Miles: 1101.7 to 1123.3
Trail Miles: 21.6
I woke up a little after five. I tried to doze in my sleeping bag – I was running a sleep deficit, a few minutes more sleep would be nice. I heard Smokebeard rustling in his tent about 0530 so I started packing too. He got on the trail ahead of me, but I wasn’t too far behind at 0625.
The trail immediately climbed to Dick‘s Pass where there was cell service and a nice view. It was too early to call the Soda Springs post office. I didn’t think I could make it there by Friday, before the PO closed for the weekend. Waiting until Monday morning to retrieve my package was not an option. I hadn’t yet thought of forwarding my food resupply from there to Sierra City, two days up the trail. I had enough food and was finally realizing I didn’t need to carry more than 4-5 days worth given the frequency of towns heading north.
After yesterday’s ‘success’ with eating more protein and food in general, I’m going to pay more attention to my calorie intake, vice hunger (or lack there of). Our goal was at least 21 miles today. I thought it was doable as long as my energy didn’t plummet. Sleep and food were the two variables I could control on the trail.
Smokebeard had gotten a message from Cherry Bomb. She and the rest of the group were getting into Lake Tahoe tomorrow. As much as I wanted get the family back together and hike with those guys, I needed to pick up the pace in order to meet my schedule. Slowing down or waiting for them to catch up, sadly, wasn’t an option. I missed them though.
I started feeling tired so at 9:30 I stopped to take a quick cat nap. I don’t know that I actually slept for more than a minute or so but I felt refreshed.
The trail today was mostly pine forest, but occasionally you’d get a glimpse through the trees of a granite mountain. Enough to remind me that I was still technically in the Sierras.
The PCT and the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) overlap for about 90 miles on the west side of Lake Tahoe. The TRT is a popular trail and I saw a lot of TRT hikers. You could usually identify them by their bigger, heavier packs but also they weren’t quite as dirty and smelly as us thru-hikers.
The elevation was dropping. Coming out of Yosemite, the terrain had been between 8000- 9500 ft. Now, near Lake Tahoe, it is mostly between 7000 and 8500 ft. We’re slowly beginning the let-down into Northern California (NorCal). It was pretty still. The wildflowers were in full bloom – beautiful purples, yellows, oranges everywhere.
Throughout the day I tried to eat more than I had been. I did feel better and have more energy, not up to hundred percent but better than the days before. Eating too little has never been an issue for me, quite the opposite in fact. I’ve been a runner for years and workout regularly, but the trail demands more from the human body than anything I had experienced, including the one ultra marathon I’ve done. There’s more to it than just food and rest – the body is a complex, interconnected chemical system – but those two provide the foundation. Sounds pretty simple, but managing it on the trail is easier said than done sometimes.