There were just too many reasons to not pass Bear Lake Outlet. 1) We’re hiking with Bear. 2) We’re carrying bear canisters. 3) We want to see a bear. 4) It took Bear to coax me into camp. And, most importantly, 5) I couldn’t possibly have taken another step yesterday.
Once again, we were first out of camp at 8:45. It’s no accident. We’re so slow, we need the head start, especially on large climbs like we had today. For an in shape hiker, this would have been a pleasant rise to the back side of the ski areas above Lake Tahoe. To us, not so much. As usual, Bear and Sassy passed us before top. We expected Strider to pass us also, but he’s to the point he realizes he can stay in camp an hour after we leave and still catch us in time for lunch.
Once we got to the top, we discovered we had cell signal enough to call ahead to South Lake Tahoe to make reservations for Mellow Mountain Hostel on the 7th and 8th. Strider still hadn’t caught up to us which caused me to worry a bit. I decided to call him as well to make sure he was okay. As I expected, he was just a single turn of the trail behind us. I think he took a short nap after we left.
Something special happened to us today. Fortunately, it was on a level section of trail when it did (I almost appear like a capable hiker on level and downhill sections of trail). We were recognized by a couple heading north. “Is that Easily Forgotten and Bunny Tracks?” I didn’t recognize the person who asked, so I asked him to take off his sunglasses hoping a name would come to mind. “Don’t worry, you don’t know us. We recognize you from your videos.” This is only the third time this has happened to us, that someone knew who we were from our social media empire. Donkey and Chia actively looked for older hikers to get a feel for what to expect before they set out on the PCT. We definitely qualify as older.
Nay, nay, nay. There is an actual older hiker on the trail this year. Chia told us Billy Goat is out trying to complete his 9th and 10th hikes on the PCT. He’s 82 years old and heading our way. They passed him several days ago. They said we’d recognize him because of his long beard and skinny legs that don’t look like they’d support a person. I filed this info away hoping to meet him. He’s out here at 82 doing what I can barely do at 57 (the youngest in calendar years of our group, but most feeble, by far).
We stopped for lunch at TRT/PCT junction. I remembered this area from last year and knew this area had trees and shade. This junction also has symbolic meaning to our group. This is where Strider leaves us on the PCT and starts hiking the TRT. We may be walking together for the next 40 miles, but we’ll be on completely different trails. This is the true start of Strider’s Tahoe Rim Trail thru-hike.
After lunch, we ran into Cheerful from the former East Germany. When we heard her accent, we quizzed her on where she was from. We spent almost 3 weeks exploring Germany in 2017. She told us where she was from, but we didn’t recognize the town. When we listed all the cities we had visited, she told us she was very near to Wismar. This was a very cool city on the Baltic Sea that has hidden passages to neighborhoods that cut through houses. The princess that ruled the city was worried about affordable housing for the poor, so she mandated that some courtyards be modified to provide small houses. The only way into these neighborhoods was to cut passages into lower levels of the homes that surrounded them. We had a great time finding and exploring these hidden areas.
Because I had been so feeble yesterday, Bear came up with a multifaceted plan to cover all options today. We had a bail out campsite at 8.4 miles with a targeted campsite at 10 miles. He had a stretch goal of camping at 12.4 miles. The only option he hadn’t considered was the chance that I might bounce back a bit. We ended up hiking 13.4 miles today to keep us relatively close to schedule.
The main reason we did so much better today was the lower temperatures with partial cloud cover. There is a possibility that I might be starting to get used to the altitude. It will take me a long time to build some cardio and lose weight, both of which will help immensely. Until that happens, I will continue to drag everyone else down to my level.
The campsite was gorgeous. There were lots of flats spots with downed logs separating the tent sites (which make great sitting and cooking areas). A stream was close by so we could rinse off and get good, cold drinking water. Bunny asked “why is no one here?” Almost as soon as we set up our tents on the choicest spots, other hikers started showing up. If you build it they will come.
The mosquitoes were thin enough that we could eat dinner outside of our tents. Tonight turned out to be “the great Spicy Southwestern Skillet debate.” I tried to offer up a trade for Stowaway Gourmet Chili with Bear and Sassy because Bunny was scared of the “spicy” in the name of the meal. I tried to convince her this was Backpacker Pantry spicy which only means “not bland.” I was trying to work out a deal that if Bunny didn’t like the Spicy Skillet, she might be able to trade with Sassy or Bear for half of their chili. It turned out, neither were willing to part with the chili. Instead, they were carrying the same meal and decided to cook it as well, so if Bunny didn’t like our skillet, she could trade for theirs. Turns out, and I couldn’t get Bunny to say it directly, but, I was right. Spicy merely means not bland. She ate it.
About 8, the skeeters came out in full force. We might have liked to stay up a bit longer (it’s hard to go to bed when the sun is still up). The little bastards can just make life miserable if they choose to. It was close enough to hiker midnight for us to all turn in. I don’t think Strider is used to going to bed so early.
EFG