Days 78-80

Day 78, 2 miles, endpoint South Lake Tahoe

We made the easy two miles downhill and landed at Highway 50, where most of the traffic was heading West out of town towards Sacramento and the central California valley. Despite this, it wasn't long before someone stopped for us. We got a ride with a guy who lived on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe and was getting back home after working as a geothermal geologist at Southern California's Salton Sea. He dropped us off at a breakfast restaurant where we ate outside with a view of Lake Tahoe.

We needed to hop on a bus to get back to the end of town where Lake of the Sky Outfitters, the store holding our packages, was. While waiting for the bus, I realized I left my trekking poles in the geologist's car. Sadly, we realized we probably would not get them back--I didn't even catch his name, and had no way of getting ahold of him. Bummer.

The rest of the day went well, though. We checked into a nice motel called the Apex Inn that was cheap, clean, and run by a very friendly family who were very accommodating to hikers. All of our packages were at the outfitter except for one that we knew was coming the next day. We relaxed and starting the process of unpacking, sorting out which gear we were going to ship home, and began photo backups with the laptop.

We will likely stay two more nights after tonight to get ready for Northern California.

Home

Day 79, 0 miles, still in South Lake Tahoe

Today was both a chore day and a relax day. In response to the lost trekking poles, we went to Staples and had labels made up with a note saying "If found, contact..." and our phone number and email. We then put those stickers on anything and everything we could. Wish I had something like that on those trekking poles; I may have gotten them back.

Our last box was delivered to Lake of the Sky today, and it was the best one yet: new shoes and socks for both of us, as well as new underwear and new shirts for me. Yay! My shoes are completely worn out; the new ones will feel like I'm walking on pillows.

We did the usual round of pizza and beer in the hotel room, did some more work to get our gear ready, worked on the blog, and fit in a few more episodes of Game of Thrones. We are slowly getting caught up on the season and watching episodes on our laptop when we can--it's nice having that to look forward to on town stops.

I've also been looking at the trail ahead through Northern California. It looks less mountainous, dryer, and hotter. There is a 30+ mile waterless stretch, and an area in a hot canyon that the guidebook recommends people night hike. Ugh. But, we will also pass through Burney Falls State Park, which has a nice waterfall, and the city of Mt. Shasta, which means the actual Mount Shasta and its awesomeness is getting closer. We still have over 600 miles until we cross into Oregon, so there will be a lot to see as we head north!

Hikers taking care of business.

Day 80, 0 miles, still in South Lake Tahoe

Today was our second rest day in a row and it was fabulous. I really feel like my legs need the extended break. Not a whole lot to say about today except that we got a few more things done, such as going to the grocery store and paying bills. Nothing very exciting.

The highlight of the day was the lunch buffet at Round Table Pizza. The all-you-can-eat buffet started at 11am and went until 2pm. And yes, we got there at 11am and stayed until 2pm. I had multiple rounds of salad, breadsticks, and pizza, and ate until it hurt. It was a steal at $7.50 a person and was the perfect place for a hungry hiker to eat.

Tomorrow we will actually have to start hiking again, but I think I am ready to get back on the trail.

Relaxing and taking care of business.