PCT Day 61, 12 July 2022 (Tuesday)
"Happy Feet"
Start Location: |
Wilderness Campsite At Upper Truckee River |
Destination: |
South Lake Tahoe |
|
PCT Miles Day 61: |
11.6 |
Cum PCT Miles: |
1,090.8 |
|
Non-PCT Miles Day 61: |
0 |
Cum All Miles: |
1176.5 |
|
PCT Miles Remaining: |
1,561.8 |
|
|
|
Elevation Gain Day 61: |
1,449 |
Cum Elevation Gain: |
195,613 |
Today was really just all about making the way down the trail to Hwy 50, and then trying to get a ride into South Lake Tahoe. Just to prove that there are few easy days on trail, today's trail was definitely not a piece of cake, though it was relatively short. The last couple miles were walking through the burn area from last year's fire in this area, and it was pretty devastating.
At Hwy 50, a list of locals who provide rides was posted, but another hiker and I decided to try to just hitch. It took about 15 minutes, with many cars whizzing by, but finally we got a ride from a couple in a Jeep who were just dropping off another couple of hikers that were going back to the trail from town. The trail provides again.
After getting to my motel, I was glad to see my order from REI had been delivered to the motel. In that box was something very important, a new pair of shoes. My last new pair was in Tehachapi about a month ago at mile 566.4. While my old shoes have "only" about 524 official trail miles on them, in actuality, they probably have well over 600 miles with all the side trail and walking around miles included. And these shoes have covered a lot of ground: the entire Southern Sierra, including Mt. Whitney, Forester Pass, many other high passes, dozens of snow patches, literally hundreds of stream, creek, and river crossings, more talus, scree, and other sharp, jagged rocks than I want to remember, and much more. It's definitely time for new shoes, I'm sure my feet will agree.
The rest of the day was just doing usual town errands, and I did get a new pair of convertible/zip-off hiking pants at a local sports store, Blue Zone Sports. The Columbia pants I've been wearing just kept failing. The material, except the cheap mesh pockets, was actually good, but the sewing workmanship was just deplorably bad. I just couldn't trust wearing these pants anymore when they could, literally, fall apart at the seams at any time. The new pair are Kuhl, a respected brand that, hopefully, will last the rest of the hike. BTW, I couldn't believe it, but the size that fit me best was 30; I haven't worn that size since probably college.
Showers Lake
The PCT and TRT share the same trail for a while
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