PCT day 53 - mile 1082 to mile 1091 (Lake Tahoe South)

"Don't love the world or the things of the world. Agape." John, chapter 4 - Old Goat.

Today initially was supposed to be a short stop at South Lake Tahoe and swift return to the trail, but the plans as you might have noticed already are often rewired here and planning anything more than two days in advance is pointless.

Initially things worked as planned, we hiked remaining eight miles to SLT which were fully covered in snow confusing the path, swarms of mosquitos and to be honest were a tough stretch for a descent to town. We caught a quick hitchhike to town thanks to Jacky from Georgetown who was going to Lake Tahoe to do her grocery shopping, she dropped us of by Raley's Fresh Market. We got a Taco Bell, and went to my favourite place in town - the laundromat! I started the washing, put the phone on charge and went to do the resupply.

After about an hour everything was done so I decided to call the number of trail angel Owen texted me (it's usually way easier to get a hitchhike to town than the other way around). The lady on the phone said that she can pick me up from outside the store in 15 minutes, perfect!

When she arrived I had this idea pop into my head to ask her if she hosts hikers as well and she did! So I went with it and decided to stay at her place, it just felt like a good decision.

Once we arrived at the house (Owen wasn't initially with us as he was considering getting a bus back home, but he joined in later) we met her husband Ron trail name Old Goat, who was just finishing painting their house and the Mad Girl Madison a vicious toothless chihuahua who's only mission in life was to bark at and bite the PCT hikers! :) Our hosts trail name was Mad Ukulele.

We set our tents in their back garden, had a shower and a long overdue beard trim (I now look 20% less like a homeless person), I helped Ukulele preparing a split pea and millet soup for the evening and went to have a walk by the Lake Tahoe beach. On the way there we had an additional McDonalds (which I probably should have skipped) and a beer outside a supermarket, when we were drinking it a cashier we had a chat with came outside and presented us with two cigars she just got given but didn't wanted, haha. Then we had a stroll by the beach and returned to the house for dinner.

At this point we were informed that tonight our hosts are running a Bible study and we are welcome to join (oh we also been given shirts and shorts while our clothes has been washing which made us look pretty funny). There was nine of us in total: myself, Owen, Old Goat, Mad Ukulele and their five Bible study friends - we ate the dinner together and while others went away to ponder religion we stayed outside with Ukulele talking about hiking.

I was so full of food at this point that my belly started to hurt, it was a poor decision to eat that much in one go. I decided to join the Bible study group after awhile and it was an interesting experience, I definitely have an affinity towards religion and enjoy discussing it with others. Group dispersed around 8pm which is widely regarded as 'hikers midnight'. We hid our food inside the house as apparently there is a lot of friendly bear neighbours in town and went to sleep.

It was an unexpectedly enjoyable day.

Owen and Mad Ukulele:
Lake Tahoe beach:
Obligatory laundromat pictures:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Appalachian Trail (day 77) - Hikers Welcome Hostel to Eliza Brook Campsite / mile 1816

Image
"After hiking in White Mountain's everything else seems easy" Sue First day in the White's, I can confirm now that terrain here is unlike anything we faced on the AT so far. In the morning I had a coffee and a breakfast muffin at the hostel, surprisingly despite the early hour Tum Tum, Iceman, Yukon and Gutsy were up as well. Weather was supposed to be a mixed bag but we were all determined to climb Mt Moosilauke today. I headed out and started the 4000 feet climb first, it was a long, steady uphill going through well maintained terrain, problems only started at the top. Day was quite windy, combined with the rain and exposed, alpine environment, it became a recipe for a very wet, cold and uncomfortable time. At the top wind was pushing me left and right and rain was cutting across with great speed, I was completely drenched in just few moments. Luckily exposed section didn't last too long and the AT dived into the pine forest soon after. ...
Read more

Appalachian Trail (day 12) - Icewater Sorin Shelter to Cosby Knob Shelter / mile 231

Image
Today could be described in one word - windy. And it was not your refreshing summer breeze, it was the kind of wind that chills your bones and the moment you feel it you want to turn around and go back home, except there's no home and you can't turn around. The food I hanged last night was completely frozen, it was funny to crunch on a solid snickers and granola bars for breakfast. At least it was sunny, I've put all my layers on and started hiking. Trail looked really good, I could see small patches of snow and icicles probably formed last night hanging from the bushes. Later during the day you could see the damage last years hurricane has done, fallen trees, layers of uncovered rock showing that there was not much trees could hang on to beneath, trail was trying to manoeuvre around the blow downs and disturbed earth. I haven't met many people today but I hiked alongside Blazer, a friendly, older American guy. He also hiked PCT, so w...
Read more

Appalachian Trail (day 76) - Lambert Ridge to Hikers Welcome Hostel / mile 1799

Image
Hot, humid, stormy day. My goal was to place myself withing the short distance before the climb to Mount Moosilauke. AT in New Hampshire definitely prooved from the very begining that it means business. The first and second climb of the day:  Smarts Mountain and Mt Cube were steep and rocky, the path was muddy, overgrown and not very well marked, combined with the hot and humid weather I was moving at a snail's pace. Views were quite rewarding though and after the initial struggle trail got easier for the rest of the day. I've seen yet another two bear cubs, no mother in sight this time around which got me a bit spooked. Cubs climbed so high up the tree I could hardly see them from the trail, they were so incredibly agile! I've taken a blurry video of the couple as I thought it was fairly safe to do so, that's 10 black bears I've seen so far on Appalachian Trail.  At one point I took a break  by the road and tried to dry my feet a...
Read more