Carson Pass to Echo Summit (Hwy 50) Slackpack – 14.2 miles
PCT Mile 1077.7 – 1091.9
July 4, 2026
A night of rest back in bed really hit the spot. We still wanted to come back and watch the 4th of July fireworks, so we decided to skip the section from Ebbett’s Pass to Carson Pass (28.4 miles) and slack pack from Carson Pass to Echo Summit instead. Slack packing means you are just day hiking, so you don’t need to pack your tent, all your food, and heavier items that you would normally carry when camping on trail. This was my first slack pack on a long trail and I highly recommend it, if the opportunity presents itself.
Shawn drove us to the parking lot at Carson Pass in the morning and we met up with another hiker named Bugs that was also day hiking that section and Buffer happened to have met him on her 2023 hike. It’s so crazy how the trail brings people back together. We also learned that he lived in South Lake Tahoe only a few blocks from Buffer! Shake was also in the parking lot and we would meet back up with him later down the trail.
Not only were we slackpacking, but this section was also super flat for the most part.
At our lunch break, we ran into Shake and he joined our little trail family for the rest of the day.
Showers Lake was about halfway through the hike and we stopped for a bit to soak our feet and soak in the beauty.
We continued walking through beautiful wildflowers and would soon get our first view of Lake Tahoe from the south.
The trail started to descend to the summit (counterintuitive) and would split off from the Tahoe Rim Trail and also cross paths with the original Pony Express Trail.
We got home and relaxed for a bit before going to the beach for fireworks. Buffer busted out her leg compression sleeves that she used when rehabbing her torn ACL for the past 18 months or so. I thought they were awesome. Shake also partook.
