurant. They were supposedly giving hikers a free beer. Free beer or not, we all wanted a sandwich.
We planned it so that we would have 16 miles to Donner Pass. This should be late enough that we would be ready for some food. The day was hot! We had about 2,500 ft of climbing. By the time we made our way down the switchbacks through the ski area to Donner Pass we were all ready for something cold. Ice cold! We could almost taste it. Then we saw it. A sign was posted at the trail head listing services in the area. Under "Food and Beer" they had a description of our restaurant. However it also had a disappointing hand written note across the food and beer, CLOSED. We were heart broken. No ice cold soda or ice cream or beer or ravioli with meat sauce or Ruben sandwiches with extra dressing. We had to settle for our sun heated water and a thin strip of shade under a corrugated steel building beside Hwy 40.
After an hours rest we continued on. We were now aiming for another spot 7 miles from the highway. There are very few huts and shelters on the PCT, but we were supposed to be passing one we could stay at called the Peter Grub hut. We thought it would be fun and a break from hiding from the mosquitos in the tent. Luck did not favor us this day. When we got to the hut we found that it was closed for repairs. Strike two. We continued on and found a mosquito infested camp next to the meadow.
The next two days into Sierra City were hot hot hot and filled with flies and mosquitos. Before we crawled into our tents we went through the entertaining process of hanging our food. It usually takes a couple throws, some untangling of rope and branches, then balancing our food bags (see Tiffany's blog for a picture). Brownie finds it especially funny to watch.
We made a huge decent into Sierra City which is at 4,200 ft. Switchbacking down we heard familiar voices. We soon happened upon Gumby and Double-It. Yeah! Part of the six pack. We finished the rest of the decent to the hwy with the group. Near the trail head we found some trail magic. We took a break in the shade drinking some not so cold beer.
While lounging Gumby was able to hitch all five of us a ride in a huge van. How lucky are we! Soon we were in town headed to the hike friendly Red Moose Inn. We were ready for an all you can eat ribs dinner.
Happy Trails!
Trail Statistics
Mile: 1,197
Days: 74
Showers: 13
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