Days 84-100

August 9 — day 100
Camped off trail mile 1331.3 in Chester at the Lutheran Church hiked 25.9 miles today.
It was a relatively easy day. Got a bit of trail magic in the form of three giant cinnamon rolls offered to me by two day-hikers I met mid-morning. Made it to the highway and had an easy hitch into Chester where I was dropped off at the train-themed Burger Depot. It was a short walk to the laundromat where I ran into Safari and 2Can. There was a public pay shower there so in no time I was all cleaned up. I walked over to the Lutheran church which offered free camping to PCT hikers and set up my tent at about 8:30. There were a surprisingly large number of thruhikers staying there.

August 8 — day 99
Camped mile 1305.4 hiked 25.1 miles today.
I dropped way down to Belden and ran into the French part of the tramily breaking camp there. Had breakfast with Sam and Safari. Belden was gearing up for a Funk festival that weekend so was super busy. I picked up a bit more super-expensive food there and snagged a partially-full fuel canister from the hiker box. It was another hard day for me with a steep hot climb out of town. I got to my campsite at Cold Springs at 8:30 exhausted. After a hot bowl of instant mashed potatoes with added cheese I slept like a baby.

August 7 — day 98
Camped mile 1280.3 hiked 21.8 miles today.
Got to Lookout Rock early in the morning. Great views from there and for a while heading north. Hitched out to the Lakeshore Resort on Bucks Lake. Since I had got there before the restaurant opened at 11:00, I had a beer while waiting. It wasn’t the easiest hitch back to the trail. It was hot climbing out of Bucks Summit. The trail was really beautiful walking along ridges with fantastic views. Had an excellent cowboy campsite for the night.

August 6 — day 97
Camped mile 1258.5 hiked 28.7 miles today.
It was another hard day for me. The highlight was a swim and rinsing clothes in the Middle Fork of the Feather River. I finally caught up to the whole tramily there. It was a very hard climb out of the canyon compounded by running out of fuel before I could cook my dinner. I was a little behind the tramily where I camped.

August 5 — day 96
Camped mile 1229.8 hiked 24.5 miles today.
We had heard great things about the Packer Lake Lodge so when I caught up with the tramily in the morning Safari, 2Can and I walked over there only to find that they were closed. Crestfallen I had a PB sandwich for breakfast instead. It was a hard day for me and I camped behind the others at a road crossing with a trail crew I had met just before camping. I was super exhausted and went to bed immediately.

August 4 — day 95
Camped mile 1205.4 hiked 10 miles today.
Had another mediocre meal of a breakfast burrito at the Red Moose. There was no fuel available at the General Store so I had to pick out mostly food not requiring cooking. There was a poor section of expensive food to choose from. In the early afternoon I tried unsuccessfully to eat another “gut buster.” Back on the trail I hiked till the early evening. After I set up the others decided to press on a bit further in the dark.

August 3 — day 94
Stayed off-trail in Sierra City mile 1192.7 hiked 24.2 miles today.
Hiked hard in other to get to Sierra City in time to pick up two packages at the General Store before they closed for the day. One with new Altra Lone Peak 4’s and another with miscellaneous stuff including maps and paper guides till Ashland and socks. Managed to also order their famous one pound “gut buster” burger with fries. Met the French Ninja who had arrived a few hours earlier. Used the free shower at the community center. The rest of the tramily eventually showed up and all went to eat at the Buckhorn with its lovely patio and mediocre food. We all camped in a local’s parking lot.

August 2 — day 93
Camped mile 1168.5 hiked 21.9 miles today.
Descended steeply down to Donner Pass Road and then walked over to the Donner Ski Ranch for breakfast. Unfortunately they didn’t open till 11:00 so I was there a couple of hours early. Eventually the tramily all showed up. We decided to hitch to Donner Lake but there was no traffic so we ended up waiting for the Ranch to open up. They offer a free 40-ounce malt liquor to thruhikers so of course we took them up on that and all ordered lunch. I certainly didn’t finish mine but it made the next few miles extra challenging. Nonetheless we made good progress. There were tremendous numbers of mosquitos towards the end of the day including at camp.

August 1 — day 92
Camped mile 1146.6 hiked 24.5 miles today.
There were spectacular views hiking today of Lake Tahoe. Camped just north of Tinker Nob.

July 31 — day 91
Camped mile 1122.1 hiked 24.8 miles today.
It was a beautiful climb up to Dick’s Pass. The snow was surprisingly slippery. My shoes are worn out and torn up. I’m fortunately getting new ones in Sierra City. I hiked quickly ahead of the others and got to camp at about 4:30.

July 30 — day 90
Camped mile 1098.5 hiked 6.2 miles today.
We had a going-away breakfast at Bert’s for Cheesus. I again had CFS and it was excellent. We hitched out to the Echo Lake and Chalet. It was a short beautiful hike to Aloha Lake where all except French Ninja camped.

July 29 — day 89
Continued staying off-trail in S. Lake Tahoe at the High Country Lodge zero PCT miles today.
I had my best Chicken Fried Steak breakfast at Bert’s. I did a resupply and then spent most of the day resting. We all went out to Artemis restaurant for a fantastic Mediterranean dinner.

July 28 — day 88
Stayed off-trail in S. Lake Tahoe mile 1090.0 hiked 13.1 miles today.
We woke at 4:00 in order to get into town early. It was a beautiful morning walking. I passed several campsites that were crowded with tents. We are really passing lots of thruhikers who have flipped. I met Cheesus and French Ninja at the Echo Summit Trailhead. We were unsuccessful in contacting trail angels due to lack of phone service but were super lucky in getting a free ride into S. Lake Tahoe with an Uber driver after he had dropped off people at the trailhead. We were dropped off at McDonalds (at Cheesus’s and French Ninja’s request) near our motel. In McDonalds we were offered free breakfast by a former thruhiker and current trail angel. While we were there 2Can, Safari, Boo and AMC showed up. I did laundry at the Tahoe Suds Laundromat which was remarkable in that it had the fastest internet connection I’ve experienced on the trail.

July 27 — day 87
Camped mile 1076.9 hiked 23.1 miles today.
We were relieved to have Safari and 2Can catch up to us as we were breaking camp. The day was clear and gorgeous. The landscape was rugged volcanic softened by the profusion of wildflowers. I got to the Carson Pass trailhead and met up with Cheesus and French Ninja. The staff at the trailhead were also trail angels providing us with fresh fruit and soft drinks. I waited here for the rest of the tramily to arrive while my other companions continued on. After they arrive exhausted we camp just after the road crossing.

July 26 — day 86
Camped mile 1053.8 hiked 23 miles today.
The wildflowers and volcanic landscape were beautiful. There were low clouds but thankfully no rain today. I again camped with Boo and AMC while Cheesus wanted to push on to do a 30+ mile day.

July 25 — day 85
Camped mile 1030.8 hiked 13.9 miles today.
Had the chicken fried steak power breakfast before leaving on the 10:00 shuttle with my tramily and a few other thruhikers back to the Sonora Pass trailhead. It was beautiful with loads of flowers climbing out of the pass. We got our first rain in more than a month. Ended up camping with Boo and AMC. French Ninja was somewhere ahead and Safari, 2Can and Cheesus somewhere behind. We had a nice campfire and eventually the rain stopped.

July 24 — day 84
Stayed off-trail mile 1016.9 at Kennedy Meadows North Resort zero PCT miles today.
It was a day of eating, resting, and resupplying. I was happy to see Safari, 2Can, Cheesus, French Ninja, Boo and AMC arrive today. We are all planning on getting back on trail tomorrow.