Even though we got what felt like an arctic blast last night, we didn’t get any of the associated frozen white dust. Bunny claimed not to sleep any because of all the winds. I don’t know what she’s worried about—dead trees are called “widow makers.” On second thought I do know…my refusal to carry life insurance has finally awakened her maternal instincts concerning my well being.
The winds did eventually die down around 4. There was not a reciprocal effect with Bunny’s snoring. How do I know it was 4? At 2 I was fully awake and couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t fall back asleep (while Bunny was snoring). I did the math. Stay with me, it’s kind of sciency. We got in the tent at 3:30. We made supper and ate in the tent. I went to sleep before 6. From 6p to 2a is 8 hours. I’d already slept 8 hours and had 4 more before I could safely start making coffee without getting stabbed in the throat by my partner.
When her Bunniness did awake and step outside the tent for her bladder cleansing routine, she looked around and saw two other tents set up around us. Hallelujah! either we’re legal or we’re not going down alone. We could hear people frolicking and swearing over their stoves. Even so, I’m still going to practice the Clinton Era Doctrine of “don’t ask, don’t tell” when we run across people in the backcountry (unless it’s anti-establishment millennials or people with full backpacks).
Get this, we were the first ones out of camp. It was only 8:30. Bunny has a family zoom call this afternoon so she was motivated to move. The other campers looked like holiday weekenders set for a two night stay. It was brisk walking which helped keep our pace up. We’re close enough to civilization that we could hear traffic sounds from the highway below us and we ran into tide fresh day hikers wearing (baby powder antiperspirant—her; axe cologne—him). Axe! Do I need to repeat myself?
It was today that I made a realization about my wife’s tracking ability. Every print she sees on the trail gets divided into one of two categories: bear or cougar. I suppose it makes sense that she is weary…bunnies are an easy food source and staple of carnivorous diets. She does occasionally throw in an elk ID when she sees deer prints. This realization came to me when we saw some domestic Pomeranian tracks in the dust. Bunny immediately said “Mountain Lion.” I said: a) too small, b) there are nail indentations (cougar pull in their claws when walking), c) we could see a day hiker walking her Pomeranian ahead of us. Bunny ignored that and switched to bear. I pointed. She insisted, a cub, and momma’s nearby. I won’t even bother going into the Altra IDs which have a human bare foot print embedded—“Big Foot!”
Today’s hike led us across the Nevada state line. In none of the videos we watched about the TRT does anyone mention that we actually end up hiking outside of the Tahoe basin for several miles. I was concerned because I didn’t want to descend into the desert plain below. Bunny has her animal issues, I have my map issues. I was not calm until we crossed the ridge back into the basin and into a ski resort area. They may have been Nevadians running the trails in spandex, but they gave me a secure feeling that we were near the overpriced Tahoe area once again.
A few minutes before 2, we found a spot in some rocks overlooking Lake Tahoe and South Lake Tahoe below. We had good enough cell signal for Bunny to have her call. It was a bit scarey that our brother-in-law is a nurse anesthetist at a major hospital in Kansas City that currently has the most Covid cases in the state (with my niece in Branson working at the hospital with, probably, the 2nd most cases) and yet morons still run around without face masks because their cult leader says not to worry. There were 3 deaths at his hospital this past week and one of the surgeons he works with tested positive. It’s too close to home.
It was only a mile to the closest road after the call. Bunny wanted to call an Uber, but I convinced her to stick out her thumb while I rearranged my pack. She didn’t want to so she barely lifted her arm above her waist. The 3rd car pulled over. I hadn’t even put my coat away yet.
It was a real estate agent who couldn’t understand us when we said “hostel.” She thought we were saying hospital and said she’d take us all the way there and drop us off. We finally convinced her it was a hiker HOSTEL but she had already committed to taking us out of her way. It was less than 5 miles from where she picked us up. Of course, we asked about real estate and if there was anything reasonably priced in the area. We got the standard “it’s too expensive for anyone” meaning she’s not interested in selling anything less than a million dollar home. We thanked her for the ride (and lie).
When we checked in, we couldn’t believe the price. This is the least expensive place we have stayed in 3 years here on the shore of Lake Tahoe. We decided right away we are taking a zero here tomorrow. What’s the rush?
EFG