Day 71, Magic at the Pass

Part 3, Northern California, Day 71

Magic at the Pass

Miles: 23.82

PCT Mile 1092.9

*****Days 68-71 are up. To continue the journey, go to day 68.
day 70 is in the middle of the menu

Last night was amazing. The fire illuminated the Eastern skyline and the stars lit up the sky. My camp spot was quite special, and I woke up at 5 am to an amazing sunset. I began my hike at 6:30. I spent some time searching for water because I was so thirsty. I should add that now that I'm in Northern California, water is less abundant than it was in the Sierra. I ran out last night and went to sleep thirsty. I forgot to mention yesterday that I screwed up mapping a water source and was forced to filter water from a nasty stagnant puddle no bigger than a football, as Logan watched and laughed. It was gross.

The smoke slowly began to fill the valley. I noticed that the wind shifted this morning and was blowing West, toward the PCT. I learned that the fire had grown to 19,000 acres overnight and was 0% contained. Good thing I went through it when I did!

This stretch of wilderness is utterly gorgeous. Too bad for all the hikers who skipped it and hitched around to Tahoe.

Logan and I hiked our separate ways since we had different plans for town. It was great hiking with him and I'll see him again for sure. At 10am I came to Carson Pass and found trail magic! 

Now that I'm out of the Sierra, trail magic has returned. The docents from the museum/store had food and drinks for us hikers. I ate a delicious apple, homemade  cookies, and a bunch of other crap. 

I actually had a stomach ache from all the   food I ate. There was a scale there and I weigh 150. I don't ever remember weighing that little. Maybe middle school. I should eat more. 

I learned a lot from the docents about Kit Carson, the area, and the Gold Rush. What amazing history. An hour later I took off towards Tahoe. 

There were legions of day hikers. They all asked me about my thru hike and gave me high fives and stuff. Thru hikers develop big egos, and these day hikers catered to mine. I must admit, It feels good! I think everyone has a desire for adventure in some form, so maybe people like seeing a real life adventure, or something. 

The trail was unreal. It was like I was in The Sound of Music, without all the music.

Smoke filled the sky, and local day hikers apologizes that I couldn't see their wild in it's true form. I thought it was beautiful anyways!

As the day wore on, I began to wear out. By day's end, I would hike 23 miles. That's 75 miles in two and a half days, and over 30 of those miles was through a forest fire. I was done. Mentally and physically Exhausted. I decided to race to highway 50 and hitch to Tahoe tonight instead of waiting until tomorrow. 

I stumbled for hours until I hit the road at 5pm. I met a super nice woman who's hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail in a week and she gave me a ride 10 miles to South Lake Tahoe. I'm way too tired to explain too much more, so tune in next time for my big zero's.