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