Day 81, July 7: Mile 1125 to 1147
Start: Barker Pass TH - Mile 1124.9
End: Mile 1146.7
Miles: 21.8
Ascent: 4593 | Descent: 3901
I woke up, for once, without an alarm. It was lovely, and even though I still woke up naturally at my normal time of 5am, I was able to fall back asleep for another 30 minutes or so. I played on my phone for a bit before finally packing up my tent, using the restroom (praise be for a pit toilet), and starting to hike.
I ascended a small climb and soon got a beautiful view of Lake Tahoe to the east. Wow, it is big! On the way down from the climb, I chatted a bit with another hiker. I learned she is hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail, that she runs ultramarathons, and works at Otterbox. Her name was Karen and I enjoyed our conversation. I stopped to filter water and she took off.
Up along a ridgeline, I had some good cell service and took a break for 45 minutes or so while I played on my phone and also took care of a couple of life to-do items. I finally continued hiking on, and came up to Alpine Meadows Ski Area. It’s always so surreal and cool to hike or run past ski resorts in the summer. Seeing the signage for one of the runs made me desperately wish there was snow and that I was on skis, though.
I hiked on and called my mom for a bit. Most of today, I had cell service, which was nice but also definitely slowed me down as I distractedly caught up on things here and there.
I hiked past endless meadows of wooly mules ear plants with big green leaves and yellow flowers, mixed in with purple lupine. It was stunning to see. At one point I stopped to filter water at a small stream, and marveled at some butterflies nearby that were mud puddling (as I found out on google)- sitting on mud to collect moisture, nutrients, or salt. Very cool!
Shortly after, I took another break as I realized I was quite hungry and hadn’t really eaten much on my last break. I dried out my rain fly which had gotten wet from condensation, and chatted a bit with other PCT hikers who went past as I was resting.
Soon, I came to Squaw Valley Ski Resort. I walked underneath a chairlift, still and quiet. Again, it was very surreal and cool. I called my sister as I descended past the resort.
I kept descending until one final climb up towards Tinker Knob, a small pass. On the way up, I met two ultrarunners who were training for a 50k and a 50 miler near Tahoe in two weeks. The guy had hiked the AT back in 2018, and his trail name was Fresh Feet. I didn’t ask but I wondered how he got that.
I descended down from the pass as the two runners flew by me. The ridgeline looked so fun to run down, and I was jealous. I only had 0.7 miles to go until I reached camp, but even that felt so long.
When I reached the area I was planning to camp, I was bummed to see it totally full with hikers already. I had read in a FarOut comment that there were a few other potential spots just a little farther down the trail, so I kept hiking and turned off the trail to poke around. After a short search, I found a cozy spot nestled in the trees, which blocked the wind well. I coordinated logistics for tomorrow with my friends who are up ahead, ate dinner, and fell asleep.