Spoiler alert: we made it, but not without some tribulations and surprises along the way today. Let’s start with the morning.
Bunny agreed to make breakfast this morning since it didn’t require lighting the stove. We had peanut butter and jelly out of squeeze tubes with a bag of salted peanuts. It was not satisfying but we did get 440 calories each. She contemplated cold coffee vs no coffee and opted for plain water. This was not the dream breakfast in bed that I was hoping for. We skipped coffee and morning poos and were ready to hit the trail at…8:20. It just proves my point, no matter what we do in the morning or when we wake up, we will hit the trail between 8:20 and 8:40.
Bunny was a possessed walker all morning. I had to keep begging her to slow down. I did discover the secret to speeding up the Bunster was skipping coffee. 6 miles later, I realized she was giving it everything she had in the hopes of making it to town before the inevitable energy crash. A noble attempt, but a failure, nonetheless. I’ll admit that I was also feeling very sluggish like I had lead weights in my feet, pants, and pack. When we got to town, I discovered Bunny had put rocks in the bear canister, I had a pound of dust and gravel in each of my shoes, and, in reality, I had only skipped the coffee this morning.
We didn’t run into as many hikers today, but we did run into a lot of mountain bikers. The trail bed has been pulverized by the bikes to the consistency of 3” of talcum powder. I’ll admit, I was dragging and ready to be done. Although the bikers were friendly, it still scares the crap out of you when they zoom up silently behind you (that’s the cause, and I’m sticking to that story).
As we were climbing the final hill before dropping into Tahoe City, we met a trio of day hikers. They asked if we were out for an overnight…Cascade Locks, 3 1/2 months, 1000 miles, TRT, yada yada yada, finishing today. We discovered this was “The Nomadic Mango” (check them out on Instagram) who were doing similar to us. They had sold everything last year and were planning on traveling the world. They had been to Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Sri Lanka last year before returning home for the holidays. Once Covid hit, they took refuge in Tahoe City for several months. They will probably spend the winter in Mexico before resuming their world travels next year. Obviously, they were more successful than we were in financial planning. They are traveling the world while sleeping in beds every night. We can only afford the ground for the majority of nights.
This gave us a bit more energy to know we are not alone in our choices. In fact, we have met so many people the last few days that told us we were inspiring because of our choices and willingness to take the risk to hike and see the world. We have been very lucky and blessed.
As we got to the top of the last climb and only had 5 miles left to town, we got our biggest surprise, yet. Steve, who we met yesterday finishing the TRT, had decided to come out and meet us for the final downhill to town. This is the first celebration we have ever had at the completion of a trail, and the most (pleasant) memorable finish to a trail. (Our freezing finish to the AT will be hard to ever forget…we’ve tried).
We walked to town with Steve and got to know each other’s stories more that just a 45 minute encounter on the side of the trail. When we return to finish the PCT, we will get together with Steve (henceforth known as “Strider”) and maybe get to hike together for a few days. We shared celebratory burgers at BridgeTender on the Truckee River. This was both the start and finish location of our TRT thru-hike. Thank you Strider for recognizing our accomplishment and making it special.
We’d also like to thank all the other people who have made our journey magical this year. (In no particular order) To Miles and Linda who brought us all of our supplies through the first half of Oregon when the Covid was at the height of uncertainty. Linda also introduced us to CBD topical oil which proved to be a godsend for our feet and other aching body parts. The drive to Olallie was a harrowing experience way above and beyond which was just one of many trips they made for our tramily.
To John and Jenny who opened their house for 2 nights to a group of strangers. They fed us, clothed us, and washed us (not necessarily in that order…I’m pretty sure the washing came first). We hope they are safely returned to their home by now. They were forced to evacuate because of the fires in Oregon.
To Karen and Pete who rescued us from the fires in Belden and gave us refuge in their home for several days while we figured out the “next step.” Karen and Pete tried to educate us to the trees of a mixed conifer forest (Bunny still remembers most of what she learned, but I’m a hopeless case). They showed us a side of CA we didn’t know existed. We had a great 4 days in their B&B (which they asked us not to share with other PCT hikers).
And no thank you is complete without a huge shout out to our personal Trail Angel, Digit Alice. Digit was Bunny’s childhood friend who adopted us on our AT adventure. She has watched over us ever since sending us surprise goodies on the trail and opening her home to us in the off season. She kept us completely supplied on the TRT. Thank you, Digit.
We also like to thank the wonderful friends we got to hike with this year. To Dancing Dog who made her 100 mile mark in a single outing. She stretched her comfort zone the most of all of us. She survived getting lost in the woods, crossed glacial rivers, walked on scary snow fields, and went the longest she had ever gone without bathing in her life. We’re glad to have witnessed the transformation to hiker trash.
To Charcoal B and Struggles who we hiked with from Old Station to Belden. We met them last year while hiking the Washington Section of the PCT. Not only did we hike with them, they invited us to spend time with them in their beautiful home in Maui. We spent 3 weeks before being evicted the day that Hawaii closed due to Covid. It was because of Struggles cousin, Karen, that we survived to hike the TRT. We had planned on hiking longer with our Hawaiian Ohana but the fires changed that. I’d also like to ask everyone to keep Charcoal B in your thoughts and prayers this year. He will undergo surgery when they return to HI. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see them on the trail next year.
Lastly, we need to mention the pair that abandoned us when the kitchen got “too hot.” Bear and Sassy have become two of our best friends and our best hiking companions. Together, we have hiked over 1000 miles together, and I do mean together. Our paces match up so well that we hike and talk together all day long. We have had the best laughs with these great friends. We look forward to many more miles of hiking with them. Until our next hike…
EFG