Day 83 in South Lake Tahoe

12 miles
From the path of the path on the Upper Truckee River (Mile 1080.5, elev 8406)
To the 50 Crossing Highway (Mile 1091, UND 7280)

I find it interesting how the mind can make associations and connect different things. In my case, I look at two parts of my background.

The first is shown by the hat that I use on the path that says: «Volunteer of Parks of the County of Santa Clara». When I am at home, the park in which I spend more time is Almaden Quicksilver Park. Cinnabar was discovered there in the mid -1840s. Quicksilver/Mercury del Cinabar would extract. At that time, this was essential to extract gold from the mineral. So it really allowed California’s gold fever.

Second, my path of path is derived directly from me creating lyrics of trails for an existing song.

So I suppose that it should not be such surprising surprise that when my mind decided to channel its internal acceleration, «Rock This Trail». My apologies and gratitude to Freddie Mercury. Feel free to adopt this to your own situation.

In my camp this morning, I recorded a video singing the first two verses, which feel quite stable for me. He still needs work, including at least one more verse, but he felt good to have something solid for it. Here is the video and lyrics:

Lady, you are a lost soul
Looking for a life goal
Hikin ‘The Pacific Crest Trail Today
You have mud on your face
Without shame
Go to your own rhythm
We will do it, we will rock this path
We will do it, we will rock this path

Friend, you are exhausted
Felled
Do not roar the path like your flames
And you lie on your back
Feet in your package
Eat a snack
You still follow that track
We will do it, we will rock this path
We will do it, we will rock this path

I am used to thinking about the Upper Truckee river as the river that would cross towards South Lake Tahoe (it really was Myers, just before reaching SLT) down at the lake level. It seemed so different here to more than 8000 feet with wide meadows, lakes and wild flowers.

Shower lake

Recently I got my first view of Lake Tahoe. I could see along the Upper Truckee River Valley along the airport and lake tracks. When I think about it, I am surprised how far I have walked. It almost makes me feel that getting to Canada is reasonable.

Tahoe Lake in the distance

Lake Tahoe is approaching

I wondered if I would see any of the ski races in Sierra in Tahoe Ski Resort. That’s where my children learned to ski and where I became respectable. But I was not high enough to see the intermediate hills during my walk.

A few miles before reaching Echo Summit (and the 50’s highway). A woman walked towards me along the way. She said she was happy to see me and that she had some things to give me. Chris, close to Sacramento, was an angel of trails who loaded his day package with fries, cookies and soft drinks/Gatorade. We talked about the area and the path for several minutes while my gatorade and snacks in frozen medium.

While I have led Echo Summit many times, I had never been here on foot. When I approached, I saw a sign for the beginning of the path of the Echo Summit and followed it, without realizing that the PCT took the other fork. I arrived at the parking area at the beginning of the path and then began to walk along the Pony Express path, which is parallel to the 50’s highway, back to the crossing of the PCT road.

Along the way, I met CT, who was very curious about the passage of those he was and was interested in walking through the 165 mile Tahoe Rim Trail. He likes outdoor and feels comfortable there, but he clearly didn’t have much experience. We speak for about 20 minutes about all kinds of backpacking things such as food, water, equipment, emergency communications and refueling. With luck, he now has the inspiration to pursue this more and more basic knowledge to start preparing.

He had spent about 10 minutes trying to take a walk in South Lake Tahoe when I noticed that a woman left the path and walking. After the initial greetings, he said when he approached: «It doesn’t matter what happens, you get the first trip, but I will probably have a better luck to get a problem.» (Yes, that is true. The drivers can only see that I am a quite dirty backpacker and without shaving. Women have better luck) I presented myself and discovered that I was doing a walk with PEG leg, which is blogging its triple crown attempt of the calendar year here at https://thetrek.co/author/madison-lagden/. I find that the PCT is a sufficient challenge. I am a little amazed at his attempt to do all three!

The couple that picked us up returned from a pair of a backpacker travel that included a rise from Pyramid Peak (one of the highest in the Tahoe area). But the meaning of the community also confirmed me among hikers. The couple saw us on the side of the road and had no idea of much of the trip that we had only met for 10 minutes.

With all the time that had previously passed in South Lake Tahoe, I didn’t feel much need to do tourist things. Instead, I went to the post office to collect a refueling box (my poorly directed box for Wrightwood finally found me), I bought a couple of things (sunglasses and fuel boats), I found ice cream (I swear I read in my permission that this is required in each city) and I registered in the hostel.

Frozen! The large size had many more calories and cost a little more.

The Mellow Mountain shelter was very pleasant and located near the lake, the celestial town (skiing in winter, shops and access to the gondola to the paths throughout the year) and Statelline (casinos). Many people were hanging out in the common area, the computer room or washing clothes. I organized some of my things and then went through the city (free buses) to Lake Tahoe Pizza Company for dinner, a favorite among family members. Unfortunately, I stayed there a little later than the buses ran, so I got a Lyft for the 5 mile trip back to the shelter.

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