Day 72 Logistics

June 15, 2018

Hello Friday! It’s been 11 days since I departed the PCT at Sonora Pass. With each passing day, I wondered if I would make another attempt at the northbound miles . After leaving my brothers house on last Friday, thankful for my airline benefits, Glen dropped me off at the Oakland airport within the hour of departure for my flight.” (Dang traffic!) I had to do curbside checkin as I was running late and there was no way I was going to get the rucksack my brother gave me into the terminal solo. The ruck sack contained 2 bear cans and 2 pairs of snowshoes. (Justin, you’re welcome!) When I landed in Las Vegas mid afternoon I called Lori (my housemate) for a pickup. Dragging the large rucksack through baggage claim distracted me from the airport hustle and bustle I’ve been away from for over 2 and a half months. I walked into my home and everything was perfect. It was clean, the air conditioning was cranking — it was 101 when I landed — and Lori was sweet enough to make chicken soup since I was still sick. I seriously can’t thank her enough for all the things she had done for me.

It has been really easy to put myself right back into pre-trail life. My home, my truck, my friends all there to welcome me back. So much so that I’m still unsure of the culprit, but I’m whoever drove my truck last filled it with gas and washed it. Boys–you’re awesome. JamieP organized a small “Limited Time Appearance” party in her backyard on Sunday for me. Great turnout and perfect weather for brunch, mimosas and a little pool time. I doggy sat Nala, so Mom and PopsBonham stopped by for a small chat on Tuesday. Lori made paella on Wednesday night and we had a girls night in with Betsi–my other housemate– and Alyson, my neighbor. Such a fun night of laughs. There was a lunch with Kurt, coffee with Armando, pool day with Mike, a quick trim of my hair with Shelli, and plenty of Karen and KellyB time to catchup on. I seriously love my circle and family friends here.

Those first few days of being home–and sick–gave me a little down time for work stuff too. Every year I have online training modules I have to complete before attending a recurrent training class at the airport. As I had wanted to get RT done while I was there, the first class wasn’t available until yesterday (Thursday). Once I scheduled the class and completed my modules, I could start planning my next exit; getting back to the trail.

With almost two weeks off the trail, I kept reading blogs, Facebook posts, and Instagram posts of others. Photos and snow reports slowly reported the melt happening. Sweet! Justin and Laura would send periodic updates as well. I was happy to hear about their progress and the conditions of the trail improving.

I spent Thursday evening packing my pack one more time. My plan was a Friday flight to Reno and bus ride to South Lake Tahoe. From there I had planned to wing it. Laura and her mom had been staying in SLT and offered to let me stay with them for the night. I didn’t want to impose but I also was excited to see Laura and catch up on the “miles behind.”

When I got to South Lake off the SouthTahoe Airport shuttle, I had a box of food that I had checked in my hands and my backpack. The checked box also contained my campstove and knife and a few other things I couldn’t carryon on the plane. I walked half a mile and found a JambaJuice where I could loiter at and rearrange all the stuff in my pack. This place is packed with tourists, not hikers, and so I got a lot of weird looks as to what I was doing.

Whatever time it was, things seem to happen for a reason. I messaged Laura to call me when she was done with her hike for the day. She said she and her mom were finishing their hike and were on their way to me! Yay. I didn’t have to hitchhike. Actually, I wasn’t going to hitch solo, I could have found an Uber–that’s the same as hitchhiking right?

Their little room was perfectly cute. The extra bed (which creaks loudly) is like the extra bed in a camper. You know, the ones that convert from being a breakfast nook with table to folding flat into a twin bed. It was just what I needed.

We went to dinner at Sonny’s BBQ right down the street. The food was delish, the stories were great and the company was even better. Maybe I wasn’t quite ready to get back to hiking. But I will.

Tomorrow, Laura’s Mom Debbie, will drop us off at Ecko Lake. Dicks Pass is the next highest point at 9376ft. so we will hike to the pass and most likely go over Sunday. There’s still reports of at least a mile of snow on the north face, that better than what it was 2 weeks ago of course so I’ll take it.

I left all my snow gear at home. Temps are warmer and I traded warm sleep clothes for lighter weight options. Mosquitos might be a problem so I did spray a coating of permethrin on most of my layers. I’ve got food for 7 days and will plan to grab a few items in Soda Springs. Not sure I will head into Truckee at all at this point. My plan for now is 2 weeks out here. I’m trying to make a trip to Idaho with friends on the 30th happen. I’m hoping to make it to Belden by the 28/29th, to fly back to Vegas and then to Idaho. After that, I’ll repack again and hope to make more miles on the PCT through August. At least that’s the plan right now. Things can always change.

Happy Trails. It feels good to be back. Let’s see what the legs say about that tomorrow.