The Adventures of...: Days 76-77

Day 7624 miles, endpoint PCT mile 1072

Happy Fourth of July from the PCT! We crossed a small mountain highway at Ebbets Pass early this morning and noticed that neighboring Ebbets Peak--a steep, rocky, towering hill--had an American Flag patriotically flapping in the wind from the very top point.

At nine miles in for the day we stopped at a creek to refill our water. As we sat there, a guy walked down the trail and said simply, "Josh," as if he were passing Josh at the watercooler at work. It took us both a moment to process, but we realized it was Willie, a guy Josh knows through running from Portland. Willie was speed hiking/running from Yosemite Valley to South Lake Tahoe, doing about 40 miles a day as training for a 200 mile race. It was a bit surreal seeing someone we know from non-PCT life out on the trail.

After Willie took off, we hiked through the Mokelumne Wilderness and enjoyed craggy rock formations and pretty lakes. We exited the wilderness a couple of times and heard gunshots when we did. Ah, America.

We didn't see a single PCT hiker today, but the trail was full of other people backpacking and day hiking for the holiday weekend. At 24 miles in for the day we came upon Lost Lake, which unfortunately was not lost enough. The lake had several groups of people camped there already, which was not surprising considering it was next to a dirt road and people could drive right up to it. We contemplated going on to the next water source, but it would have put us into camp at about 8:45pm and neither of us felt like hiking that late. The crowded lake it was.

We were able to get a spot to camp on the far end of the lake, away from everyone else. As soon as we put up the tent we began hearing a chainsaw and gunshots from a large group on the other end. Then, amidst the gunshots, they started revving the engines of their ATVs. Ahhhh, wilderness. Actually, we are outside the wilderness boundary right now, which explains the lovely chainsaw/gun/ATV sounds. Two more days until South Lake Tahoe!

Happy 4th of July!

Oh my!

Mokelumne Wilderness

WTF!?!?! It's Willie!

Trail views

This mountain was named by a 13 year old... or one of Josh's friends. The Nipple. Seriously.

Trail views

Day 77, 19 miles, endpoint PCT mile 1091

Early this morning we suddenly woke up in the dark to the sound of more gunshots. I checked my watch: 1:50am. Lovely.

When it was time to get up, we were both tired but wanted to get away from that lake. We would be passing by a visitor's center in six miles and had visions of a vending machine with soda and outlets for charging stuff in our minds (as a side note, I am currently writing this on paper instead of typing on the phone like I normally would because the phone battery is almost dead).

The six miles to the visitor center were very nice: alpine landscapes with steep rock and snow covered cliffs, green wildflower-filled meadows, and crystal clear streams. We went up, then down, then up, then down, then up a very long up, then down a very long down to the visitor center. On the last downhill we began to see people in droves. I'm guessing at least 100 day hikers passed us going the opposite direction, apparently to a popular area around Lake Winnemucca. We weaved our way past them and eventually came out at the highway and the visitor center at Carson Pass.

Carson Pass, named after 1800s explorer Kit Carson, was a place travelers passed through from the Midwest and east coast looking for California riches during the gold rush. It is now a parking lot and a mad house on a holiday weekend. We went onto the porch of a small cabin at the center and were instantly greeted by two volunteers working there. "You must be PCT hikers! Here, come over and have something to eat," a silver haired woman said with a smile. She led us to an awesome assortment of cold soda (!!!), sandwiches, fresh fruit, and homemade cookies. We chatted with them for awhile, had some of their snacks (thank you!) And relaxed on the cabin porch while the crowds of people filtered down the trail.

I wanted to stay there forever, but we had more miles to hike. Back on the trail, we went up a few hills until suddenly, in the far off distance, the blue, blue, blue waters of Lake Tahoe were visible on the horizon. We were getting close!

When we were about two miles from the hitching point at Highway 50, we picked a campsite behind some large boulders. We could have made it all the way, but it wouldn't have made much sense. We would have landed in a vacation-destination town on the Saturday of a holiday weekend, when hotels would be expensive and the town packed with people. Plus, we have plenty of food, so better to camp out, eat the dinners we have, and go into town tomorrow morning.