Tahoe Rim Trail: A distant house

As soon as Tim turned around and said: «I’m not going that path,» he knew exactly what he had seen. I grabbed my phone and hurried down the bushes and there (he/she) was. A large brown bear on the path. He turned briefly, gave us a disdainful look and left. Although excited about our first bear sighting, I felt like an unpleasant guest who appeared early at a party at the house. I almost wanted to apologize for making me know.

Our fourth day at the Tahoe Rim Trail. Bluebird and I had just stopped in a mountain stream to fill our bottles of water and camel. I was sitting on one side of the current leaking, and I was in the other. Tim, another hiker, had just stopped to talk after recognizing Bluebird from his YouTube channel. We share hiking stories. It is as if we were sitting around the kitchen table, all comfortable and cozy. Without realizing that we were really colliding the house, and probably interrupting the breakfast of this wild and wonderful bear.

Bears, mountains and lakes, oh my

Things are going well. So far, we have walked 1/3 of the 170 mile path. We have installed our stores in impressive sites: at the top of the mountains, in a lake and in the middle of the high Jeffrey Common pins in this area. The weather has been fantastic. Soloado, in the mid -70s during the day and cold at night. The path is rocky in some places, dirt track in others. Sometimes very steep, sometimes forgively plastic. And the views are always spectacular.

Yesterday we walk in Tahoe City, a small tourist city on the edge of the lake. The coffee of the dam was our first stop. A Coca Cola, frozen milk, breakfast burrito and a banana muffin later, was full. At least for the moment. I’m not sure what I was thinking last week when I packed food for this 6 -day leg. I had enough to eat, but enough. The only meal that remains in my bear boat is 2 tea bags. So I’ve been hungry. Fortunately, there are more than enough food options in this city next to the lake. It feels great to get into the city and eat, shower, collect my refueling food box, wash clothes and sleep in a big and comfortable bed. Six days is a long time to be in the desert. But I am also anxious to return to the road in the morning. The following in the TRT is Desolation Wilderness, a federal protected area (well, for now) that is considered the most beautiful section in this long walk. The Pacific Crest Trail joins the TRT here and runs concurrent for 50 miles, so in a few days, I can officially affirm having traveled a section on the PCT!

A long time to think

When I walk, I think. Most of the time, all I think is to upload the next hill. Sometimes, tired legs, shoulder pain or limited water sources consume my thoughts. Other times they relax and navigate, I clarify my mind and let the thoughts that they want or need to visit, come to the right through the main door. Hikers know the feeling of being at home on the road. Literally carry your house and all your furniture in your back. It is simple here, a safe neighborhood where you are uniquely focused on walking. Walk all day from one camp to another. Configure your temporary refuge for the night and pack it in the morning to move on. The backpack is hard work, but I feel at home. I think much about trying to capture this comforting and idyllic world and take it back to the «real world.»

My friend Wava sent me this passage entitled «Belong». Obviously, I feel that I belong here, walking and camping, but often question my place in the biggest world. The reading that sent me describes the idea that you will not feel that you fit anywhere until you feel that you belong to yourself. You belong where you are. And wherever you are, you belong. Hmm. My hiker brain is agitated. Do I really want the peace and comfort that I feel here in paradise to merge magically in all facets of my life, my personality and my future experiences? It seems ideal, but I am realizing that it is not.

Swimmers find comfort in a pool. Poets in a cafeteria. Believers in a church. Readers in their favorite family chair. Why do we belong to these places? Because we ourselves there. In the chaos and cacophony of the real world, we need a separate place to retire. Belong, escape to. I would like to think that I belong to anywhere, but I know that I am fitting in the best case, where I feel the sun and the breeze and heat and vertiginous space. And the next time I meet a native bear who only tries to have breakfast in a local stream, I will ask them if it is well to come home in the forest, where they belong.

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