Rachel and Benny Hike the PCT: Sierra City to South Lake Tahoe

Transcribed: September 20, 2013
From the Journal: September 13, 2013
This morning was awesome because we got to sleep in. We had to; the store doesn’t open until 9:30 and the Post Office at 10:00. We did our resupply, got our packages and had amazing breakfast burritos and real coffee. We rolled out of town about 12:30. Life seemed very hard and walking all day seemed very daunting. I think we were both pretty low on energy today. Maybe it was the Jager shots. We almost set up camp after five miles, because it seemed like it might rain. We did carry on, met some awesome section hikers from southern California and it did not rain a substantial amount. We set up camp at about 7, hoping to get a good night’s sleep and reset ourselves to be up and hiking early. The sky continues to be a little ominous, forcing us to set up our tent and ending a couple week long streak of cowboy camping.

September 14, 2013

We were mostly successful at getting an early start this morning (walking by 6:20). It was sunny this morning and hot very early in the day. We climbed above 8,000 feet for the first time on the official trail. We had incredible 360 degree views, the clouds were gorgeous and you can tell we are nearing the Sierra by the rocky features that surround us. We ran into a three or four generation family section hiking. As the day wore on the clouds that were making for such lovely pictures continued to build and then rained and hailed all over us. This was a little miserable but mercifully short-lived. I suspect there will be more inclement weather in our future. There is a chill in the air at night, and you can feel summer dwindling. All day long we rolled up and down between 7,000 and 8,500 feet, which was pretty spectacular. We made 24.5 miles by shortly after 6 pm, ending at the Peter Grubb Hut. The hut is maintained by the Sierra Club and used in the winter for ski and snowshoeing groups. We checked it out but opted to camp outside where the light is bright and the stars are above us. Since the sky cleared, we are back to cowboy camping!

September 15, 2013

Today marks three months on trail and a year that Ben and I first hiked on the PCT together, a 24 mile stretch north of Snoqualmie Pass. It was a special day and also a very hard day. We hiked to Donner Pass and then somehow missed a PCT trail junction and ended up on another trail near Donner Peak. After a few lost hour and a few extra miles, we found our way back to the PCT. A very helpful pair of women gave us directions and yummy freeze-dried vegetables. Lunch also included a celebratory Dr. Pepper. Once we started walking again, the trail got really beautiful, which slowly ebbed away the frustration of being lost and wasting a bunch of time. The trail follows a narrow ridgeline and it was pretty windy, but more in an invigorating than in a blow you off the ridge kind of way. I was listening to Mumford and Sons, which is excellent ridge top music, although the lyrics are truly heart wrenching. We walked right through Squaw Valley Ski Resort right at sunset, which brought back fond memories of skiing there with Dad and BJ as a kid. And we saw a coyote only 20 feet away. We met our goal of walking 25 PCT miles (and maybe 28 for the day) although it took until 9:45 pm and was pretty painful as the evening wore on. I certainly have some new blisters. One reason we are both frustrated is that we have less than an abundance of food. With more climbing, colder nights and higher altitudes, Ben and I are both hungrier.

September 16, 2103

Due to our exhaustion, we slept in this morning and watched light fill the sky from the comfort of the quilt. We were walking by 8, bound and determined to do a 30 mile day. In the morning we walked along a narrow ridgeline with stunning views of Oceanic Lake Tahoe. This section of the PCT overlaps with the Tahoe Rim Trail. In the afternoon we walked into the Desolation Wilderness, a section I have been super excited about! Darkness fell as we moved out of forest into open country. It was a little disappointing to walk past all of these lakes along the trail and not see them, but the reality is that we are getting short on hours of daylight to do the miles we need to do. The nearly full moon illuminated Fontanellis Lake as we walked by, the moonlight catching the waves on the water. The stars were brilliant and you could make out the outline of the granite cliffs rising above the lake. We climbed out of the lake basin up to Dicks Pass, as it got windier and windier. We topped out at about 9,400 feet. It was 10:30, we’d walked over 30 miles, and I was exhausted. We set up camp in the most sheltered area we could find and will try to sleep as best we can in this windstorm.

September 17, 2013

With the wind still howling this morning, we woke up early as town is beckoning. All in all, the trail has been good to us lately, and I am feeling like I am going to need to get some thicker skin. I can only imagine that the weather will get harsher as we walk on.

Once I begrudgingly left the tent, I was blown away by the beauty of the day. Clouds were flying over the pass, turning from lemon-yellow to pale orange to a dusty pink. Seeing the sun’s first rays illuminate the granite peaks surrounding us, I can understand why John Muir calls the Sierra the Range of Light. I hobbled my way down the rocky trail with sore feet. We walked past all of these granite peaks and beautiful alpine lakes. It is breathtaking country. They don’t make mountains like this at home. One of the lakes we walked past was called Lake Aloha, and it was a brilliant blue interspersed with rocky islands. I had to go swimming even though it was still very windy and not necessarily what would be considered warm. I didn’t stay in long, and it was certainly invigorating. I feel like I need to soak up the dwindling summer. We made our way down to Echo Lake and got a ride to South Lake Tahoe from a couple who was backpacking. Once in town a whole bunch of wonderful things happened, like flip flops, baby back ribs, ice cream, eggplant parmesan, red wind and sleeping in a bed. We will take another much needed rest day tomorrow.