PCT-8

Thursday, July 19 - PCT mile 1136

So we left South Lake Tahoe 3 days ago.

Not before getting another BIG breakfast at our Airbnb! Check it out! Veggies with eggs, yogurt with fruits, toasts, coffee, juices, cookies, etc. We loved using the small kitchen during 4 days! We actually miss things like a kitchen! 😂

Our hike passed first by Echo Lake.

Then Aloha Lake.

Then we slept at Gilmore lake.

Many lakes in this area and several weekend/day hikers around.

Next morning we saw the smoke from fires far away (Yosemite probably) slowly rising on the horizon:

By noon we were hiking in smoke. Not fun! Jeremy had a bit of asthma but still made it to camp.

Our camp at Richardson Lake.

Muriel got her first PCT lake swim thanks to the ABSENCE of... you've guessed it...MOSQUITOES!

These first 2 days were tougher than we expected; a very rocky trail that made our progress slow and risked twisting our ankles at every step!

Today the trail got much easier.

Mostly pine forests and much less rocky trail. We cruised 18 miles!

And got a great view of lake Tahoe !

Saturday, July 21 - mile 1172

Jeremy is hiking this section on his own. We haven't seen him for the past 3 days. We leave written notes for him on the trail to let him know our plans for the day. And we sure have plenty of news about him from all the hikers passing him! He spends long breaks sitting on his backpack reading his Kindle, hours sitting at trail angel events socializing and he's hiking with a group of girls 😜

According to the hikers that passed him he's a day behind us.

Meanwhile his parents keep hiking. Mountains are smaller, slopes are more gentle and the trail is less rocky (except the last mile before Donner Pass! A terrible ankle breaker / knee twister trail!)

One smoke-filled day then one clear sky day...it depends on the wind!

Flowers are still carpeting the open spaces.

Monday July 23 - mile 1195

We're at Sierra City, CA and Jeremy caught up with us just 5 miles before we arrived here. He was not that far behind actually and switched from the girls company (he said they were too slow) to that of a nice young couple (their honeymoon is the PCT!!! 😮😜😂) to hike with.

Scenery isn't as picturesque as it was, but we hike longer distances though, over 18 miles / day. Probably going to reach 20 miles / day soon.

For the first time we are also letting Jeremy leave ahead of us, with the nice Honeymooners he has befriended; he left this afternoon at 5:30 pm while we both stay overnight in a nice cabin overlooking a scenic deep valley and creek.

We will get back to the trail tomorrow morning. We're going for the longest stretch we've ever done without resupply:135 miles, giving ourselves 7 days. See you next in Chester CA, which will be just past the PCT midpoint...