PCT Day 62

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PCT Day 62, 13 July 2022 (Wednesday)

"More Free Rides"

Start Location:	South Lake Tahoe	Destination:	South Lake Tahoe
PCT Miles Day 62:	0	Cum PCT Miles:	1,090.8
Non-PCT Miles Day 62:	0	Cum All Miles:	1176.5
PCT Miles Remaining:	1,561.8
Elevation Gain Day 62:	0	Cum Elevation Gain:	195,613

 

Today I finished my town errands and took the free Tahoe bus to the El Dorado County Library, which just happens to be right across the street from Lake Tahoe itself.  Not only do I get to use the computer at the library, but I also get to see the lake--it would be kind of a shame to spend two nights in South Lake Tahoe and not even go down to the lake.

I made my next lodging reservation (Sierra City) and arranged for a ride back to the trail for tomorrow morning.  The blog is now up to date, so I'm in good shape.

Tahoe, now that's a big mountain lake

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PCT Day 61

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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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PCT Day 60

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PCT Day 60, 11 July 2022 (Monday)

"Spaghetti Dinner With Legend"

Start Location:	Wilderness Campsite At Pennsylvania Creek	Destination:	Wilderness Campsite At Upper Truckee River
PCT Miles Day 60:	24.2	Cum PCT Miles:	1,079.2
Non-PCT Miles Day 60:	0.9	Cum All Miles:	1164.9
PCT Miles Remaining:	1,573.4
Elevation Gain Day 60:	4,518	Cum Elevation Gain:	194,164

Today was almost a repeat of yesterday, nice varied scenery, but nothing that was quite spectacular.  It was also very similar mileage and elevation gain.  The last two days, though, were deceptively tough; almost 50 miles and over 8,000 ft. of elevation gain.

It was good, though, to get all those miles in.  My original plan was for tomorrow to be a very long 27 miles to get to Hwy 50, and then get a ride to South Lake Tahoe.  Now, tomorrow will be a relatively easy and short 11+ miles.  And it should be easier to get a ride now.

For people that do a lot of reading and research about the PCT, there are several names that you will come across.  Devilfish, a super trail angel that I mentioned in an earlier post;  Yogi, writer of a popular reference book whom I met at her store in Kennedy Meadows South; and another is Legend (his trail name), another all star trail angel that goes way above and beyond to help PCT hikers.

Legend is famous for his pancake breakfasts and spaghetti dinners.  He starts early in the hiking season near Campo and travels up the trail as hikers make their way north.  Well today, as I crossed Hwy 88 at Carson pass near the end of the day, there was Legend in the parking lot of the trailhead, serving a spaghetti dinner—if you recall, spaghetti is pretty much my favorite trail dinner.  There were at least ten other hikers there, and Legend has a way of making everyone feel at ease, so it was a good time.  That’s great trail magic twice in three days.

By the way, the sky was clear today, no sign of smoke.

On a hike this long, I have to take at least one shadow pic, this seemed like a good one.



Nice morning scenery, and no smoke in the sky right now.



Tamarack Lake outlet



An imposing wall of rock



Scenery from the trail

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PCT Day 59

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PCT Day 59, 10 July 2022 (Sunday)

"Smoke Gets In My Eyes"

Start Location:	Wilderness Campsite At Boulder Creek	Destination:	Wilderness Campsite At Pennsylvania Creek
PCT Miles Day 59:	24.3	Cum PCT Miles:	1,055.0
Non-PCT Miles Day 59:	0.4	Cum All Miles:	1139.8
PCT Miles Remaining:	1,597.6
Elevation Gain Day 59:	4,180	Cum Elevation Gain:	189,646

Well, not every day on the PCT is going to be as interesting as others. Today was another day with pleasant and varied scenery, but again, like yesterday, nothing really spectacular or noteworthy.  Even though this area is still at fairly high elevations, compared to the Southern Sierra, this part of the trail feels like it was just hiking through very high rolling hills.

For reference, I am now in the Mokelumne Wilderness— I do like that name, it makes me feel like I’m in Hawaii—WSW of Markleeville.

One thing that was very noticeable today was that there was definitely smoke in the air.  I noticed a little irritation in my eyes, but no issue breathing.  Since I have had no real connectivity for about a week, it’s hard to tell what’s going on.  We have heard by word-of-mouth, that there is a fire in the Yosemite area that may be causing this smoke.  However, towards the end of the day the sky in the direction I am hiking looked fairly clear, so hopefully that is a good sign.  We’ll see how things look tomorrow.

Despite the smoke in the air, I made very good progress today, covering quite a few miles.  If I can do the same tomorrow, I should have a short hike to get to Hwy 50, and South Lake Tahoe, in a couple of days.

 

Scenery from the trail this morning



Best creek today



Scenery from the trail in the Mokelumne Wilderness



Scenery from the trail in the Mokelumne Wilderness



This is hopeful, the sky ahead looks mostly blue and not smoky



Interesting rocks

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PCT Day 58

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PCT Day 58, 09 July 2022 (Saturday)

"Bonus Day"

Start Location:	Kennedy Meadows Resort	Destination:	Wilderness Campsite At Boulder Creek
PCT Miles Day 58:	13.8	Cum PCT Miles:	1,030.7
Non-PCT Miles Day 58:	0.1	Cum All Miles:	1115.1
PCT Miles Remaining:	1,621.9
Elevation Gain Day 58:	2,452	Cum Elevation Gain:	185,466

Today was a bonus day for a couple of reasons.  One, every mile I hiked today I consider to be a bonus, because I was supposed to be going to Kennedy Meadows Resort today, but instead I got there yesterday and left there this morning.  Additionally, I was going to leave there this afternoon on the 2:30 PM shuttle back to Sonora pass, but because the Wi-Fi at the resort was so useless, I changed to the 10 AM shuttle.

Good move, because when I got to the pass, there was the best trail magic that I’ve had the entire hike.  There were fresh cooked hotdogs, chips, donuts, cookies, cold beverages, and best of all, fresh fruit.  This is the kind of thing that people who start their hike in March or April get on a pretty regular basis.  But for those of us starting in mid-May, this is not very common.  For the faster mid-May hikers, though, we have been catching up to people that started in April.

The advantage of getting bonus miles today is that I will have a much shorter hike on the day that I get to Lake Tahoe.  I had planned for that to be a pretty long day of 27 miles, but now that day will be much shorter.  And if I can make up a few more miles over the next couple days, then the hike to get to Tahoe will be that much shorter.  The earlier I get to Highway 50, the easier it will be to get a ride from the highway in to South Lake Tahoe.  So, this is all looking good right now.

Today’s scenery was nice, if not spectacular.  But there is still lots of running water in the seasonal streams.  This whole area near Sonora pass is very popular for hiking with locals and tourists.  Again, another good day on the PCT.

 

I guess they do a few horse rides and packing trips here at Kennedy Meadows Resort


Best trail magic of the hike so far, at Sonora Pass



Misty or smoky mountains? I hope it's misty.



Typical scenery today



Sonora Peak to the far left and Stanislaus Peak, the highest in the photo

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PCT Day 57

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PCT Day 57, 08 July 2022 (Friday)

"The Past Is The Passes"

Start Location:	Kennedy Canyon Creek	Destination:	Kennedy Meadows Resort
PCT Miles Day 57:	10.9	Cum PCT Miles:	1,016.9
Non-PCT Miles Day 57:	0	Cum All Miles:	1101.2
PCT Miles Remaining:	1,635.7
Elevation Gain Day 57:	2,544	Cum Elevation Gain:	183,014

Today I completed the Southern Sierra section by getting to Kennedy Meadows North a half day early.  So, instead of getting here tomorrow morning, I will be leaving here tomorrow afternoon.  This will be helpful in that I should now have a much shorter day going in to South Lake Tahoe in a few days.

The PCT permit has special rules for the Southern Sierra section, one being that you have 35 days to complete it; I took 21, so I think I’m good.  They really have no way of knowing, though, so not sure it really matters.

The Southern Sierra may be the section that hikers most look forward to.  It is the section with the most well-known high passes (Forester, Mather, Pinchot, Muir, etc.).  Today was the last of those passes, Sonora at 9,649 ft.  Multiple snow patches across the trail reminded us that we were still at a high elevation.  Today was also the windiest day in the past few weeks.  But overall, except for the change in scenery, it was a pretty uneventful day of hiking.

The Kennedy Meadows Resort here runs several shuttles a day from the trail to the resort, which, by the way, is quite a bustling place.  However, the next shuttle was not for a couple of hours.  So, several of us were trying to get a hitch.  It’s a a Friday, so there was decent traffic on Hwy 108, but no cars were stopping;  I guess they weren’t interested in picking up some smelly hikers.  Finally, an older lady named Pam stopped and gave several of us a ride.  She was a nice, careful driver, which I like when I’m a passenger on windy roads.  So far, I’ve had good luck with hitch drivers; you do hear of people getting some crazy drivers.

I also ran into a hiker named Cal today.  He started the same day as me all the way back in Campo. I saw him last in Julian (Day 4).  He is quite a bit younger than me, so I didn’t think I’d see him again, I thought he’d be at least several days ahead.  But that’s just the way it works out here, you never really know where people are.

I did see something about the Electra fire, but it sounds like they are getting it pretty well contained.  I hope it stays that way.

A different landscape on the way to Sonora Pass



Contrasting landscapes



A good example of why the "C" in PCT stands for Crest



One of several snow patches to cross on the trail to Sonora Pass



View from the trail to Sonora Pass

 

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