Category: 2020 Tahoe Rim Trail

We set an alarm, but it was a wasted effort. I’m always too wound up on days we leave town and return to the trail. I’m not exactly sure why. I like seeing the towns we visit and try to imagine living there, but after a day or two, I begin to feel like an outsider. I get to the point where I can’t stand all the people and noise. I just want to get back out in nature. But I do miss the warm beds and porcelain. I guess that’s what keeps bringing me back. 

Baby made us breakfast again. She’s really trying her best to fatten us up. This morning was pancake, sausage, pork stew, Philippine coffee, and strawberries for dessert. We took down the extra food we had bought to eat in our room, but never got around to eating because of all the restaurants close by. We’ll be back in South Lake Tahoe in just 4 days. We’ll have hiked 40 miles around the valley to be in a hostel 4 miles from where we are now. 

We went back up to our room to pack and get ready (say goodbye to porcelain). Bunny had already checked to see if Uber was available in the area. We ordered one as we were coming down the stairs. We thought we’d have a few minutes to say goodbye to Baby and Lily, but the Uber was already down waiting for us. In fact, we made it to the trailhead and were hiking by 10a. We weren’t in a hurry at all knowing we only have 8 miles to go today. 

The first 3 1/2 miles were pretty steep uphill…in some places almost 1000’/mile. Comparatively, it’s not that bad, but that is about as steep as it ever gets on the PCT. I’m a little worried about the trail quality and grades we’ll run into once we turn off the PCT tomorrow. 

Bunny was struggling today. We’ve managed to accumulate too much food. Digit Alice sent us a perfect resupply just as we had asked—4 days. The problem was that we came into town with 2 days that we had managed to over accumulate from our road trip and then we got some food from Backpacker to test. We’ve got about 7 days worth of food all together…more than will fit into our Bear canister. The reason Bunny is struggling is because I had to have her carry the Jet Boil. That was the tipping point that put her over 28 # 1 oz. 

Other than being steep uphill, the hike was uneventful. We didn’t run into anyone once we left the parking lot. We did run into 2 hunters there and asked what they were after. They said “Biden supporters.” The camo should have tipped my hand, but I was distracted by my load. Like a good chameleon, I said “you need to get down to town, they’re swarming down there. None of them liberal pansies out here on the trail.”

It took us 5 1/2 hours to cover the 8 miles. I made sure we ate bigger meals tonight for supper so I can free up enough space to take the Jet Boil back from Bunny tomorrow. I’ll also pack better. Today was the first time I’d carried the bear canister in our new packs. 

Today was overcast all day and it cooled off fast once we got to camp. We are at almost 8700’ but the forecast was calling for cooler temperatures overall. We might dip into a freeze tonight. There are a couple of tropical storms out in the Pacific that the forecast said could possibly dump some rain, or even snow, on us this weekend, depending on our elevation. I like snow. I don’t mind camping in snow. I hate Bunny thinking/worrying/obsessing about snow. 

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We decided while we were finishing up our meatloaf last night, that we were going to stay 3 nights instead of 2. We got a 2# meatloaf for $8.99. The one time Bunny decides she wants her full half! You’d have thought we had a package of M&Ms the way she was guarding it. 

The hotel manager (we later found out her name was Estalarita, but accepts being called Baby) did our laundry for us since we were the only nightly guests. She told Bunny that she’d have breakfast ready for us at 8:30 in the morning. We sat on our couch and watched our 60” big screen TV less than 5’ away. I could see the hairs in Sheldon’s nose!

We haven’t had a day off for 5 days. Working stiffs get 2 days a week. We’re overdue. South Lake Tahoe is on our shortlist. I really like the idea of being able to walk out my door and hike all the way to Yosemite and back without having to get in a car. That would be a great summer hike every year. Plus, there are so many other trails and activities in the area. There’s even local microbreweries that can pull off mini-miracles. Bunny and I found an IPA that we both liked—Bike Dog.

For two days, we never strayed more than a mile from our hotel. I walked the neighborhoods around here and discovered something that looks very promising for us. There are homeless people here. If they exist, then there’s got to be some other reasonably priced real estate. Baby told us that the owner of the hotel is buying another one down the street and this one might get turned into a shelter. From the looks of some of the other guests, I’d say that’s a done deal. 

Every morning at 8:30, we went down to Baby’s dining room table for breakfast. After breakfast, we sat in her living room and browsed the internet. Then we’d go for a walk, stop at a coffee shop (or microbrewery depending on our moods), and have supper in our room. 

One of the reasons we had extended our stay was for the VP debate. I must have misread the article but was relieved to see Pence was virus free. More than likely, one of these two could end up in charge during the next 4 years. I just wanted to see if either was Presidential. Both of them are way more Presidential than the current placeholder. Both presented themselves in dignified and mature manners. Both parties will be able to spin a win. There was no change in the status quo as a result of this debate. 

I slept much better after this one. Pence can be just as evasive as his boss, yet maintains a dignity that his eludes the man. He definitely towed the party line and avoided answering at least half of the questions asked of him. Harris showed that she won’t be pushed around and only evaded one question that I counted. This debate showed there are some mature players still in DC. I’ll be able to sleep well enough to hike tomorrow. 

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It was cold last night. It didn’t freeze, but this was the coldest I’ve gotten this year. Who’d have thought sleeping in a lake bed at 8200’ in October would be cold. The snow above the lake was even melting yesterday when we arrived. Bunny was worried that the lake might rise up and engulf us in the night. I had to remind her that mountain lakes don’t normally have tides. 

There’s a phenomenon that happens when you’re out hiking for long periods of time. Not all hikers mention it, but it is pretty common. After a couple of months, you lose so much fat in your legs that it hurts your knees to sleep on your side. The knees have no cushion between them so it’s bone on bone. I normally use my puffy jacket as a cushion between my knees, but last night, I had to put it on to stay warm. This caused me to sleep on my back. My breathing becomes a bit “heavier” on my back which infuriates Bunny. She hates any outward sign that I am peacefully resting. 

I did set the alarm for 6 so I could make coffee. We wanted to be on the trail by 8 today because it’s a town day. When we get to the highway, we’ll try hitching but we are worried about catching rides in the land of Mercedes and Covid. It’s a dangerous combination for hikers. Throw in 5 days of hiking smells and our odds of getting a ride drop pretty dramatically. 

I still hadn’t warmed up by the time we started hiking, so I was going fast (by our standards) to try to get warm. This didn’t work well because every time I lost sight of Bunny, I’d stop, wait, and get cold again by the time she caught up. We should have just slept until it got warm outside. Bunny doesn’t move well in the cold going uphill. 

It was a easy walk except for the loose rocks in long sections of trail (way worse than anything the average AT whiner faces in PA). It wasn’t until we got to Echo Lake that we started encountering day hikers. It was also at Echo Lake that we noticed nice cabins surrounding the lake. The only way in was walking or by boat. I’m sure these are affordable domiciles for us. Rich people don’t like to ruff-it. 

The Chalet was closed due to Covid. I would have called it a convenience store, but “Chalet” triples the cost. There were plenty of people hanging around the marina, but none of them looked like they were heading out any time soon. We decided to push on another couple of miles to the highway in hopes of an easy hitch. 

We made it to Highway 50 before noon. We figured that, worst case, we’d walk into town if we couldn’t get lucky. As soon as we put our thumbs up, a truck pulled over. False alarm, he was just turning. But the next vehicle was the real deal. Not even 5 minutes and we had a ride. It was good thing, too, because the road into South Lake Tahoe turned out to be steep, narrow, busy, and very frightening looking over Christmas Valley. There is a lot of undeveloped land still available in South Lake Tahoe. 

Sohrab and Noshin were just out for a day trip to see Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe. Sohrab is originally from Afghanistan and feels it his duty to be helpful to strangers whenever an opportunity presents itself. We shared a bit of our story with them and Sohrab told us of a saying…”If you have a home, you have one home. If you don’t have a home, you have many homes.” We have found this to be very true. I do feel we have missed out in the US, by never having had nomadic lifestyles. Nomads tend to be more flexible and open to new ways of doing things. As a people, we tend to be rigid in our thinking and customs. 

Sohrab and Noshin dropped us off at our hotel. We had hiked 8 miles, hitched 9 miles, and checked into our hotel by 12:30. Once again, the trail provides. The hotel manager grabbed a bunch of keys and walked us up to see several options she had for us. Since the hotel is for sale, there aren’t any other guests (other than those paying weekly.” She ended up giving us a room with our own bath, 2 queen beds, a kitchenette, and a living room with a 60” big screen TV. All for the same price as a dorm room. Covid killed the hiking community in Tahoe this year. 

Since it was such a good deal, we decided to stay a minimum of 2 nights, and maybe 3, if the Vice Presidential debate is still on. We went out for pizza then stopped by the grocery store to get food for us to eat in tonight. There isn’t laundry nearby, so the manger did our laundry for us. She’s a very sweet woman from the Philippines that we met about 2 weeks ago when we raided our shipment from Digit Alice. Her dog remembered us, so we are golden. 

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Bunny has converted me. I heard the guys across the inlet talking a few minutes before 7. I automatically started the coffee. As soon as it was ready, I went back to sleep. I did take my sippy cup and the protein bars under the quilt with me. Even in my sleep, I can cook breakfast. 

When Bunny woke up at 8, I had coffee and warm bars ready for her pleasure. She told me not to get my ass in a hurry after breakfast, she wanted to read some more of her novel before we started getting ready. I had Sudoku and a daily word puzzle to complete, so I was very compliant. With only 9 miles to go, I have settled into this new life of leisure. 

The climb out of Dicks Lake to Dicks Pass was a little over 1000’ in just under 2 miles. This is about as steep as the PCT gets. To put it in perspective, it’s just a stroll up the Sears Tower (Willis, what you talking ‘bout?). We left camp at 9:15 and we’re standing at the pass exactly 1 hour later. The views along the way were incredible. We only saw 1 runner coming down.

Yesterday, we met 2 guys that were only out for 3 days. They decided to hike from Echo Lake to Donner Pass. Today is day 9 for us covering that same distance. We’ll even get to Echo Lake tomorrow. They screamed on buy all these beautiful alpine lakes to camp at Richardson Lake—28 miles of the most amazingly gorgeous country I’ve seen on the trail. We ARE in the Sierra, but not the high Sierra. I’m expecting to be wowed even more when we make it there and to the 3 National Parks contained there in. 

If I’ve learned one thing in these last 3 1/2 years of hiking and could share one piece of advice with other hikers, it would be “slow the fuck down!”  People become too obsessed with the miles they can cover and miss the views in front of their eyes. Last year, we met Warren and Diane (“life at 2 mph”). She had hiked the PCT 19 years ago and told me she didn’t remember any of it. She was so concerned about covering miles that she only saw her feet, afraid that she might fall.

I know this will fall on death ears for those under 30. Also for the retired males in denial of “Low T” who want to show the young pups that the old guy can still move just as fast…until the stress fractures set in. I have embraced my “Low T” to the point that it has become a daily excuse for me. “You’ve got to carry more food, Bunny…Low T” “You’ve got to set up the tent, Bunny…Low T” “You’ve got to dig my hole this morning, Bunny…Low T” This is the best, least exercised excuse an old man can have. It took me to 57 to realize this, but I’m on board. 

After Dicks Pass (or was that Dick’s passed…low T), we had a relatively easy 7 miles to camp. We did run into some day hikers that claimed to be finishing up the TRT today. New rule: if you are calling yourself a thru-hiker, you need to at least propel yourself part way on the trail. It was a mother, her daughter and her husband both carrying kids on their backs. They tried to say these were 2 of the youngest to finish the TRT (3 & 2) but I cry “foul.” Bunny take warning, if you’re getting carried, it doesn’t count. 

We passed so many stunningly beautiful lakes today: Half Moon Lake, Gilmore Lake, Susie Lake, Heather Lake, and Lake Aloha. Plus several smaller ones that didn’t merit names but were still beautiful. It would be an amazing experience to come and spend 2-3 weeks here and camp at a different lake each night. While we were sitting on the shore of Susie Lake admiring the view and eating our lunch, a group of runners blew on by. The last one in the group said we were doing it right. 

We caught up with those same runners taking a break on Lake Aloha. We stopped and talked to Pavan (Eat and Run), Kiran, and Avinash for a good 20 minutes. They were out doing a “short” 17 mile run. Pavan had quit his job in January of this year with the intention of traveling the world. He made it to New Zealand for several weeks and then came back to the US before going to India to visit his parents. Covid hit which meant he couldn’t travel back to India, so he moved to Lake Tahoe in the interim. We shared some of the trips we’ve been on and he told us some of the countries he’s visited. Pavan is about a decade younger than us, so he’s off to a great start. 

Bunny and I scouted the southern end of Lake Aloha for a camping spot. We had been told that this is a reservoir so the water had been drawn out of it making the level pretty low. We can see water stains on the rocks along the shore a good 7’ over the current level. We found a protected spot with boulders on 2 sides that would normally be under water. We set up camp and then went for a “walk in the lake” to clean off and get drinking water. Tonight, I made sure to be up water of Bunny when she decided to rinse her Kula cloth. 

Bunny was feeling better today. She might be getting over her Covid in time for us to travel home. I showed no symptoms other than the usual gaseous diffusions that are a normal part of hiking. Bunny’s turbo charging, today, would put a cow to shame. She’d better be careful or instead of bovine emissions, I’ll have to notify the EPA that the climate change is actually due to Bunny Emissions. 

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I kind of like this no hurry hiking. We woke up a little after 7 and we’re still on the trail by 9. A couple of day runners passed through our camp before we got out. Also, the dog launched the canoe and took one of his humans out fishing with him. 

One of the dangers of hiking in the age of Covid is that every time something’s a little out of whack, you wonder if you’ve finally caught it. I always have allergies in the spring and fall around pine trees. My nose was dripping today…do I have Covid? It was pretty hot for 8000’ elevation. I was sweating a lot. Do I have a fever?…do I have Covid? We both had upset stomachs today. It might have been the old jerky I used in the potatoes last night, mild food poisoning, or…do I have Covid? I’m farting quite a lot. Nothing unusual there. Have I had Covid for years?

Bunny was really struggling with her stomach today. I think she has Covid. It got worse right after lunch. She claims that mayonnaise goes bad, but I’m sure she has Covid. We had to stop for her to poop on the side of the trail (it’s better than in the middle of the trail like she usually does. No doubt, Covid). I start to wonder how we’re going to get back home if Bunny has Covid. It gives me a headache. Maybe it’s me with Covid. 

By the time we stopped for lunch, we had less than 5 miles to go to our target destination. We climbed up on top of a rock in the shade and took a leisurely 45 minute lunch. Our first day out of Tahoe City we did 9 miles even starting at noon, but we were pretty sure we didn’t have Covid then. Even with Covid, we should be to camp by 4. We’ll just sweat it out. My gas is getting worse, Covid? I hate to say this, I wish we could hear more news so we’d know what the symptoms are. I hate to have hypochondriac moments for non-symptoms.

There weren’t very many people out for such a perfect Saturday. The weather has been ideal since we started hiking last Saturday from Truckee. As I mentioned, today was quite warm considering our elevation above sea level. We watched the local news the night before we left Tahoe City and saw 100 deg F predictions for the Central Valley for the first 2 days of October and the rest of the week was above 95. It’s pretty warm, in my opinion. We were a little concerned about having it snow on us in October but it looks like we’re going to dodge that rubber bullet. 

I was thinking about some comments people I know have said about California fires. Before we started hiking out here, we just didn’t grasp how big the state is. CA has 18 National Forests and each of those forests is bigger than the Shawnee in Southern Illinois which clocks in at 340,000 acres. I’m guessing the average size of the forests in CA is at least 500,000 acres, and California has a lot of mountains and 8 National Parks with numerous wilderness areas. It’s not just a simple matter that “they need to clean up the forests.” The tallest mountains in the lower 48 are here. A lot of the state is inaccessible. 

We entered the Desolation Wilderness today. It is one of the Crown Jewels of wilderness areas. You have to have a permit to even day hike here. The permits aren’t tough to get, but they try to limit the access. Why is it so popular? Because it’s f’n beautiful and filled with alpine lakes. We passed 3 today: Middle Velma Lake, Fontanillis Lake, and Dicks Lake where we are camping tonight. They are each stunning, filled with crystal clear water, and surrounded by granite mountains. We even saw snow patches above the last two lakes I mentioned. 

We made it to Dicks Lake (no apostrophe, I’m hoping this is not a backcountry, gay pickup up spot—not that there’s anything wrong with that), before 4. We ran into 2 guys as soon as we got to the lake (coincidence?). I had noticed a corner of the lake on the map sitting right above the overflow to Fontanillis Lake. We headed back there and found several great spots on the opposite side of the spillway. 

Bunny and I set up the tent and then went down to the lake to clean up. The lake is ice cold. I soaked my feet for about 2 minutes before giving up. We, instead, headed to the spillway to get away from all the roe floating in the water near the shore. At least some life forms truly enjoy alpine lakes to the fullest. I filtered water while Bunny sponge bathed. 

Supper was a delicious guacamole with Fritos followed by a spectacular concoction of Ramen Noodles and Spam. Desert was a dubiously labeled “shareable” size package of M&Ms with peanuts. I accidentally bumped Bunny’s head when I stood up. As compensation, she tried to finagle the extra M&M tonight. Homey don’t play that! I carried the bag all the way from Tahoe City. We don’t live in a socialist country. I earned that M and I ate it. 

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In case I forgot, Bunny woke up at 4a, stuck her face in mine, and sang “Happy Birthday” to me. It was sweet, but scary. I was in the middle of a dream where I was being chased when a clown jumped in front of me. Had it been in key, it might have been less jarring. 

When the alarm went off at 7, chainsaws started. These were real ones and not a continuation of my killer clown dream. Since we had not climbed all the way up to Granite Peak Wilderness yesterday, we were camped less than 2 miles from the logging area. I was tired enough that I was able to fall back asleep until the coffee cooled to the perfect drinking temperature for ShelBunny. 

A big reason we stopped yesterday was because we remembered how steep it was the final 2.7 miles to the top. Had we pushed on yesterday, we would have had to carry extra water because it would have been a dry camp. Today, we were able to tackle the steep section with fresh legs and less weight than we’d have had last night. It wasn’t nearly as bad as we remembered. 

When we got to the top, we checked for phone signal. We were shocked to hear that both Trump and Pence are Covid positive. Maybe now he’ll quit belittling face masks and acknowledge it’s real and not another Democratic hoax. I’m very concerned with both of them getting the virus. They are both in the high risk categories, Trump especially with his age, obesity, and high cholesterol. I think he should dump Pence and name a new Covid-free Vice President. Think about it, if both Trump and Pence go down, Nancy Pelosi would be president. All the Trump supporters I know call me a Nancy supporter, but the prospect of her as president frightens me almost as much as Trump. I fear extremes in both parties. 

No matter what happens, I hope Trump recovers. He has access to the best care possible. I hope a few positive things come from this: 1) his followers accept that this virus is real and put on the f#&$ing masks, and 2) maybe Trump will have second thoughts about trying to pull the insurance of 20 million Americans in the middle of a pandemic. 

Once we got back on the PCT, we started seeing day hikers. We met one couple, Rod and Lori from Sacramento. They were our age and were out day hiking the TRT trying to complete it in 14 days. We talked with them for quite a while about our hiking experiences and blog. Their son handles social media for a few clients and they gave us some ideas about improving our blog and vlog. It got our creative juices churning for the rest of the day. 

The nice thing about having so much time to complete the TRT is that we can screw off one day and then make up the mileage the next. It wasn’t a big deal for us to go an extra 3 miles to get back on schedule today. We probably will stick with the original plan to South Lake Tahoe now that we know Pence is positive. We’re guessing the VP debate will be cancelled or postponed. 

Early in the morning, our views of Lake Tahoe were obstructed by 🎶 Smoke of the water 🎶, but by early afternoon, the winds had cleared away the smoke giving us a great view of McKinney Bay. I’m very shocked that three of my friends have connections to Lake Tahoe and have never invited us out here. Watson Cabin is right on the shore in Tahoe City (thanks Shannon). We walked by the Voss Family House on the detour yesterday (thanks Terry). Today we got several views of McKinney Bay (thanks Kevin). 

Guthook has several comments about bears around Richardson Lake. That gave us extra incentive to get here. When we arrived, Bunny saw movement in the water and automatically though “bear bathing.” It was less exotic, more like ducks paddling. We went down to the lake to wash off and get water and we did see new life. There were huge crawfish hanging out where we wanted to soak our feet. I thought I’d get a stick and shoe them away, but they were very defensively aggressive. They actually made eye contact with us and wouldn’t back off. I told Bunny they can move so fast in the water that they can sail up to 6’ above it when they exit. Our bathing got over in a hurry. 

As we were getting ready to turn in, we went down to the lake for one more “look around” for bears. We did meet a fellow hiker that just moved up to the area here from the Bay Area. He’s out trying to get familiar with the basin trails. When we told him about our hiking experiences of the last 3 years, he said he wants that to be the next phase of his life. 

Richardson Lake is accessible by road. Even so, we thought we might get the lake to ourselves tonight. Right at dark, an SUV with a canoe on top pulled up. We were just hoping they weren’t partiers. They saw us and moved further away. That bothered us a bit because they had a dog. Anyone with a dog is always welcome in our camp or home. 

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We haven’t been sleeping well since the debate. It’s like we’re in a living nightmare when the president of the United States will not condemn white supremacy or agree to a peaceful transition if he should lose the election. Instead, he throws out false claims about a rigged election and offers no proof even though his own AG and FBI Director have both testified before Congress that there is no evidence of any corruption or ballot tampering. Both Al Gore and Hillary Clinton won the popular vote and peacefully accepted defeat. I keep waiting for condemnation from top Republicans (Mitch McConnel, where the f#$& are you?). The only bright spot I’ve seen is that the Biden campaign raised $3.8M during the debate and $4M the hour after it. We aren’t the only ones scared by what we saw. 

The new room we got last night was in a corner of the building on the back side overlooking the golf course. They made sure the rooms beside us and below us were empty. Bunny went so far as to buy some melatonin yesterday which we took before bed. We slept like babies. Yes, I cried myself to sleep and wet the bed, but it was a warm feeling all around me. 

Around 8, I got up and made a pot of coffee. We are in town and Bunny is supposed to do town cooking, yet I performed this extra, thankless service for my wife. I even got out the yogurt and actually served my wife breakfast in bed: powdered donut holes, blueberry yogurt, avocado, and hot coffee. I was trying to convince her to let me stay in town one more night so I could sleep in a real bed on my birthday. She would have none of that (even though we always have beds on her birthday!). The best she would do was agree to let me sleep on the floor if we stayed another night. Everyone thinks Bunny is so sweet. 

We turned our keys in at 11:01. The manager met us outside the office and asked if we had a better night last night. She could tell by our smiles and near perkiness (our packs are pretty heavy with 5 days of food) that we were in much better moods. We’ll be staying here again when we finish the TRT. 

Bunny did check the Tahoe Basin NFS page and discovered that restrictions have been eased. We can use camp stoves once again (legally, that is). Dispersed camping is allowed along the PCT and should be allowed on the rest of the TRT by the 8th. It looks like we are an official “go.” As long as the official campgrounds were open, we were going to hike the trail. Add to all this good news clear blue skies and we are off to the start of a great day. 

Since it was already past 11, we might as well eat one more town meal. With the restrictions eased, we could stretch the 5 days to South Lake Tahoe into 6 and take a zero there. That way, we could be in town to watch the Vice Presidential Debate. Since the two candidates are both too old and one is obese (unless his doctors have him grow another inch this year), there’s a very good chance that the VP will end up in office. One little hamburger at the same place we stopped on the way in makes this change of plans possible. 

With overfull stomachs, we actually started hiking a bit after noon. Within a half mile of the lake, all the people disappeared. If we saw anyone, it was bikers coming down hill. Why is it we never see bikers peddling uphill? It only took us an hour and a quarter to travel the 2.5 miles to get us back up to 7000’. We rewarded ourselves with a break on the side of the trail. 

A very nice couple in their 60s walked by and stopped to talk for a bit. They are here in Tahoe because their main house in Sanoma is smoked in. They managed to protect it from fires twice this year and now they just want some smokeless air. We really enjoyed talking with them. I didn’t have the nerve to ask if they had children. I would have been willing to present ourselves as candidates for them if they were childless. It would be a shame for a couple of really nice homes to sit empty if something were to happen to them. I always try to be of service. 

We got to the detour and couldn’t decide which route was open today. The sawhorse closure was off to the side of the trail. We thought it best to stick with the closure route. Since we already had walked it, we took another alternate route which put us in the heart of a very nice subdivision. We would gladly take anyone of these homes. We saw a couple for sale and said we’d sign the papers today if it was under $200K. We were heartbroken upon hearing the average price in this neighborhood was over $1M; lots start at $300K. Note to self, start buying lottery tickets again.

The road was mostly in the sun and I started to overheat and feel a bit week. To our surprise, one of the homeowners offered to give us a ride through the neighborhood to the trailhead. I don’t know if he was genuinely nice or worried we were casing things. I think the former. Several people in Tahoe City stopped to talk to us when we had our packs on. I don’t think homelessness in these zip codes is as big a problem as the rest of the state. 

There was active logging going on the rerouted section of trail we had come up just 2 days ago. A woman from the neighborhood told us she didn’t think we could get through. I went up to the loggers and asked. I figured if they wouldn’t let us pass, they might give us a ride to the other end of the reroute. It was close enough to quitting time that they let us go through. 

We were both dragging a bit. I guess our bursts of energy on Tuesday was just a “town day surge” and not an actual “we’ve got our hiking legs back.” We stopped at a bridge that was just 1.5 miles from where we camped Monday night. Since we had the lunch in town and our current plan only calls for 5 days to South Lake Tahoe, we could camp in the same place and not have to carry water. It wasn’t a hard sell to get Bunny on board. 

We made it to camp before 4:30. 9.3 miles in 4.5 hours and most of it uphill. We might get our legs back in a couple of days when we shed some food weight. We set up the tent then Bunny took care of our beds while I filtered water and got stuff together for supper. We decided to just have a non-cook meal with some of the heavier items we carried out of town: celery, cheese, cashews, guacamole, and corn chips. We weren’t too hungry. 

We crawled into the tent to change into our pajamas. I checked the time and it was still 10 minutes before 6. It will be a struggle to get Bunny up tomorrow with only 14 hours of recovery. It was a long hard day, we’ve been awake almost 9 hours already. I’m wondering if this was the plan when she bought the melatonin.

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Life is not good in Tahoe. Don’t come here. We had one of the worst nights of sleep, ever. It didn’t help that we were both frazzled from the debate. We wanted to turn it off, but it was like watching a train wreck. When we turned off the TV, the voices began. I confirmed with Bunny that it was more than “just in my head” before I started freaking out. It sounded like a person in the next room having a phone call. It was already 11p, way past our normal bedtime of 7. Politics is bad for your health. 

I tried turning on the AC. The fan didn’t work right and I was afraid it would start a fire so I shut it off. I tried a white noise app on my iPad. We had used it once before and I didn’t think it was too bad. Tonight, it sounded like bacon frying in a pan. After 20 minutes, Bunny told me the bacon had to be fully cooked by now. When I turned it off, the voice was still there. I tried listening at both walls to figure out which room it was and then I was going to call it and hang up (unlike what I’d witnessed earlier, I don’t like actual confrontation). I couldn’t decide which room it was, so I called the front desk. No answer. 

It was just so annoying that I couldn’t sleep. I turned on the TV for a bit hoping that the brainlessness would put me to sleep. Bunny started flipping around like a fish out of water. When she put the pillow over her face, I thought I’d better turn it off. She’s too claustrophobic to keep a pillow on herself for long. When the TV was off, I gently pushed the pillow down on her face to see if she was still awake. 

She popped up indicating she was. She went to the pill bag. Things were about to get real. She gave me a handful of Benadryl and told me to swallow. “Isn’t that too many?” “Shut up and swallow. I need sleep. You either sleep or die. It doesn’t matter to me anymore.” “Thank you?” A few minutes later, the voice finally stopped. It was past 1:30a. 

At 5, the voice started again. I tried to ignore it but couldn’t. I tried both walls, called the front desk, and then called both rooms and hung up. None of which had any effect. I was livid and groggy from all the drugs but not so groggy that I could sleep through it. I put on my pants and left the room. I listened at both doors beside me but couldn’t hear anything. I went downstairs to see if there was a phone # left on the door and then I heard the voice clearly. It was the room below us. I boldly knocked on the door prepared to run away depending on the size of the individual. 

The window was open and a woman answered. I said your voice is carrying through the walks and I can’t sleep. Would you please talk softer. She said “it wasn’t me.” “I heard your voice when I came up to your door and I heard you until after 1. Please be quiet” “I swear to God it wasn’t me. I just started talking a minute ago.” “I don’t care who you swear to, just shut up!” I went back to our room and it was finally quiet.

We had planned to get up at 8 to get ready then have breakfast at 9. Normally, we could have counted on 13 hours of sleep by then, but today, we had less than 4 total. There was no way I could carry a full pack and climb a few thousand feet. We ended up not getting up until 9. 

I came downstairs and the manager was talking to another guest. She said “good morning. How was your night?” As calmly as I could, I said “not good. The woman in (I pointed to the room) kept talking all night.” She asked me if I was the one who had said “I don’t care who you swear to, just shut up!” I owned up to it. She then said “I am in the next room, but I sleep solid, but I did hear you.” I thought I was going to get an earful. Instead, she told me the woman in question is schizophrenic and has been getting progressively worse. Other guests have complained. They’ve tried to get her help, but there isn’t any unless she’s a danger to herself or commits a crime. Her husband just recently died and she’s not doing well. 

Now I felt bad for the woman. The manager was very gracious and offered to move us to a nicer room at a big discount if we wanted to stay another night to recover. She was kind and diffused the situation expertly. She told us to go have breakfast and when we got back, she’d have everything taken care of. 

After breakfast, we changed rooms and took naps. Since we had already done all of our town chores in anticipation of hiking out today, we really just had a lazy day to relax. We ate an early supper and watched a little TV in the afternoon. Bunny took the extra precaution of buying us some melatonin, today. Since I had survived the Benadryl overdose, she’s going for the big guns tonight.

EFG

It’s still dark at 6a. There’s no way I’m getting up in the dark if we don’t even go to bed in the dark. I got everything ready so when we did decide to start moving, we’d be able to get out of the tent quickly. We figure that since we’re 9 miles from town, there might be some early runners coming by as early as 8, so we needed to at least have the tent down by then. Ultimately, we were walking by 8. We can do it on our own.

We felt good today. Our bodies are finally readjusted to being on the trail. One thing we’ve noticed once we turned onto the TRT was that we are going steeply downhill. It was a breeze to get Bunny up and moving this morning. We made the first 2 miles in well under an hour. We were a bit surprised to come upon a trail re-route because of logging. Another thing we’ve noticed since entering the Tahoe Basin is that there is much less fuel on the forest floor. The logging is surely related. 

We ended up passing through a very nice neighborhood. I’m sure there aren’t a lot of crappy ones around Lake Tahoe which makes our relocating here highly unlikely. The best case scenario is that this blog leads to a book deal which gets turned into a movie of our hiking adventures. We’d be able to afford to but a house here. BUT we’d be a one trick pony and we’d end up losing the house through back taxes. We’d end up in a double wide. We could have just stayed in. Southern Illinois. Who wants all that headache?

When we entered the woods again, we only had 4 miles left to Tahoe City. It’s hard not to imagine living here and snowshoeing into town on winter days for lunch. An eight mile round trip would keep us from getting fat. There are so many empty houses here with all the rich people having 2nd and 3rd homes. Maybe we should look into caretaker positions or squatting. There’s a huge future in squatting in our lives. 

Someone had built, what appears to be a wood fired pizza oven, in the woods outside of town. This still looks to be used in the winter time. Maybe, under normal conditions, even this time of year, but with a total ban on fires in CA, it was just sad seeing a pizza oven sit unused. It made me depressed, and hungry. 

The final half mile of trail is right along the Truckee River in town. Tahoe City has done a good job of developing bike and hiking trails through town to make everything easily accessible. As we got closer to Lake Tahoe, we began to smell meat cooking. Nothing gets the stomach juices flowing like a dead cow in a fire. We stopped in for a riverside burger at BridgeTender. It wasn’t even noon, yet.

From there, we went and got a hotel room, did our shopping, showered, and did laundry. We are all set to head out of town at the crack of 11 tomorrow morning. All that’s left is the high brow Presidential Debate this evening. Life is good in Tahoe. We should all move here. 

EFG

We have to admit, it was Bare and Lassie that got us going in the morning. It seems so long since they left that we barely remember them. We do know, without them, or Charcoal and Snuggles, we just don’t get up as early or walk as far. There is nothing I can do to get the Killer Bunny I’m hiking with to get up early without outside influence. We left camp at 9:15 today. We left earlier than that when we had Brad hiking with us. 

I suppose day 3 is the magic day for Bunny. With the 13 hours of sleep we got last night, she was fully recovered and functioning as well as can be expected from a 57 year old rodent. (I’m only 56 in case anyone has forgotten that not only am I hiking with a Bunny, but she’s a cougar bunny at that). She was moving like a freshly oiled Tin Man man while I was just sitting around thinking of the thoughts I’d be thinking if I only had a brain. 

Normally, day 3 is a bad day for us when we’re starting out on a long hike. Day 4 tends to be when we start feeling a bit better. I guess we haven’t lost all of the trail legs we developed in the 2 1/2 months we were hiking. With any luck, before we finish the TRT, we’ll lose back the weight we put on while driving up to Montana and back.

You can tell it’s a weekday. We didn’t see anyone all morning. It wasn’t until 2p that we ran into 3 day hikers on the back side of Alpine Meadows Ski Area. Later, we ran into another 2 day hikers when we turned onto the TRT. When we made up our minds where to camp, 2 mountain bikers passed by but so quickly we couldn’t talk to them. Mountain biking on these trails is beyond me. I don’t even feel comfortable walking along some of the drops we pass by, let alone riding a bike. 

We got some better views of Lake Tahoe today. I can tell we’ll probably get tired of seeing that huge, beautiful, clear blue lake by the time we’ve circumnavigated it. For now, that’s not the case. We are seeing it from 2000’ above and probably 10 miles away. It’s so big that we still have only seen the northern half of it. We can look down and know where the towns are along it’s shore, but the only evidence we see of civilization is a few boat docks. 

It’s taken us 19 days since we were forced off the PCT by fire and decided to hike the Tahoe Rim Trail, but we finally made it to the junction of the two trails today. We had misgivings when we turned off the PCT. The TRT appeared to be not well maintained. The track was rockier than any section of Pennsylvania on the AT. About 1/2 mile in, we came to a “no bikes” sign and the trail improved dramatically. That’s one way to keep bikes off the PCT. Make the trail so crappy they won’t attempt to cross over. 

Currently, the Tahoe Basin National Forest is only open for day use. We considered staying near the junction so we’d be “technically” legal as dispersed camping is still legal within 500’ of the PCT. The current restrictions around Lake Tahoe are scheduled to expire October 1. That means we are camping illegally on the TRT tonight. If we’re caught, first I’ll try pleading ignorance saying that we’re just PCT hikers heading into Tahoe City for a resupply. If that doesn’t work, I’ll throw my wife under the bus and say “she made me do it. She a vicious bunny with huge nasty teeth.”

Since we were walking the ridge above Lake Tahoe, we had reception come in and out several times today. On one of those “ins” we got a notification that Trump’s tax records were finally made public. I don’t work and I pay more taxes than the Don. 10 of the last 15 years he hasn’t paid anything. So much for being the man of the people with great business experience. The debate will be on tomorrow night so we’ll have something to do in town. I’ll be glad when this election is over. 

EFG