Day 91: 1046-1065

This morning was chill. We heard a rumor of two dudes doing trail magic at highway 4 and Ebbitts Pass. It was just 2 miles from where we camped last night. So this morning we booked it to the highway crossing. Boy was the rumor real! When I got to the highway, two older guys named Allen and Michael had an entire outdoor kitchen set up just to feed starving PCT hikers.

They immediately told us to chill and take a load off when we arrived. He made us burgers, handmade pizza (cooked fresh in a stone oven), balsamic vinegar with mozzarella and tomatoes, homemade kambucha, pastries, fruit, yogurt, egg quiche that his wife made, and oatmeal. It was an insane feast. It was the best trail magic I have ever seen. They were serious about their cooking.  Even the pizza sausage was homemade. His kombucha is fermented for 12 days and he makes 100 bottle batches that he just gives away to his friends.

Allen: a trail angel's angel and megameal extraordinair  

lazy fucks + free food = lazy fucks  

I ate so much food and it was only 10am.  We still had 17 miles to hike! Neither of them would accept donations. I snapped a portrait of Allen and the 3 of us jammed out.

The whole section of the trial was dirt and dry for the most part. The landscape has changed a lot too. We passed 3 dirt roads (that hasn’t happened for hundreds of miles now) and the peaks are much smaller and at lower elevation. I’ve mentioned this a few times in previous daily entries.

Dirt for a change  

The hills are constructed of red lava sand and the hillsides are loaded with freshly bloomed sagebrush, mint, and a thousand different species of flowers. The smells are wonderful. Insects buzz and fly around us all day, everywhere on the trail, conducting their business.

We navigated a couple sketchy ice shelves and then dropped some more in elevation. After 19 miles, I stopped for the day and dealt with mosquito swarms most of the evening. All in all, a great day.

Day 90: 1026-1046

“Honey in hot chocolate, it’s the shit.” - Big Daddy

some water yo

I woke up late after a fitful sleep. Righteous and I were last out of camp.  I usually prefer not to be at the end of the pack, but I wasn’t in the mood to be on the trail by 6am today. We climbed up a steep canyon out and over into the next valley. Both of my knees were exceptionally sore today, and it was bothering me quite a bit. When ever pain comes on, I tend to assume that it could mean the worst for me. This is the first time I really felt like my body was falling apart. I’ve lost between 20-25 pounds, most of it is upper body mass.  Im burning more calories than I am able to carry or consume, and all the laborious hiking this past 300 miles is starting to show physically. I’m always hungry, too.

For a few hours I solo hiked and caught up to GoPro and Big Daddy. Most of the trail was exposed todaythe forest still has big patches of snow but its much hotter now that we are dipping into lower and lower elevations. I spent a good portion of the day stepping in assholes (mud pits) today. The lower elevation is giving way to swampier terrain and much larger trees, so its a trade off between beauty and frustruation. But I keep my head up. I say all this to illustrate that, you can really feel the Sierra beginning to fade away into the past. It just doesn’t have the magnitude and remoteness that I have become accustomed to.

the trail along Noble Creek valley is dope

We climbed up to Saddle Pass above Noble Lake at mile 1043. I was able to get more cell service and checked in with my folks and cousin. I think I can actually walk there in 3.5 days or less from today. My old comrade Emilio is going to pick me up at highway 50 on Sunday morning. The dudes are getting an airbnb in S. Lake Tahoe.  Ill be staying at the north shore, Incline Village. When push comes to shove, I have to chose family over friends.  I’ll just have to drive down to them to hang out during our zero days.

perched on a cliff

The valley that Noble Creek runs through is decidedly different in landscape. Red sand makes up the majority of the mountains and big pine and sequoia trees are plentiful. The trail runs along a steep drop. It is gorgeous and feels like we are in the pacific northwest. Big Daddy found a great spot for us to camp for the night on a cliff. We parked there and I made two fat dinners. I’m stuffed and ready to fall asleep before doing another 20 miles tomorrow to keep to my schedule.

dear god: why do you make such things?