Week 9: out of Yosemite and into Tahoe
I’m finally getting around to updating the blog about the rest of my time on trail! It’s been a few months at this point, so I’m heavily referencing my journal entries from each day.
Day 57 | 7/6/24 | 953.9-974
I had a chill morning to myself, feeling pretty good despite doing lots of miles the day before. My group was a few miles behind me and I ended up taking a nice long break at Miller Lake to wait for everyone to catch up. I went for a swim, ate some snacks, and ended up inflating my sleeping pad and going for a float. Though it was nice to have a morning to myself I was very happy to see my group. After a decent break we continued hiking up and over Benson pass, stopping to take dips to cool off in the many rivers and creeks we passed. Today I noticed that it felt like we were out of the harsh but stunning environment of the high Sierra — the mountains looked softer and there were more meadows and less bare rock and snow. We stopped again on the other side of the pass for another swim in Smedberg Lake. The cold water was so refreshing after the climb! We camped at Benson Lake (yes, I took another swim before bed), which was a slight detour, but camping on the little beach was worth it!
Day 58 | 7/7/24 | 974-997.4
As always, I hiked through some beautiful scenery today, but it was overall a really challenging day. There were many steep ascents and descents, it was so hot, and the mosquitoes were especially horrendous. I was mostly hiking on my own and it was a mental struggle! But I pushed through and it was nice making it to camp with everyone — we were able to have a camp fire today and it was lovely to be able to get a break from the mosquitoes!
Accidentally captured a mosquito in frame!
Day 59 | 7/8/24 | 997.4-1018.1
This morning was similar to the past few mornings; we ascended Dorothy Lake Pass, which marked the border of Yosemite, and there was a small patch of mosquito hell on the other side. After a few miles and another ascent we passed into suddenly new terrain, and it was incredibly stunning. There was just huge panoramic views of the mountains, the trail was really nice, and it honestly felt like I was on top of the world. The trail really felt like the Pacific Crest Trail today. I heard from Isabella and Brand-Aid that others in our group decided to push on to town, and I ended up hiking the last few miles to Sonora Pass (the road junction) to try to catch up so I had friends to hitch with! We ended up getting a ride to Pinecrest where we stayed with the trail angels Sailor and Cookies at their cabin. Hanging out at the cabin with so many other hikers was so much fun, and we were very grateful to Sailor and Cookies for dinner, showers, laundry, and of course letting us stay the night!
Day 60 | 7/9/24 | 1018.1-1030.7
After waking up and enjoying breakfast with everyone, my uncle Aaron and cousins Courtney and Josh stopped by. They were on a road trip elsewhere but it was great to see them and hike with them for a few hours (thank you Aaron for carrying my pack up that hill, and for the resupply!) They turned back after a few miles to continue on their drive and I continued hiking north. I of course took the opportunity to jump in some water after a few miles, and we made camp early and had a chill evening.
Day 61 | 7/10/24 | 1030.7-1050.4
I was mostly hiking alone in the morning, and the miles were pretty chill and not too buggy. I enjoyed lunch on the top of a saddle with my group. We saw that there was another road crossing upcoming and talked about how we definitely shouldn’t hitch into the nearest town…. when we got to the road we decided to just try and hitch for a few minutes, and we got incredibly lucky! Even though the road was not busy at all, two cars stopped for our group within 15 minutes! Because our group was so big, not everyone was able to fit, but most of us made it into Markleeville and enjoyed some delicious food at a brewery (best fries on trail I think) and the general store. We waited a little bit too late into the evening to try and get a hitch back to trail, but we got super lucky. Thank you Mike for making two (!!) trips to get all of us back to the trailhead! It was very late when we all arrived back to the trailhead and we just hiked a few minutes back onto trail.
Day 62 | 7/11/24 | 1050.4-1078.1
Today was a long day! I woke up early and was tired from the late camp the night before. I got lots of miles early in the morning and enjoyed watching the terrain shift to be more arid and rocky than it had been the previous few days. I had some cell reception and called my mom for a few minutes before stopping for lunch and a swim at a lake with Isabella. After a long descent and another swim and some more miles, I ended up camping with Boomer and Isabella.
Day 63 | 7/12/24 | 1078.1-1091.3
Motivated by the prospect of town food, we hiked the last 13 miles to the next road quickly. I got a hitch from a woman who had thru-hiked the year before, and it was nice chatting with her for the few minutes into South Lake Tahoe. My group set up at the PCT hiker spot in the campground, which was so full, and then we headed over to the bus stop and got a ride to Freshies where we had a group lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around town and resupplied. There was some confusion about where the next town stop would be due some fires around Truckee, so I wasn’t sure how many days to resupply for. Though it was nice to be in town, and South Lake Tahoe was fun, I was feeling tired and out-of-sorts in the evening and got to sleep early.
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