Month: July 2017

Our goal today was to do a full day out of Kennedy Meadows. It is always hard to get to trail at an early hour but we really wanted to do at least 20 miles. We of course still needed to pig out before leaving so we got up in time to be at breakfast at the restaurant at 6am. We got to listen to some real country music while we ate and Cowboys milled about. We finished up quickly and by 730 or so we were ready to hitch back to trail. Kennedy Meadows is located a mile off the main road so we weren’t sure if we would be able to get a ride from the resort guests (not sure who’d be awake and leaving so early on a Sunday morning) or if we’d have to walk the mile to the road. As we debated what to do, a man sitting on the front porch of his cabin asked if we wanted a ride. We of course accepted and got in a truck with Rick and his dog Katie (who we later found out he got at a garage sale?!). We arrived at the trailhead around 830am. Not too bad!

We immediately had a climb over Sonora Pass. This was the pass that many nobos said was the sketchiest part of the Sierra for them so we were ready for a challenge. The actual trail does very long drawn out switchbacks but much of the mountain is still covered in snow so most hikers have opted to go straight up or straight down. Yote and 2.Toe fearlessly headed straight up. Wolf Bird and I were a bit behind and went straight up until we reached a rock outcropping. From there we were able to follow the last switchback of the trail–it was not even snow covered. I was glad we went this route as going straight up the steep snow scared me and Wolf Bird had to talk me through some parts. We made it to the top and it felt great to have conquered such a built up pass… It really was not bad at all!

From the top of the pass on it really felt like we were in the Sierra again! Finally! We had sweeping views of snow capped mountains for much of the next part of the day. We had some snow covered terrain but it was all very doable even without using microspikes on our shoes. We had many footprints and steps kicked in the snow that made our job even easier.

After a while we descended from the ridge and had an easy nearly flat walk through the valley. We noticed some dark clouds approaching. Next we heard thunder and soon enough it was raining… Followed by hail! This was only our second rain of our hike. It actually felt quite nice. It is so consistently sunny that any change feels refreshing. We simply put on our raincoats and kept hiking. We soon passed 1500 miles as well!! 

After an hour or so the rain stopped and we ascended Dorothy Lake Pass. We crossed a couple creeks where we had to get our feet wet (for the first time since we were last in the Sierra). The crossings were quite easy and soon enough we were at the top of the pass and then descending down to Dorothy Lake. We had planned to meet Yote and 2.Toe here so we plopped down by the lake to have a late lunch–it was already 430! The other two showed up only a short while later. Lunch was a bit miserable as there were some of the biggest swarms of mosquitoes I’ve ever seen by that lake! This is the new norm–after such a wet snowy winter the mosquitoes are now out in full vengeance. Luckily Deet really helps us avoid the worst of it. 

As we finished lunch and got hiking again, more dark clouds started rolling in along with thunder and some rain drops. We set off as a group of four and hiked together the last five or six miles of the day. We don’t usually hike as a group so this was a fun change and we had a good time walking quickly dodging mosquitoes and rain. 

We decided to make it to the 25 mile mark for the day and then look for a Tentsite. We found a flat-ish spot not long after and set up in a somewhat less buggy spot than the lake. What a great day!

We did a long day today as we’ve been doing for the past few days, but today was a harder day than the others for me. It may seem like we are just easily cranking out big miles but we are definitely working hard for each mile. Today was no exception. 
The morning went by relatively quickly. We had a long ish uphill climb which wore me out, but halfway up it we ran into Slow Buffalo and his group. We hadn’t seen him since Tehachapi. It was great catching up and seeing a familiar face. It’s funny, most of the people we pass now who have been through the Sierra don’t even mention the river crossings when we ask how it was. They may mention a sketchy snow traverse but really no mention of the rivers. 2.Toe said someone told her they crossed the rivers at the trail crossing or within a tenth of a mile or so of there. That was crazy to hear as when we were going through the beginning of the Sierra people were hiking a mile or several miles up or downstream to find safe crossings! We are hopeful this means the conditions are better than when we were last in the Sierra. 

We took a pre lunch break (a rarity for us) and ate some snacks and relaxed for a bit after our climb. I’ve been feeling the hiker hunger lately and feel like I have an insatiable appetite! 
After that we walked another 7.5 miles until our lunch break. My legs were feeling tired and sore and I was counting down the miles until our break. We only had about 8 miles to walk after our break but again I was dragging. Just one of those days. 

We had a long ish downhill and then a slight uphill to camp. This was the beginning of a long 6 mile climb before town. Wolf Bird and I were dreading this climb since yesterday some reason and it was consuming my thoughts even though there was nothing especially notable or unique about this climb besides it being a bit longer than usual. It was funny though, we climbed 1.5 miles of it to our Tentsite and it was super easy and gradual! Not worth worrying about at all. We should have known this lesson already but it was a good reminder to not worry about what’s ahead.

Mice got into James food last night and the rustling throughout the night kept us awake. When we got up this morning we were surprised to see many clouds in the sky. It wasn’t completely overcast but the number of clouds was more than the total number of clouds we’ve seen this entire trip! The weather has been so consistently sunny that believe it or not we sometimes talk about how we wish we could have an overcast day every now or then. Guess we got our wish! It ended up being almost refreshing to have a cloud pass in front of the sun every now and then throughout the day. 
This morning we hiked up and over Dick’s Pass. The ascent was still pretty snow covered but it was only a two mile climb and fairly gradual. We also had plenty of footprints in the snow that made finding and following the trail quite easy. It was a beautiful view from the top of the pass and surprisingly chilly with a wind making it even colder. We had a nice long descent as a reward after the climb. 

We passed a couple nobos we had met earlier in our hike, Fireball and a girl whose name I never learned. It was nice chatting with them. They warned us about Sonora Pass ahead, as have a couple other hikers. I guess it is a very steep descent for nobos and they have the choice of descending in the snow or in loose rock. Both options sounded pretty scary from what we’ve heard but hopefully climbing up the pass will prove easier and less scary than going down. 
We skirted a few lakes this morning and for some reason the miles dragged on and it felt like we were going super slowly and making bad time. We had to go through and over snow in some parts and ended up following footprints that took us off trail. We had to then go over a ridge and find the trail again which also slowed us down. We later found out that almost everyone else going south also got off trail in the same way! 

At one point I was a fair amount ahead of Wolf Bird. I rounded a corner to see a bear running away from me down the trail! It was so cool and unexpected to see a bear that I didn’t even think to grab my phone to take a photo. This is only the second bear that I’ve seen on this hike. 
After about 9 miles we reached Lake Aloha, a beautiful large and shallow looking lake with some islands. The lakes this morning were all so pristine and breathtakingly beautiful. I imagine it is only a fraction of the beauty we will see as we enter the Sierra. 

We somehow missed a turn at the end of Lake Aloha and got off trail again. Wolf Bird didn’t want to back track so we ended up bushwhacking through the woods to get back to the trail. Not my favorite thing to do but we got there quickly. 
The miles were still dragging on, perhaps because we were looking forward to Echo Lake Chalet in the middle of the day, which promised snacks and sodas galore. The last miles to Echo Lake must be a popular and well known trail because we passed many day hikers. It was especially impressive to see many families with young children hiking, some even backpacking out for the weekend with full packs. We were going downhill while all these families were walking a long, hot, rocky uphill. I was super impressed!!
We skirted Echo Lake and spotted many cute houses and cabins along the shore. They are all off the grid with no electricity and I loved looking at them all as there were some really cool looking cottages. 

Finally we got to Echo Lake Chalet around 1pm. We didn’t know too much about it but it exceeded any expectations we might have had. We immediately grabbed some Cokes and ordered paninis. We ended up spending a couple hours there with Yote and 2.Toe along with some new SOBOs we caught. I ate a panini, two cokes, a Dr Pepper, kit Kat, ice cream bar, and a hot dog. Wolf bird ate a panini, hot dog, beer and Coke and Dr Pepper and a banana. Clearly we were hungry. Oh and I also bought a bag of chips to pack out. As we were sitting outside chatting and eating a couple raindrops fell!! Technically the first rain we’ve had on trail even though it was approximately three raindrops. We did have snow back in the beginning but we were in town so we don’t count that as on trail precipitation. 
Finally after a couple hours we pulled ourselves away from all the food and set off to hike about ten more miles. We had about five uphill miles but luckily they weren’t too bad and made easier because of the clouds blocking the heat from the sun. We also walked through some nice flatter meadows for a while and it was wonderful easy walking. 

We finally arrived at camp around 7pm to a nice area beside Showers Lake. Wolf Bird made a nice campfire and we hung out and cooked and chatted with 2.Toe and Yote before heading to bed. 

We wanted to do a good amount of miles out from town today so we aimed to leave by midday. We spent the morning finishing up town chores and of course we were slower than we’d hoped getting out of town. Luckily Sugar Mama agreed to give us a ride, which we were super grateful for, as hitching would have taken even more time. We said goodbye to Phil before we left town–his parents are arriving today and they will head back to Indiana together. It is too bad he can’t keep hiking as it was fun having him around for a bit!

We finally got back on trail around 2pm. There was a huge group of hikers at the trailhead, some of whom we knew who had just made it through the Sierra bee briefly said hello but it was a bit chaotic and overwhelming with so many people so we didn’t linger and got started hiking. 

We had a big uphill for a while out of town. It was beautiful with open views in all directions. We could see the snowy peaks of the mountains in the Sierra in the far distance. We ascended until we reached Tinker Knob, a rock formation with excellent views as well. After that we descended for a while and eventually reached Squaw Valley Ski Area where there was still a fair amount of snow on trail. We had to go straight up but luckily were able to mostly scramble on rocks which was less slippery than the snow would’ve been. 

We could see Lake Tahoe in the distance and it is crazy to imagine the amount of people and tourists and houses there while we are not so far away in what feels like very pristine and remote wilderness. 

We walked until later than usual today in order to get miles in. Even though we started later than we’d hoped we still did about 17 or 18 miles which we were happy about. A highlight of the evening walking was hearing coyote yips across the canyon from us! 

We awoke to discover that an animal (a deer, we think) had dragged one of Wolf Bird’s trekking poles a few feet and chewed on the straps! We each woke up in the night thinking we heard something so I guess that must have been what we heard.  We finally ran into the inevitable today: snow. It was just brief patches, the longest being under a mile, but it brought me back to what it was like in the Sierra. We have been very spoiled with easy and dry trail and soon we will encounter much longer and tougher areas of snow. We are also at a bit higher elevation than we’ve been in recent weeks and I was feeling it! The climbs definitely felt tiring to me. 

We ran into a couple we had hiked near back in the beginning of the Sierra and it was nice to catch up briefly with them. We didn’t talk for too long as the mosquitoes were attacking us! We also passed a woman and her horse who are on mile 600 or so of their section hike of the PCT. 

We passed many day hikers today–it is a summer Saturday and we weren’t too far from a trailhead so this wasn’t surprising, but was quite the change from the usual solo hiking we’ve been doing. We planned to take a break at a rest stop on I-80 that was just off trail. It has bathrooms and water and vending machines so we were looking forward to these simple pleasures. When we arrived, we were disheartened to find the saddest-looking vending machines I have ever seen. They were all nearly completely empty. Luckily there were a few Kit Kats left which we were excited about. We didn’t stay long as we only had just over 4 miles left for the day until the road to Truckee! Town! We haven’t stayed overnight in a hotel in town since Mt Shasta a couple hundred miles ago so we were looking forward to this town. We were arriving at the road on a Saturday but decided to book a hotel for Sunday night instead as the price was half that of Saturday night. Our plan was to camp near the trail tonight (Saturday) and hitch into town tomirrow (Sunday) and take a zero and stay overnight at a hotel in Truckee. 

We have been hiking near/with Phil for the past few days and sadly Truckee marks the end of his hike this year. He’s run out of money and will head home with his parents who are driving out from Indiana to meet him. 
We arrived at the road to Truckee quickly and immediately heard someone yell “hey hiker trash” to us. We walked over and a man sitting by his car with a cooler offered us cold sodas and beer! He is a trail angel named Reno Dave. We sat and chatted with him for a bit and he informed us that the road to Truckee would be closed tomorrow from 7 to 1 for a triathlon. We were very glad to find this out ahead of time and de used to head into town tonight I read and hopefully  find a cheap place to stay the night. Reno Dave gave us the number of a trail angel who we left a voicemail for and then he offered to drive us to town. We graciously accepted and were off to Truckee!

Reno Dave told us the lake we saw in the distance was where the donner Party wintered in 1845. I had read the entire Wikipedia article recounting the Donnerparty  earlier in the hike and was amazed we were in the exact place where they got stranded.  snow  he also pointed out where the transcontinental railroad was built! Dave a paperbark produces/designs video poker games for casinos and hisim pant has 90% of the market share so maybe you’ve played one of his games! He dropped us off at a shopping plaza and Wolf Bird, Phil and I quickly headed over to Panda Express where we each ordered 3 entrees and ate the entire thing. While we were eating the trail angel, Sugar Mama, called us back and said she has a reserved spot at a campground nearby we were welcome to share with her. And she would pick us up to take us there whenever we were ready!  We were very aescited and grateful. The three of us did our laundry and got some food for dinner at the grocery store and then called Sugar mama to pick us up. She hiked the trail in 2009 and has been living out of her trailer traveling for a number of years. She had a sweet dog Howie who we enjoyed playing with. We washed in the river by the campground and enjoyed chatting for a while before bed.  

This morning we ran into a bunch of people we know! In our first five miles we saw Nacho (Shuffle’s friend deom the AT) as well as a guy whose name I don’t know but who we call Blondie because he looks just like our friend Blondie from the AT. We also saw Colton and then a couple whose names I can’t remember. In chatting with the couple we discovered that the cafe in Sierra City (our destination for the day) closed at 2pm! Uh oh. We didn’t know that. It was precisely 9:13 when we found this out and the cafe was 15.1 miles away still. We walk at about a 3mph pace, so those fifteen miles should take about five hours–without breaks. That would put us at the road to town (not even town itself, which was 1.5 miles down the road) at 2:13. Noooo! 

Like any rational person, I decided I would make it to the cafe for real food no matter what, and committed to speedwalking/running to town. I politely forced Wolf Bird to walk ahead of me as he is a bit faster. That way I had insurance that if I didn’t make it to town in time hopefully he would and could secure me a burger. We are so insane about food that we actually discussed calling the cafe to see if we could place an order over the phone and have them leave it outside the restaurant for us to retrieve. 

We immediately started walking at a very brisk pace. Wolf Bird quickly pulled ahead and disappeared from sight. I was walking as fast as I could without it turning into a jog. Unsurprisingly I was getting tired quickly and also was feeling some weird pains in my knee and leg. Pain would not get in the way of my burger though, and I pushed through. There was a brief downhill section and I started jogging down the switchbacks, something I never do. I passed a group of older day hikers who said they just saw Wolf Bird also jogging. They were very nice and started asking me questions about the trail. I tried to be polite but was so antsy to keep moving that I kept our conversation quite brief. I continued on and after an hour checked my app and notes that I was walking at about 3.6 mph over the last hour. 

I kept pressing on and soon got to a short road walk section. It was also uphill. It was too exhausting to jog uphill so I just walked as fast as I could. I was getting hungry and was getting low on water but didn’t feel like I had time to stop. I stuffed a messy broken bar into my mouth and Mustve looked like a monster spewing crumbs everywhere as I wolfed it down walking as fast as I could. I soon passed a van where a guy asked if I wanted any water. I of course said yes and felt like I had my own personal aid station as he got it our very wuxikly for me and didn’t even make me stop and chit chat. He then offered me a clif bar that I refused for some reason and then kicked myself for spit so the rest of the day as my stomach growled. 

The trail soon resumed and it went straight uphill for a section. I was so tired I could barely keep my brisk pace. There were also a bunch of day hikers out so I had to keep dodging and passing them. I felt bad because some seemed like they wanted to talk but I had a mission here and kept our interactions as brief as possible. Food awaits. 
Finally the uphill ceased and I was headed downhill for pretty much the rest of the trail into town. Unfortunately the trail now became very exposed in the sun and it was blithering hot. This was made been worse by the trail beneath my feet changing from diet to piles of rocks. This made walking much more difficult as I was stepping on loose stone nearly every step and found it difficult to go fast in fear of twisting my ankle. I did my best to jog the brief sections that were less rocky. I kept checking my app to check on my pace and about 9 miles out of town felt fairly confident I would make it to the road before 2. I could only hope is be able to get a quick hitch to then get to the restauarant in time. 
The terrible rocky terrain continued and I was sweating profusely in the hot sun. I soon ran into some familiar faces. It was Payless and Crimson and Chill Step who had made it through the Sierra. They reported Wolf bird was not far ahead and also that the general store sold hot food too so I didn’t really need to make it by 2 as the store was open later. This did not deter me in my mission whatsoever. I chatted with them for a while. It was great to see them and to hear about their adventures. I wish I hadn’t felt rushed as I kept checking my watch and set off after a few minutes. They reported Tofu  was just behind them!!! And soon enough I ran into her! It was funny because we’d both had a feeling we would see each other today. I was again frustrated I was in such a rush because I would have loved to sit and talk with her for longer. We did take a nice break together and it was wonderful being reunited with a member of our trail family!! And I’m not just saying that because she reads our blog. She’s been killing it lately and it was bittersweet knowing we may not see each other agin on this trail. We hugged and said our goodbyes and I once again took off. I had maybe 3 or 4 miles left to town. And it was 1230. Fortunately for me the terrible hot and rocky trail soon changed to shaded smooth switchbacks. I was now able to consistently jog downhill. I must’ve made great time in this section as I was down at the road by 114. I stuck out my thumb to hitch and the second car stopped for me. It was a somewhat broken down white pickup. I hopped in the back which was full of loose dirt and a rake but I didn’t care. They dropped me off at the cafe and it wasn’t even 130! Wow, I was so proud and felt so accomplished. Also I was a little ashamed of the ridiculous lengths I will go to for food. 

I was reunited with Wolf Bird who had arrived about 30 minutes before me. We both got fried chicken sandwiches and I got a Coke and drank about six refills. The people were so nice at the restaurant and let us stay pat 2. When they heard we’d rando get here in time they even gave us free ice cream at the end of our meal! I almost cried!!! It was one of the best ice creams I’ve ever had and it was vanilla which I don’t even really like. Wolf Bird and I had a lot of laughs recounting our days. 

The rest of the day was spent doing town chores and relaxing. There was a public restroom with a shower that sprayed out ice cold water. We took advantage of it and though it was very cold it was also quite refreshing as we hadn’t showered in quite a while. 

We resupplied at the expensive general store and I I used their wifi to FaceTime with my parents and with Brenna. We saw Murphy’s Law and DG who both just got through the Sierra. It’s great to see old friends again and hear about their hikes. wolf Bird set up our tent and even blew up myself sleeping pad for me while I ordered and ate a burger.from the general store. 

We watched the rest of Benjamin Button before bed and went to sleep very satisfied with ourselves and our devotion to food. 

We woke up to an incredibly beautiful view this morning. It was nice camping with a view for a change! 

Today was a true accomplishment for us. To me, to be a good thru hikers is to find the fine balance between hiking far/making miles and being lazy/soaking up the luxuries of the trail. When you are able to do both of these to the maximum in the same day, this is when you truly excel as a thru hiker. We planned on doing a typical day today, but as we walked this morning we unsurprisingly started talking about food. We had 7 miles down to a road that led Ito the town of Quincy. We planned to skip town sicnr we just had real food in Belden, but perhaps unsurprisingly to most who have been reading this blog, our desire for food got the best of us. Once we started talking about food, then we started joking about going into town to satisfy our cravings. Soon these jokes turned into “what ifs” and then transformed into a concrete plan. We figured if we could get a hitch quickly enough we would be able to go into town to eat and still have time to hike another 20 miles afterwards. Now we were on a mission. 

As we approached the road, I told Wolf Bird maybe we should set a time limit for how long we’d wait for a hitch, and just give up on the idea of we didn’t get a ride quickly enough. Not a minute after making this suggestion, we were at the road and Wolf Bird, 30 seconds ahead of me, had already gotten a car to stop for him! Record timing. 

The red truck was driven by Al, and his wife was in a white SUV just in front of him. They were headed into Quincy from their cabin in nearby Buck’s Lake so they could get their truck fixed. They offered us a ride and there was some debate about which of them would drive us. Somehow I ended up rising with Al in his truck and Wolf Bird ended up riding  with Mary, Al’s wife, in her SUV. It was an interesting arrangement. They told us they had just the spot to take us for breakfast. During the car ride to town, I discovered this spot was their daughter’s restaurant! 

We soon arrived at Patti’s Thunder Cafe and were very excited that our plan was already working so well. wolf Bird and I grabbed a table and Mary and Al went to drop off their truck. They soon returned to join us for breakfast! They were he nicest couple and we enjoyed chatting with them. Needless to say we also enjoyed our mountains of food that was full of fresh ingredients. Mary and Al even grabbed their daughter from the back of the restaurant and introduced us to her. They then asked our plans and when they heard we were heading back to the trail, they offered to drive us back after their errands in town as hey were heading that way anyway.  Score! Mary and Al were really helping to enable our food addiction and master plan. 

While they went to do their errands, Wolf Bird and I wandered around the cute downtown area. I of course had to stop and get an ice cream cone since itd been over ten minutes since I last ate. We met Mary and Al at the supermarket and they drove us back to the trail. We hugged them goodbye–it is crazy how quickly generous strangers become new friends. 
It was about 12:30. Our town stop had only taken about 3 or 3.5 hours! Plenty of time to hike 20 more miles today! I felt very rejuvenated and also badass for excelling at our food-centered plan, so walking felt much easier. Wolf Bird and I got in a little tiff around calling a trail angel so we walked apart for much of the day. Probably for the best as this allowed us to walk many miles wuxikly and without breaks. We walked about 18 miles without stopping. Luckily most of it was flat and/or downhill. We passed many northbound hikers. We also met a few new southbound hikers, DJ and a couple that apparently somehow got a ride and skipped the terrible and difficult uphill out of Belden. Must be nice! 

We arrived at a major river at around 6pm and debated whether to stop or press on. If we continued on, we’d be camping without water. This is not unusual, but it can be annoying to carry the extra weight of enough water for the evening. We decided that it was still early and we should continue in since we had the energy. We filled up on water and set our about 3 uphill miles to a dirt road. We made up and I felt better. 

We found three other southbound hikers already set up at the road, Loco and Badass and another girl. It was extremely most quite-y so we set up as quickly as possible and ate dinner in our tent. We started watching Benjamin Button as we ate dinner. 
In total we did just over 27 miles today, plus a stop in town! I was very proud and felt like we were a fine tuned they hiking (and food eating) machine.