Start: 1154.5 End: 1161.9 Total: 7.4
I woke up around 7 and packed up immediately and got out fo the mosquito hell I had set up in. I walked down the Little Rock hill I had went up to sleep and onto the road. I got a quick hitch with the second car that passed. It was a girl my age who had thru hiked the AT and now lived in the area. She was heading down the mountain to go to work.
She dropped me off at the campground where I got a couple shower tokens at $1/3 min and I took a soapless shower as I haven’t been carrying any but usually find it when I need it. I felt a bit cleaner after but still stinky as I made my way to the road to try to hitch 1.5 miles to the grocery store. I was closer to town so figured I might not have as good luck but I’d try hitching for a bit before giving up and walking.
Many cars passed but soon an Astro van drove past going the wrong direction, then turned around and parked 20 yards from me. I was unsure if he was coming to give me a ride so I approached him. This was his destination he said but after chatting for a minute he decided he would give me a ride down the road to the grocery store.
I did my resupply and heard from Nick that his train wouldn’t be there until about 2 pm now. So I had plenty of time. I did a quick resupply and got some food for breakfast then I walked down the road to a coffee shop where I had a couple cups of coffee and called some people. Around 11, I left and stopped at grocery outlet to pick up some things for lunch.
After that I got a ride with an older lady another 1.5 miles to the post office which was right next to the train station. I sent my ice axe and microspikes home then went to the train station to wait for Nick. His train kept getting delayed more and more.
He eventually got in at 3 and one of the ladies who works at the visitor center attached to the train station offered to give us a ride to the trailhead. I was so excited he was finally here and we would be able to finish the trail together! Liz said she could get us up there around 4 so we walked down the downtown streets of Truckee and got some free samples of fudge and taffee while catching up.
Liz brought us up to Donner Pass and we started our hike! It was gentle terrain through Forrest and boulders as we crossed I-80 under a set of tunnels.
We met a guy named Danny who told us he was planning on doing the AT that year but the hurricane messed him up. He hoped to do it in the following year. He was so excited to meet us and wanted to give us some trail magic. To our surprise he handed us a $50 bill. We were super grateful and chatted with him a bit before continuing our climb.
We enjoyed the view on top castle pass then hiked 1 mile down to a hut on the pct. It was unfortunately closed but there was a handful of other hikers around the hut. A couple I had met earlier, PB and Dora were among them.
We found a spot to set up and got some water and had dinner before going to bed.
Day 106
Start: 1161.9 End: 1180.4 Total: 18.5
We woke up around 6/6:30 and had breakfast, packed up and were out walking by 7:30. There were still quite a few patches of snow left as we had a small uphill then downhill through some more snowy and wooded sections.
We did 8 miles and got to the top of a bigger climb and there was a large snow bank remaining. We filled up our waters at the snowbank stream and took a small break.
We got to another ridge after that and walked along it for a bit.
An hour later we took a nice lunch break with a view. Nick/Mantis discovered that his honey leaked all over his food in his food bag and I wanted him to take up the trail name “honey” but he refused.
After lunch we had a down, a up, a down, a up and one more down to get to our campsite. We leap frogged a bit with Dora and PB. There was water at the snowbank stream and then not for another ten miles so we had to carry a few liters and go a bit further than Mantis would’ve liked on his second day. He was hurting quite a bit but we took plenty of breaks and eventually made it to the next water source and our camp for the evening.
Day 107
Start: 1180.4 End: 1196 Total:16
When I got out of my tent in the morning I realized some critter had chewed up the crochet mushroom on my backpack that my friend had given me. It chewed nothing else but I was bummed about the mushroom and alarmed something had been so close to my tent without my realizing it.
We had breakfast, packed up and left shortly before 7:30. It was a beautiful morning hiking down along a ridge. We would have mostly downhill that day into Sierra City.
We took a break about 4 miles in and Rocky soon passed us. She stopped to chat for a bit before going ahead of us. We were passed by a handful of other hikers that morning which I will have to get used to as we are going to be going a bit slower while Mantis adjusts to the trail.
A bit later on we passed Rocky and another hiker named Shaggy that I have heard about from Rocky and Kiki. Shaggy and his partner Goldie hiked the AT in 2015 and have been living in a bus since. Goldie hurt her foot so went ahead to meet him in Sierra city. It was around 10am when we passed them and they were making ramen on the side of the trail.
The Jeffers also came by while we were talking to them. His two sons, 19&21 had joined him for the Sierras but had left. He was on a mission to get to the post office before they closed at 2 so he said hello and continued on his quest.
We passed a few areas that had been logged and so were very exposed. Then a short up before a long steep switchbacks going down. Halfway down Kiki caught up to us and met Mantis and we caught up for a second before he too continued to run down the mountain to get to the post office before 2. I had sent a package to Sierra City as well but to the general store so I had no rush.
We made it down the switchbacks and got some water at a stream that Rocky and Shaggy were finishing up a water break as well. Rocky would be picking up the mileage to meet her friend to climb Mt. Shasta and then go into Portland to see her twin sister as soon as she got to Oregon.
We took a short lunch and filter break and talked to another hiker named Cactus who said there was a huge group right behind us eating lunch. It seems the bubble had caught up to us and is at our tails. They should be passing us soon which will be annoying to have to compete for campsites. I much preferred being way ahead of the bubble. My best bet now is to be way behind them I suppose.
We then made the 4.9 miles to Sierra City, using a side trail that turned into a road to walk right in. We stopped at an awesome swimming hole where we were able to jump right off the rocks into the water. There’s no laundry in Sierra City so I gave my undies and socks a good rinse in the stream. We then finished our walk into Sierra City.
We got to the general store and there was a bunch of hikers there. Some I had met some. I had not. They included, Kiki, Fishfry, Trouble, Beer Run (already did the triple crown and is going for it x2), payload (who did the 24x24x24x24 challenge, 24 beers, 24 McDonald’s cheeseburgers and 24 miles in 24 hours- and recorded the attempt which went viral on the internet) double lives, Ralph, The Jeffers, Bombadil and many others. It was a bit overwhelming at first, I haven’t really been around this many hikers since I started. It was good to see Bombadil again and I was excited to tell him I was half way through Lord of the Rings.
I bought a ten dollar milkshake and got my resupply package. Charged my things and hung out with everyone for the evening. Most of the hikers went back to trail. We slept on the patio with two other hikers, five moons and two lucky. Two lucky is thru hiking on her summer in between semesters at university. She started May 12 and needs to finish by August 20th so she’s been hustling 30+ mile days and has been solo the entire time, including the Sierras.
Beer Run, Payload, Mango and Jackson had left and tried to take a shortcut up the steep climb out of here. They returned two hours later defeated and dripping sweat. The shortcut didn’t exist and they ended up bushwhacking and rock climbing up a non existent trail until it was getting dark and they got cliffed out and could not go up any further.
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