DAY 90: TRUCKEE IS NICE

miles: 0

So many 0 days.

Sometimes you roll your ankle and it is swollen with a golf ball fluid sack and you can't put much weight on it so you decide to (unfortunately) skip a section. I never thought I'd skip a large section (this isn't that bad, it's only 46 miles. I will be resting the ankle in Seirra City with my girls for the next couple of days while Rocky, Dr. Slosh and Starfox do the proper miles to reach town. I'm bummed, but am also happy that this rest will mean that my ankle will be appropriately healed in order for me to continue north.

Our stay in the Truckee Donner Lodge was full of rest and relaxation. We all slept in, ate a hearty continental breakfast, and extended our stay a few hours, and wound up checking out at 1:00pm.

Truckee is a great little town. Probably one of my favorite towns so far, actually. It has real culture, not just small town charm.

We had a hell of a time trying to hitch to the Safeway so that we could resupply, so we eventually gave up and called a cab (the same cab company we used last night). It's weird to use taxi services, this is our first time using a cab, we've always had good luck with hitch hiking. Funny how comfortable we've become with hitch-hiking.

The temperature has really climbed in the past few days... I hope this is not indicative of what is to come in Northern California? It is in the 90's here in Truckee and we are sticky sweat sweat sweaty already. So much for showering in towns...

Chik Chak's attempt at eating a melted Reeses.

How we get around in town.

Resupply is hard in larger towns, Truckee was just small enough to get around on foot carrying grocer bags and all of our gear. Luckily we caught a bus with a nice bus driver!! Free ride to our dinner destination!

This bus driver had sympathy for us and let us ride for free (waiving the $2.50) to the pizza joint in Old Town.

...Our attempt at a Wolf Pack "symbol"...

Hiker "trash" at a dining establishment along with our packs.

 I can't get enough pizza.

Chik Chak, Smiles and Dr. Slosh.

There was a Truckee fair happening! It happens every Thursday I guess?

I need one.

I also need a sundae.

Cutest cupcake/ice cream sundae place EVER.

My sundae of choice.

Starfox enjoying a cupcake made of pure butter.

WHAOOAOAOH.

Hikers wandering around on a hot afternoon browsing at things.

We don't get to pet enough dogs!

Do we look homeless?

Found this guy photographing the train tracks.

Smiles.

Truckee Diner.

Truckee Diner.

Truckee Diner.

Smiles decided to join Chik Chak and I in our quest to get to Sierra City independent of the boys. Chik Chak's knee could use just as much rest as my ankle at this point! We are thrilled to get to have girl time in Sierra City!! What will it be like without the guys? I haven't been separated from Ben on this trip, yet and am curious how it will go! All three of us are looking forward to resting up (all of us are hurting) and spending some time relaxing and nursing nagging injuries...

We said goodbye to the boys in the parking lot next to the Truckee Diner where Cindy (YES, Cindy from yesterday!) was picking them up to take them to the trail head. It was not more than 2 minutes before us girls found a ride to Hwy 89 (just a few miles away, but closer to our goal)... A nice man (a backpacker - he had a bear canister in the back of his truck) picked us up after I (jokingly) asked, "Wanna take us to Sierra City" as he drove by in the parking lot. He was not going that far (46 miles on two highways) but offered to get us to highway 89... making our travels MUCH easier.

Once on 89, we had no problem hitching: 4 cars, none of them willing to go the entire way to highway 49, let alone Sierra City, but the 5th car was a success!

A man named Dennis was going all the way to Sierra City, particularly across from the Red Moose Inn! We couldn't believe it - and suddenly (a carsick hour later) we were there... and boy was it a quaint, pretty little sleepy town.

We were instructed to go around back of the Red Moose Inn, where Bill and Margaret Price run the Inn and Restaurant, and pitch our tents there. There were plenty of other thru-hikers already set up back there in the micro-oasis of a place, Running Commentary and Haggis were two of them! It was SO GOOD to see them! We hadn't seen them since the desert!!!! Also, who rolls in? Manchurian. He must have been booking it!

The night ended on a sweet note at the sleepy, shut-down-except-for-pct-hikers bar where we each had a beer and a chat while Margaret combed some wool and provided $1.00 beers.

I'd say this is the perfect place for a double zero.

Our attempt at hitching on Highway 89 was successful.

What helped get us all the way to Sierra City.

DAY 89: A ROLLED ANKLE....

miles: 12.5

So.... today was both wonderful AND awful at the same time. Is this possible? It is.

We woke bright and early (Rocky and I) at our Granite Chief Campsite Supreme and I was excited because today Chik-Chak's good family friends John and Deb were coming out to meet her and hike into Truckee with her.  Ben and I wanted to get an early start to beat the heat (like usual) and get into Truckee AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Side note: It is always my goal to get into town as soon as I can on the day that I am to arrive in town. If I can push bigger miles during the previous days, I will, just so I can make the most of my town days. I prefer to get into town before noon so that I can hit the Post Office and stores before closing time.

So, we're off. Walking at the speed of light, wind in our sails, daydreaming of the pizza we will be consuming in a few short hours.

The climb from the junction with the "Painted Rock Trail" where John was meeting Angela (with his sweet dog Floozy) was horrendous for me. For some reason, on this morning, I had a very hard time with the hill. Had I not eaten enough the day before? I felt weak, tired, lethargic and down right beat - for seemingly no reason at all! I was well hydrated, well rested (for the most part), and had eaten plenty of breakfast. Electrolytes were even on tap!

So I chugged and huffed and puffed up this hill. It's 7:00am and I am OVER IT. This climb isn't even significant! It was already hot outside and pretty exposed so maybe this had something to do with my fatigue?

When I finally reached the top of the bald hill I burst onto the ground like a popped water balloon. Pack contents dripping out, foods exploding out of their packages, I was starving and ferociously eating all of my high calorie snacks. I never do this.

I never, ever, collapse from exhaustion like this, this early in the morning, with this light of a pack (our packs are always at their lightest at the end of a stretch of trail, the day before town, because we've eaten it all... see what I mean?)

What is wrong with me?

I muster up the energy to move only because the sun is scalding my skin and I have no choice but to push forward, if only to avoid a third degree sunburn.

At some point on the exposed descent, I begin feeling slightly more energized. I am enjoying a pack of Keebler Cheese Cracker Things and my pace quickens.

Then I fall.

Well... I ate shit... really.

So here we are. Keebler Crackers strewn about, pack pinning me down, road rash on my leg, pebbles and debris lodged in my open skin. I haven't fallen in a long time. It really rattled me. Ben comes running back up the hill to see if I'm alright (which I am - Thank God) but my ankle doesn't feel so good. Able to move it, and walk normally after a few minutes, I push on. I want to get to town SO BAD I can't even stand it. This is the final straw...

The rest of the descent is alright, and as Ben and I get closer to Donner Pass we are in HIGH SPIRITS! YES! 1.5 miles to go! Normal path morphs into some terrifying gravel-scree and I fall. Again. This time even worse than last time.

Ankle - not okay.

Summary? I am able to make it down the 1.5 miles to Donner Pass at a slow, hobbling, wincing limp, but only because I am so determined by the promise of a bed, pizza, cold root beer, and ice cream. Day hikers stare at me and wonder if I'm alright. I'm not really alright, mostly because I am worried this is the type of injury that will set me back. I rolled my ankle pretty bad the first time around, but the second time was because that ankle was weak. Weakened by the previous fall. Now I had a puffy swollen puff ankle and am unable to hike faster than .5 miles/hour.

Donner Pass. There is trail magic at Donner Pass. I couldn't even express my relief and delight because of the pain, but THANK YOU RENO DAVE for the amazing, perfectly timed trail magic! I received a cold beer, cold root beer, AND a bag of ice so that I could ice my injury.

Perfect!

Reno Dave and his daughter were also kind enough to drive Rocky and I into Truckee and drop us off at the Safeway/Starbucks. THANK YOU A MILLION!!!!

At the Starbucks, all of my woes washed away. A Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappe was in order and I was still able to purchase it with a gift card provided by Jan back at home! (THANK YOU JAN - this is yet another frappe that has brought tears to my eyes thanks to you!!)

Third bit of "trail magic" happened when the woman sitting next to us at Starbucks overheard us on the phone with the Postmaster at the Post Office in town (they thought they lost a package... blah blah blah) and she literally just came out and said, "You guys need a ride somewhere? I can take you wherever, seriously" so casual. ... Yes. Yes please, we need a ride to the Post Office. Her name was Cindy and she was so kind and generous! She not only drove us to the Post Office and dropped us off, but she gave us her number just in case we wanted to go somewhere else LATER (like, if we needed a ride back to the trailhead or to a different part of town)..... !!!! Thank you so much Cindy! We couldn't believe this kindness.

In my phone she is: "Cindy TrailAngel".

After picking up our package from Peter Yoon (NEW HEADPHONES YES!!!!!!!!!) we were happy to find that the best pizza in town was right next door. We positioned ourselves there for the next few hours, my leg up, icing, sipping our happy hour beers, each consuming an entire large pizza. The people watching was fantastic as we waited for our Wolf Pack team to get into town.

Soon we received notice that everyone had made it safely to Truckee and that John would be picking us up ASAP and bringing us to the Truckee Donner Lodge on the edge of town. And, wow, was this a nice place! A REAL TREAT - THANK YOU SO MUCH JOHN!

The icing on the top of the trail magic infused cake of a day was winding up at Fifty Fifty Brewing where we rejoiced, shared stories, visited, drank good beer, and ate well.

Where I rolled my ankle on nothing.

When the trail is rocks.

The best pizza on the trail so far. Also the best people watching.

Truckee Best Pies.

Icing the ankle.

That's quite a bit of cash.

Smiles, Starfox, Chik Chak, Rocky and Dr. Slosh count the money.

Dirt pant legs. Yes. that is dirt.

Ben's laundry outfit.

Our little cute packs.

What hikers do to hotel rooms when they share them.

DAY 88: GRANITE CHIEF

miles: 23

Slept at Richardson Lake last night and moved onward into the Granite Chief Wilderness.

The Granite Chief Wilderness area is... amazing.

We woke up at 6:00 (LATE FOR US) and I bolted up in bed, already sweating at the thought of hiking in the daytime temperatures. Smiles and Dr. Slosh were already up and out of camp (also not typical of them - it's like we all swapped roles this morning) when we got up. Their goal was to make it to Squaw Valley in time to meet a friend of theirs at the bar there (High Camp el 8200, sounded nice).

Rocky and I were going to try to make it, but if we didn't, we didn't and we had to come to terms with that. Starfox, Chik Chak, Atlas, and the others down at camp that night were all still sleeping soundly, strewn about so Rocky and I tip toed out.

The day was gorgeous and windy so there were few mosquitos, yet again! It has been surprisingly mosquito free these past few days, since the end of the Sierras. I'm beginning to wonder when they will pick up again... I shouldn't even talk about it. Just be happy.

Met up with Sunset today (love him) and it was nice to catch up. I told him about the Squaw Valley experience, and he was interested, but we somehow lost track of him as the afternoon went on... Also - we couldn't have made it to the bar in time (it closes at 4:30 - WHY!? WHAT BAR - especially a really really rad sounding bar -- closes at 4:30?)

We had been in touch with Dr. Slosh and Smiles (had service all day - real treat right there) and they let us know there was a hot tub AND a pool! JEALOUS... so bummed we didn't make it, but maybe it's for the best. Save our money? Yeah, we should.

Rocky and I got to camp fairly early after a 23 mile day and were thrilled to find a really picturesque spot nestled down under the ski resort and ski lifts. The granite boulders and slabs casting shadows all over the meadows and wildflowers. There was even a fire pit! By the time Dr. Slosh, Smiles, Atlas, Chik Chak and Starfox rolled into camp it was dusk, we had started a fire, and we celebrated with a few Fat Tire's!

Lake Tahoe in the background.

This portion of the PCT parallels the Tahoe-Rim Trail.

Leaving notes!

Celebration!