June 28

Bart, a cyclist we met from Norway drove BOSA (bypasses obvious signs and arrows) Gone Fishing and I to the trail head. He has been in the US mountain biking for the past 3 months and we enjoyed hearing about his adventures. We were back on the trail headed to Sierra City by 9am.



Thanks Bart!

We hiked a respectable 21 miles by 730pm with plans to reach Sierra City tomorrow before the PO closes. We met up with day hikers and at the
Peter Grubb Ski Hut met hiker
Rob who just started section hiking this portion of the PCT today.
Bosa, Firefly, and Chris came jogging by us shortly before 7.
Then we saw them setting up camp by a creek-- too buggy/swampy for us so we pressed on another mile and a half which proved to be a good decision. We found a great campsite on the ridge, a slight breeze kept the mosquitos away. We had dinner by campfire and cowboy camped with full view of the milky-way. I wish I could get a pic of it for you but you will have to settle for the ones below.







Peter Grubb Cabin Hikers can overnight here






Campsite














Heart

June 25-27 To Soda Spring

Thanks to my daughter Stefanie, and the time and trouble she went through to find the right device to recharge my phone from the trail, I now have that ability and will no longer have to send blurry pics of pictures from my other camera. Thank-you Stef! And thank you Tania for all the family pics and sweet notes sent in my resupply boxes.




Stefanie and Tania My Trail Angels from Texas

Gone Fishing and I made our way from Echo Lake to Soda Springs. We are now at mile 1155. The temperature was cool and windy hence we were not bothered by mosquitos. Views were fabulous see for yourself...
















Lunch on a rock and waterfall
It doesn't get much better than this!












Desolation Wilderness and Lake Tahoe
The PCT and the Tahoe Rim Trail



Trail Maintenance Volunteers



Sunrise over Lake Tahoe from my tent




Wildflowers on the trail




Gone Fishing taking a picture




Trail angel Keri picked us up from the trail and drove us to Soda Springs today




Heart

June 23, 24 Lake Tahoe and Reno

A week ago my gps stopped working so I decided to go to the REI store in Reno today to replace it. I rented a car and Gone Fishing and I took the hour drive to Reno. It was worth the trip as I got a new GPS and a new sleeping bag liner. Gone Fishing was finally able to find a new pair of hiking pants small enough to fit his waist, he's been holding up his pants with a piece of rope. It is not uncommon when you are walking 20 plus miles a day to be down to muscle and bone by now.


A view of the lake from the car on the way to Reno

We caught up on emails, blogging, and phone calls, washed our clothes and repacked . Since the post office is closed in Sunday we are hoping to find someone who will mail out the GPS to Halfmile. He will load the waypoints on it and send it to me in Sierra City. His waypoints are accurate and coincide with his maps of the PCT.
On Sunday we got an early start, and thanks to Dan and Alisha at Avis my package is on its way to Halfmile and Dan even drove us to the trailhead.




Echo Lake Store
Gone Fishing at the picnic table



Echo Lake



Gone Fishing and me



Lake Tahoe



Reaching 1100 mile mark- I'm the one on the right:)



Heart

June 22 Trail Magic Extraordinaire

Gone Fishing and I hiked 5 miles to Echo Lake store and post office. We ran in to Ontime - he was kust getting ready to get back on the trail and was finishing up a half-gallon of ice cream (a familiar PCT hiker sight). We got our resupply boxes, had lunch and then set out to find a ride to Lake Tahoe. Ken and Sue came to our rescue. They drove us to our motel and invited us to have dinner with them at their campsite/trailer. We were honored!
They picked us up from our motel at 6 and we shared a delicious feast that they prepared. Prime rib, pasta, salad, wine, all the fixings and a delicious peach pie. We had a wonderful time sharing our hiking stories and answering their questions about the PCT. Thanks for you kindness and generosity trail angels Sue and Ken we only hope we have an opportunity to return the favor some day.




Trail Angels Ken and Sue

Thankful Heart

June 17-21

I made an error and was off a day on this blog. We actually got to KM at 5pm on Sunday June 17. Had a great Fathers Day 7 course prime rib dinner. On Monday Jun 18 we spent the morning preparing for the next leg of our journey. Unfortunately there was no phone or Internet service at the resort so I could not update my blog. Nevertheless our day was spent planning our resupply strategy, getting our laundry done and our favorite pastime eating. We have both lost considerable inches and try to recoup our losses in town. After lunch we got a ride from x-rodeo rider "no sweat" in his antique car that never shifted out of second gear all the way to the trailhead.


No Sweat taking us to the trailhead

We hiked until dusk.
Scenery was beautiful but unimaginable how last years hikers navigated it in the heavy snow. We crossed several snow fields but nothing like what they faced last year.

On June 19 and 20 was more of the same perfect weather and scenery. See for Yourself...










June 21 is Hike Naked Day so to celebrate I ...


Hiked Naked




Just Kidding...

Light-Hearted

June 14-16

On June 14,15, and 16 we hiked through wet, mosquito infested areas with temperatures above normal. The trail was more difficult to follow and were referred to our GPS frequently. I fell off a log crossing a creek in 3' water so the last 3 hours were soggy ones for me. The weather cooled, the wind picked up, the mosquitos disappeared and the scenery changed as we approached Sonora pass / Kennedy Meadows Resort. We celebrated mile 1000, then got a hitch and commentary from community do-gooder Tom. (Thanks Tom!)
Tomorrow we plan to take care of business and leave mid afternoon To get back on the trail.














Mile 1000!!!


Kennedy Meadows Resort



Heart

June 13 Tuolumne Meadows

Today Gone Fishing and I reached Tuolumne and spent the day sorting through our resupply boxes, eating, and reuniting with a lot of hikers. I had 5 boxes to sort through so it took most of the day. We sat at a picnic table outside the store/cafe and talked to a lot of hikers passing through. There was no cell or internet service hence the delay in updating this blog. Several day hikers came by to ask us questions about our hike. Just a few minutes after arriving I saw Go Fish and Fidget. We had a great time catching up on the whereabouts of our mutual friends. I learned Mile A Minute was off the trail. Apparently he had enough of the cold/snow and went home. Orange Ranger broke his ankle while navigating over a blow down and is also off trail. Burning Daylight is either off trail or a few days ahead reports were mixed, Flapjack is off trail due to a family emergency, Alex and Dan were still hiking with Go Fish and Fidget and doing well. We rode the shuttle to the lodge, got cleaned up and hand washed our clothes, then hopped back on the shuttle to hang out our clothes to dry, and get dinner at the cafe before hitting the trail again. Just as we were ready to leave Roberto showed up. This was his final destination. We were so happy to see him before he headed back to Italy.

We headed out to the trail and hiked until dusk. I entertained Gone Fishing with funny stories and fond memories about my dad. Today would have been his 83rd birthday. He died last November. I laughed and cried recalling those memories and was glad to have Someone to share them with. We found an excellent stealth camp spot on a huge mountain of granite. With a cool breeze and no mosquitos we were able to cowboy camp. A first for me!







Campsite

Heart

June 12 Gone Fishing Goes Fishing

Hiking to Tuolumne was a pleasant experience. Gone Fishing could hardly contain his enthusiasm as he watched the fish jump out of the Tuolumne Meadows Creek as they rose to feed. I don't know how but I managed to curtail my interest and keep us on-track for Tuolumne Meadows - I think it had something to do with with the visions of real food, and a shower that were dancing in my head. Then as luck would have it we passed 2 JMT hikers in the early evening who were fly fishing. They couldn't help noticing Gone Fishing's more than polite interest and offered him a rod. Ear to ear grin was on his face the rest of the evening as he casted his rod and got his long over due fishing fix. I was happy taking the pictures.











Heart

June 11 Thanks To The Trail Crews

Gone Fishing and I left Mammoth at 9am, getting a ride to the trailhead from the local shuttle. We hiked through the worst blowdown areas as we headed toward Tuolumne. Forest Service crews were out as well as PCTA volunteers. They worked non-stop to clear the way for the hikers and have done a fantastic job. Without their help I can't imagine how we would have gotten through. The devastation is incredible.






The most amazing part is they were using hand tools! Thank you one and all!
We hiked through Devil's Postpile which gets its name from the look of the granite. It looks like a fence of wooden posts.



At 5pm, we stopped and fought off the first sign of mosquitos to date while we made our dinner, then hiked on to mile 918 where we cowboy camped under the stars-- a first for me.


As I wrote this blog I realized I had service so am sending this to you tonight.
Happy Trails Heart