We met Steve and Tracy for breakfast at Jax Diner just down the street from our brothel cum hostel. We had only met Strider briefly on the TRT last year and then he met us when we finished and had lunch with us. Breaking bread is always a great way to introduce people. This was our first meeting of Strider’s wife, Tracy. We knew everyone, but Strider didn’t know Bear and Sassy. We’re going to be spending the next week together and I wanted everyone to get along and have a common goal…”we’ve got to do whatever we can to avoid Easy” usually fits the bill.
There was a bit of confusion as to where to start hiking. Donner Pass road is reportedly closed M-F due to blasting to widen the road. Bear had seen that they were not blasting today in honor of the 4th of July holiday. Even so, I wanted to start from the Interstate rest area because Bunny and I will have to return to this area later this summer to finish up the last 120ish miles between Truckee and Belden. Ultimately, we agreed to start from the Interstate adding another 3 miles to our day.
Even before we started, we ran into someone we knew from the AT. Lady Bling, a traveling nurse who was from VA but working in TX flew home in 2018 to set up a major trail magic extravaganza. Not only did she supply food and drink, she also brought other items people don’t consider hikers need such as: toothpaste, toilet paper, lip balm, and other toiletries. She even loaned her hat to someone we were hiking with at the time: Gray Fox. She told us he wore it all the way to Katahdin, took his picture with it on the summit, and then mailed the hat back to her. In 2018 on the AT, Lady Bling had told us she was going to hike the PCT in 2019, the same as us. Like us, the snow screwed her over and she was here finishing up the trail. She was hiking with Chewy (not that hairy, but you can’t understand what he says), and a friend from Chicago who has never hiked before.
It was exciting to be back on the trail. Bunny and I haven’t hiked, or even exercised, since we finished the Tahoe Rim Trail last October. I was anxious to see how effective our off-trail training routine would turn out to be. I took the lead heading out of the I-80 rest area. It was only 3 miles to Donner Pass. In hindsight, I took off a bit too fast. Everyone tried to get me to slow down, but my adrenaline was flowing well. By the time we reached Donner Pass, my adrenaline, energy, and electrolytes were all depleted.
The goal for today was to make it almost 13 miles to the first known water source south of Donner Pass. There is a climb out of Donner Pass, not terrible for an in shape body. To me, it felt like trying to ascend Mt Olympus to unseat Zeus. Zeus doesn’t want to give up his seat, so he targeted me. The wheezing, coughing, and gasping from the back of the line of hikers was much more than just an out of shape hiker…it was a target marked for death by the gods.
I tried to make it appear that I was doing well in spite of the sweat rolling off my face. “I’m just staying back to make sure everyone is fine.” A few Nobo thru-hikers passed us and told us about a snow patch on the trail. I was hopeful that it might lead to a quick death if I slipped, instead, it provided an alternative source of water.
Now that we had water, we weren’t obligated to make it the 13 we had stupidly planned. Had everyone been in shape (Bunny and Easy), the 13 would have been doable. Instead, I started looking for anyplace remotely flat that could hold 3 tents. We passed up the terrible spot Bunny and I had stopped at last year when we hiked the TRT. I asked if anyone wanted to stop. Everyone said “no.” I restated it in a slightly different manner. “ I can’t take another f#&ing step. Let’s stop here.” This time, I got more buy in. We were a mere 5 miles shy of our goal.
I recovered enough to have a group supper by Bear and Sassy’s tent where I introduced my new trail sleepwear (snacks and naps); young Yoda eating frogs. I hadn’t noticed the frog eating when I bought the pjs. The most disturbing part of the ensemble was that Yoda was eating where my left boy was supposed to be (I say “supposed to be” because he chose to move away from the munching as a form of self preservation).
We talked about LNT (Leave No Trace) with Strider and came up with 3 alternative options to carrying out used paper. 1) Wipe first so paper is underneath the stash. The downside being a squishy feeling until the next cycle…23 hours and 50 minutes of slight discomfort vs not carrying used paper. 2) Pee on tp. The downside is the paper dissolves under wiping pressure, so it’s more like wiping with a bare hand…a bit messy, at best. I, personally, don’t like direct contact with a black (brown) hole. 3) Set tp on fire. A big plus is that no “manscaping” is required because all your hair will be burned away. A scorched butt is a real possibility.
We decided that the PCTA recommendation might, in fact, be the best alternative. We decided to sleep on it (the preferred method, not the poop). We’ll just let everyone decide for themselves in the morning when nature forces it’s brown hand.
EFG