Day 68
It was a slightly late start as it got slightly late yesterday, but not terribly so as I awoke from the sunlight before my alarm went off around 5:30.
The first part of the day was somewhat boring as it was walking in a pine forest without much in terms of views. Eventually, however, the trail climbed up to and followed a ridge crest for quite some time with nice views. On the left there was untouched forest and on the right there was forest and a view over Lake Tahoe. Sometimes volcanic rock formations graced the otherwise rounded hills. The only other time that the trail has stayed up high like this for an extended stretch was, as far as I recall, at Sonora Pass. Otherwise the trail has been quick to drop elevation after a passing.
Eventually the trail dropped down again and soon after that was a water source, which I appreciated as I had brought slightly too little water for the ridge section. I have to reacquaint myself with these longer waterless stretches. I actually think that the extra water We all carry now will offset the weight savings from not carrying a bear canister and ice gear. I don’t miss the bear canister rubbing against my back, though.
After a while in forest covered land, the trail rose against to a new crest, but before that I restocked four liters of water. The views from the ridge were nice especially in the warm light before sunset. My first preference for camp site was full, so I walked on and quickly came to the next one, which I shared with a bunch of other hikers. There was a small steam nearby, so I needn’t have carried as much water, but in such cases you always have to think what the consequences would have been of it hadn’t been there.
After having set up my tent, I realized that the outermost tip had broken off one of my trekking poles and the other one wasn’t looking that good either. They can be charged, but it requires some basic tools. I will think a bit about what to do, but the poles are still mostly working.
It was neither a particularly har or a particularly easy day. It was neither a particularly interesting or particularly boring day. It was kind of average.
Today’s miles: 1115-1144
