13.4 miles
From the 50 Crossing Highway (Mile 991, UND 7280)
To Gilmore Lake (Mile 1104.5, UND 8354)
Ascent 2773
Descend 1676
I woke up at my normal time around 5:30, I put things in silence in my backpack and then I went for the bus trip back to «The and». I picked up an additional breakfast and snacks in the groceries, ate breakfast and went to the road to make a return trip to the beginning of the path. I realized that the package of muffins that I ate for breakfast had more than 1500 calories. My body was clearly burning many calories.
In terms of hitch, almost all the cars that passed this point would also go through the beginning of the path, so I expected it to be an easy hitch. Another couple who had previously met on the path walked a few minutes later. We talked for a few minutes before a couple of hundreds of feet were heading beyond the road. Unlike PEP’s leg the day before, when a car stopped to pick them up, they did nothing to make sure they took a walk. About 30 minutes later, someone took a walk, but left me near the beginning of the climb to echo instead of the start of the path at the top.
Then, I was hooking again. This time, it didn’t take long, but I didn’t put myself on the way until 10:30.
Hiking for the Echo lakes felt quite exhausting for me. I think my legs were waiting for more free time and bothered me to ask me to walk again. And although the path did not climb much, it was still quite rocky and slow. Combined with all the groups of hikers and weekend backpackers, it also did not have the same feeling of desert as much of the path has.
But I will also admit that I had several pleasant conversations with people along this path. Depending on whether they see me from the front or on the back, these conversations generally begin with them asking:
«Is that an old camera?»
«What’s in that bag? Any kind of musical instrument?»
To respond quickly to them, the camera is not so old, but I use an old leather box around my neck that gives me quick access to the camera. When I am walking with others and I want to take a photo of a flower, I have learned that I have to be fast. The others are not going to wait for me. As for the bag, it is a padded bag that I sewed to hold my little backpack guitar.
Myers and South Lake Tahoe from the Echo Lakes area
The Eco Lakes
Since I saw Lake Aloha for the first time while running a youth backpack trip in 2016, it has been one of my favorite lakes. The pale blue color and the large number of small rock islands make it distinctive of all other nearby saw lakes. And having two of Tahoe’s highest peaks that surround it (Mt Price, Pyramid Peak) only makes it more spectacular.
I was definitely eager to go again for that.
The path that leads to Lake Tamarack and Lake Aloha
Lake Lakes
My Garmin Fenix watch is great in many ways, but sometimes it makes me a little crazy. Without entering all the details about how I think the user interface could be improved (another device that seems to assume that we always have internet connectivity), its informed steps count was baffling me. I have known for years that in reasonable paths, I tend to take around 2400 steps per mile. But it would end a day of 20 miles (20 * 2400 = 48,000) and that my clock tells me that I made 30,000 steps. This was beyond just rounding errors.
But I had a hypothesis that I began to try Aloha on the walk. As the clock is on my wrist, I wondered if my use of trekking posts worn it. Instead that my arm swings with each step, it would balancing with the trekking post. In soft paths, I often used the posts in a relaxed way, planting a post in any other step. Indeed, on my walk to Aloha, when I relaxed, the passage accessory came up to half of what I was counting while walking. At least now I know that I do not trust the counting of steps in these scenarios.
In my previous trips when I saw Lake Aloha, I had not gone to Heather and Susie Lakes. I had only seen them on trips by Gilmore Lake or Dick’s Pass. But while I followed the PCT, its beauty welcomed me in the afternoon sunlight. Both had some small islands in them, which added character. And, like so many lakes in the area, they were surrounded by mountains and faces of pure rock. I have added a couple more destinations to my list for future trips.
Lake heather
Tracked
Lake Susie
When I went to Susie Lake, I spoke with some people who said Gilmore Lake was a great climb. It is not that I doubted them, but I also knew that my sense of «great» had changed with respect to the climbs, and had been in Gilmore a couple of times before. Once, on a path running to the top of Mount Tallac, I diverted from Gilmore. I leaked some water and gave it to the mother of one of the girls on that first backpacking trip I did to Lake Aloha. The mother’s bachelor surname was Gilmore.
I ended up camping in Gilmore Lake.
After his grandchildren began to call this, my father became known simply as «pop.» He died four years ago at the age of 99 1/2 and I think of him often. He had a love for life and others that could not be contained. All, especially children, seemed to enjoy their presence and positive attitude. I learned from him that competition was more fun than to win. We had strident ping pong games in the basement where my brother and I occasionally hit a ball to the maximum so that pop could hit him. We would bend down under the table, but pop generally still hit the ball, often losing the table. Winning the point was never as important as the laugh that occurred when playing.
Pop was patient and was always there to help others, as a volunteer with innumerable organizations during his life.
Pop was an infantry veterinarian of World War II in Europe. Being involved in Dachau’s liberation, when he heard the people who denied the holocaust that existed, he began visiting local schools to present his personal experiences of war. He spent time in Austria after the war. His father was in the music industry, and one of the favorite pop movies was the sound of music. My sister and I sing Edelweiss at her funeral.
His enjoyment of the outdoors was fundamental to develop my outdoor joy. However, when I was a child, I could never understand why it was ridiculously early for a bird observation walk with the park’s naturalist while on vacation. Now my alarm is scheduled for 5:30 every day to walk 20 miles.
I have sung Edelweiss many times on the road today. Thanks Pop!
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