2024 Section Hike Finalized

6/13/24

Well, I’m going solo for this leg. Stix had to bail out on our initial plans for me to meet up with him in the Sierra this summer to hike the PCT from Lake Tahoe southbound to Mammoth Lakes, due to personal issues. I will miss my friend and had been contemplating multiple alternate hikes over the past several weeks. I thought about doing a section of the AT in northern Georgia, but the weather in July is not hospitable. Then I looked into doing part of the Colorado Trail from Breckenridge to Denver, but the altitude would have been way too much for a short hike. 12,000 feet on day 2 seems unwise.

Then I saw an opportunity from the PCTA (Pacific Crest Trail Association) for a 2 day trail maintenance course in Truckee starting July 13th. This was a week before my initially planned start date and something I have always wanted to learn more about. I want to give back to the trail as it has given to me.

As of this writing, I am waitlisted for that course, but have been told that there is a good chance I will get in. If not, oh well, I’ll just start on the PCT a day or two earlier than I anticipated. I changed my permit start location and date to the I-80 PCT trail head, where I was in November of last year, but got waylaid by snow.

My official start date is now July 14th and I plan to to 65 miles on the PCT southbound, ending at Echo Lake, near South Lake Tahoe. This will only take 4-5 days, but I figure it’s a good solo trip. If I go faster than I anticipate, I can always tack on a few more miles on the Tahoe Rim Trail at the end.

I bought a bear can with my REI credit card rewards and it should arrive tomorrow. I’ll be using a bear can the entire trip, as it is required in the Desolation Wilderness for the second half of the hike and I might as well just use it the whole time. It’s safer for me and the bears.

The logistics, my favorite part of backpacking, are not that complicated this time, with no resupply points to worry about, but still fun to plan. I bought an airplane travel “case” from ZPacks for my backpack and gear so I can check it all and hopefully have it come out safe on the baggage carousel. It is made out of dyneema, which is an ultra-lightweight material popular in the backpacking community and also used for competitive sailboat racing, at least that is what I last heard. This will then serve as my pack liner while I’m hiking, so the whole system is self-contained.

I went to Chicago for my birthday a couple of weeks ago (42 wow) and caught a Cubs game. Outside the stadium, during the pre-game festivities, we met a woman named Rayna who was from Truckee. I managed to “yogi” a ride (thru hiker term) from her from Reno to Truckee for my hike! I’m telling y’all, the trail provides. There is something cosmic about it.

Anyway, I’m getting back into my endurance training for these next few weeks and am extraordinarily excited to get back on trail! I’ll blog it and can’t wait to get away from the nonsense world we live in that seems to be getting more insane by the day.

“Go to the mountaintop and there you will see God, as God truly is in the world” – excerpt from Ken Burns’ National Parks