Day 55: mile 1092.2 - 1125.7

Desolation Wilderness
Bikinis?!?
Rob the jewelry store and tell 'em make me a grillz

It was up early, goodbye to the parents, and on the road to Echo Lake by 4:45. I didn't know Darby knew how to wake up that early. We were to the trailhead by 6am, after a drive filled with breakfast burritos, terribly singing songs I hadn't heard in forever (more on that later) and beautiful views of Lake Tahoe.

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel getting back on the trail after five and a half days off. Turns out my time off trail gave my brain plenty of new ammo/thoughts to think about, so the miles flew.

The scenery was alright as well. The trail wound through about fifteen miles of the Desolation Wilderness, which had its fair share of snow, lakes, rocks, and incredible views. It also had its fair share of people. One of the lakes I passed had a group of college-looking men and women blowing up inner tubes and preparing for what looked like a warm afternoon of sunbathing and lounging around the lake. The number of bikinis had me thinking I should call it a short day and go introduce myself. But the nice, dry PCT looked pretty appealing too. I went with the latter. Don't judge.

Part of the reason the miles went so quickly may have been the song(s) that were stuck in my head. Whenever Darby and I are around each other, we seem to do a pretty good job of getting songs stuck in each other's head. Those songs that we were listening to on the drive up this morning? Yep, they are on mental repeat. The most nostalgic, and the one I remember the most lyrics to, is Grillz, by Nelly. Today, it was more often sung by Garrett.

The legs and feet felt good towards the end of the day, but I decided not to push it too hard, and called it quits after 33 miles and change. With most of the snow and wet trail behind me, bigger miles should be doable in the near future. We'll see how the body holds up!

Day 56: mile 1125.7 - 1158.3

Tahoe Rim Trail?
Squaw-Alpine
The best family

In realizing I needed to eat more calories per day, one of the changes I made to my resupply boxes while at home was to upgrade my breakfasts. I still have my standard 150-ish grams of granola, and the coconut milk. But I also added a scoop of chocolate protein powder to each breakfast baggie, and my mom had the delicious idea to throw a handful of chocolate chips in some of the bags as well. You can never have too much chocolate. Needless to say, my upgraded breakfast this morning was on point. I hope I continue to enjoy them, because I have ~64 more of them coming up 😋

The first half dozen miles of the day continued to overlap the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT). When I first saw the PCT overlapped the TRT for a good forty miles, I was excited for the views of the lake that we would get. I was sorely disappointed. With the exception of my campsite, and a few high points along the trail, such views were in short supply. For what it's worth, I think the TRT views from the eastern side of the lake are much better.

I'll stop complaining now. The rest of the morning took me through some familiar territory, as the trail wound around the backsides of both the Squaw and Alpine ski resorts. It even passed under the Granite Chief chair at Squaw, a chair that I will always remember because it was the one I rode before doing my first black diamond. There was still some snow covering the slopes (and the trail) but it continues to get less and less, and I have yet to regret my decision to leave my ice axe and spikes at home.

Gotta sneak in a selfie every now and again

Still get some amazing snow-capped views

The miles kept piling up, and by early afternoon it was time for another break. As I sat down, I could have sworn I heard someone yell my name. I looked ahead and could see a few day hikers a ways down. "They must have a dog with them" I thought, and continued to take my shoes off and pull my food out of my pack. A few minutes later I heard a very distinctive "Garrett", and looked up again. I'll be damned if two of my cousins weren't coming down the trail towards me!

I learned that Tami and Gretchen (or T-Sause (spelling up for debate) and C-Bae, as they had trail named each other (I have some hip cousins)) had taken off from a PCT trailhead about four and a half miles away hoping that they would run into me, and were just getting ready to give up and turn around (since some/most of their food was still sitting back in the car). I'm glad they didn't! They had a few tangerines, which tasted amazing, and plenty of questions and conversation to make those next four miles fly by.

Hiking buddies! Hamming it up for the camera...

Once we got back to their car they set up some chairs and fed me most of the bag of tangerines, as well as a few sausages. Mmmmmmm. Just what my feet and stomach needed after all the miles. I also shared a bit of my dehydrated dinner, which was met with nods of approval, and then got to show off my bug net as the mosquitos came out in force. I'm quite the fashion statement.

It was getting late, and I had some more miles to knock out to get to the other side of Interstate 80, so we said our goodbyes, and it was back on the trail. It has been awesome being this close to home, while also being reminded of how supportive and enthusiastic my family is about this adventure. That love and support is going to be incredibly helpful in getting through the rest of the hike. Because as I thought today, "Shit, I still have fifteen HUNDRED miles left". But that was only a brief thought. Because it is only thirty seven miles to my next resupply point. And I have a lot of awesome people in my corner.

Day 57: mile 1158.3 - 1190.7

Flies bite?
Which way is North?
Dirty thirties

For the first time in a long time I didn't set an alarm. After two thirty-plus mile days I figured it was best to listen to my body. My body decided to sleep a bit longer than usual, and I was on the trail by 6:45. Going forward I don't think I'll be setting an alarm. Now that we are out of the high Sierra and don't have to worry about timing the passes (not that I was doing that anyways...) I want to let my natural clock do its thing.

We are definitely getting out of the snow. There were still a few patches (enough for me to fall on my ass once) but I only had to get the map and compass out for one brief moment. But we are trading snow for bugs, and my break locations during the day now take "potential bug density" into account. I have also learned that just because there are no mosquitos around doesn't mean you won't get bitten. I have never been bitten by (what looks like) a house fly before, but it didn't take me long to realize that these little bastards aren't your average house fly. So every snack break begins by putting on my head net. Twice I have almost spit, or blown a snot rocket, with my head net on. If I get through the trip without doing that, I'll be amazed...

Late morning I ran into a guy named Rant. We hiked about the same pace, and spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon getting to know one another. Rant was a retired serviceman hiking the PCT with an organization called Warrior Hike. It sounds like a neat deal - they accept applications from recently retired servicemen and women and sponsor many to go on long distance hikes around the US, including the Appalachian Trail (AT) and Continental Divide Trail (CDT), the other two trails in addition to the PCT that make up the triple crown of North American hiking. Rant served for 21 years, spoke his mind, and was a lot of fun to talk to. Unfortunately Warrior Hike has a schedule for him to maintain (so that he can participate in fundraisers/BBQs/etc.) so we won't be hiking together in the future. Still, a good guy who gave me some things to think about.

I generally do a pretty good job of keeping my bearings and remembering which way is north. The last several hundred miles this has been easy. Which way does the mountain range go? That must be north. But today we started to run out of mountain range! The biggest mountains I could see were actually to the west - not the way the trail went. To the north were what appeared to be low, rolling, timber covered hills. Much of what I have read about this trail paints the Northern California and Southern Oregon sections as being hot, muggy, buggy, green tunnels. Oh boy...

While we got some of that today, there were still a few incredible ridge walks, and some epic scenery. But the mountain range appears to be shrinking, so we'll see if the coming days live up to the hype. Or lack thereof.

A preview of coming attractions (Sierra Buttes)

The end of the day was a bit of a grind, but I ended with my third consecutive thirty-plus mile day. The trail has been dry, the terrain has been manageable, and the waking has been pretty easy. It has been dry enough that my feet are actually dirty again! I never thought I would be so happy to have such dirty feet.

Day 58.5: mile 1190.7 - 1195.4

Sierra City

No trouble getting out of bed this morning, as it was a short six miles to Sierra City, where restaurants, a general store, and my next resupply package were waiting. The morning was easy walking, with great views of the Sierra Buttes (which the trail climbs coming out of Sierra City). I can't say I am looking forward to that exposed climb...

But first order of business was to check out the town. I saw a pack that I recognized sitting outside one of the restaurants, and poked my head in to find Cashmere! Even though I am packing more than enough food, I couldn't turn down a hot Denver scramble. After my second breakfast, and after chatting with the locals, it was off to the general store to pick up my resupply. You can tell that we are ahead of the heard of hikers, because the locals are asking a ton of questions and are interested in what we are doing. They haven't gotten sick of us yet 😊

It was immediately apparent that I had wayyyyy too much food for the 89-mile stretch to the next resupply. It is also apparent that I am wayyyyy too cheap, because I stuffed all of it in my food sack. Can too much food be a bad thing? I'm trying my best to find out...

Then with all that food sitting there in my pack, I couldn't resist a hot half-pound cheeseburger topped with bacon and avocado, with a side of sweet potato fries. Mighty (whom I had seen the night before), Cashmere and I downed our respective burgers, and then I decided to hit the trail, tackling that climb right in the heat of the day. Smart hikers would wait until early evening... But where is the fun in that?

​Day 55: mile 1092.2 - 1125.7

​Day 56: mile 1125.7 - 1158.3

Day 57: mile 1158.3 - 1190.7

​Day 58.5: mile 1190.7 - 1195.4

Day 55: mile 1092.2 - 1125.7

Day 56: mile 1125.7 - 1158.3

Day 58.5: mile 1190.7 - 1195.4