To PCT mile 1167 (stats here).
I got up 4:30am. I slept well. Previous days late finish granted good sleep. I wanted to get a slight head start to Bandit, so that motivated not ignoring the alarm.
The first few miles were downhill so it was easy speeding. When that turned to uphill, I almost immediately needed to heed the call of nature. The terrain was not the easiest one, but I was able to find soil on the rock cliff after climbing a bit.
The trail went through a ski resort that seems not to be used in anything during summer. There were ski lifts and the terrain was relatively bare from trees. I kept leap frogging with Scout. When the climbing was done at 12 miles, I kept my 4 hour break. I noticed Bandit trailing me already earlier in the distance. Now he went past me and said that would continue until the highway to Truckee. The supposed trail magic there had only a slim chance. There is a ski diner at the crossing. Guy talking about food the previous day probably meant that place, not magic.
After my break when I was approaching the crossing, I started encountering lots of day hikers. This usually happens when nearing a more major road with a parking at the trailhead. Just before the crossing I met an elderly man who asked whether I am a thru hiker. We talked awhile and he was very interested about how the hiking has gone and said he would want to do the hike himself.
I continued the extra 0.5 miles offtrail to the diner. Bandit was not there. It was otherwise full of hikers. The world cup was on, Brazil versus Belgium, only few minutes left. The place is somewhat famous of offering 1L bottle of free beer to hikers when ordering. I was able to get a soda with endless refills instead. I planned to do another 10 miles after the pitstop.
While eating a salad and sweet potato fries, and drinking way too many sodas, I caught up with the blog. The intention of writing during the evenings on trail is proving to be just wishful thinking. Often I hike too late or there is socialising to be done.
The Altra Lone Peak 2.5 that I got from Mammoth are of low quality. They are already falling apart. The bottom is peeling of from the rest of the shoe. I have only hiked 250 miles with them. Luckily I could loan some superglue from another hiker and temporarily fix them a bit. I thought about ordering new shoes online, but decided to see how the glueing holds. Otherwise the smaller size 15 has been a success, and the bottom of my feet does not hurt either.
I spent around 2.5 hours at the Donner Ski Ranch. The excessive amount of sugar from the sodas gave me a rush. The day was hot. We were now at about 7000 feet. I did not feel that great in my stomach but my head was spinning from the sugar and I troddled along. Luckily the terrain was relatively flat and easy.
Many people were staying their nights at the Peter Grubb Hut, which is a cold cabin offered by the Forest Service. I checked the place out of curiousity and exchanged few words with Caveman. He was about the hit the bunk already 7pm and planned to get up 2am to do a big day towards Sierra City. He also criticized that Altras are all shit, and one would be better with Salomons, for example. I think my next shoes are not Altras.
After checking the hut, I continued hiking until late. I wanted to do 30 miles. I did not want to push it, especially as I thought that I could not catch up with Bandit. It was very dark when I finally arrived to my campsite. There were other people sleeping soundly under their elevated tarp, so I tried to be very quiet. I also utilised the red light in my head lamp for the first time, as previously I did not even know that it had it. I finally went to sleep 10pm, which is an hour too late.
I got up 4:30am. I slept well. Previous days late finish granted good sleep. I wanted to get a slight head start to Bandit, so that motivated not ignoring the alarm.
The first few miles were downhill so it was easy speeding. When that turned to uphill, I almost immediately needed to heed the call of nature. The terrain was not the easiest one, but I was able to find soil on the rock cliff after climbing a bit.
 |
| Through a ski resort. |
The trail went through a ski resort that seems not to be used in anything during summer. There were ski lifts and the terrain was relatively bare from trees. I kept leap frogging with Scout. When the climbing was done at 12 miles, I kept my 4 hour break. I noticed Bandit trailing me already earlier in the distance. Now he went past me and said that would continue until the highway to Truckee. The supposed trail magic there had only a slim chance. There is a ski diner at the crossing. Guy talking about food the previous day probably meant that place, not magic.
After my break when I was approaching the crossing, I started encountering lots of day hikers. This usually happens when nearing a more major road with a parking at the trailhead. Just before the crossing I met an elderly man who asked whether I am a thru hiker. We talked awhile and he was very interested about how the hiking has gone and said he would want to do the hike himself.
 |
| The beer I did not get. Zero did, obviously. |
I continued the extra 0.5 miles offtrail to the diner. Bandit was not there. It was otherwise full of hikers. The world cup was on, Brazil versus Belgium, only few minutes left. The place is somewhat famous of offering 1L bottle of free beer to hikers when ordering. I was able to get a soda with endless refills instead. I planned to do another 10 miles after the pitstop.
While eating a salad and sweet potato fries, and drinking way too many sodas, I caught up with the blog. The intention of writing during the evenings on trail is proving to be just wishful thinking. Often I hike too late or there is socialising to be done.
The Altra Lone Peak 2.5 that I got from Mammoth are of low quality. They are already falling apart. The bottom is peeling of from the rest of the shoe. I have only hiked 250 miles with them. Luckily I could loan some superglue from another hiker and temporarily fix them a bit. I thought about ordering new shoes online, but decided to see how the glueing holds. Otherwise the smaller size 15 has been a success, and the bottom of my feet does not hurt either.
I spent around 2.5 hours at the Donner Ski Ranch. The excessive amount of sugar from the sodas gave me a rush. The day was hot. We were now at about 7000 feet. I did not feel that great in my stomach but my head was spinning from the sugar and I troddled along. Luckily the terrain was relatively flat and easy.
Many people were staying their nights at the Peter Grubb Hut, which is a cold cabin offered by the Forest Service. I checked the place out of curiousity and exchanged few words with Caveman. He was about the hit the bunk already 7pm and planned to get up 2am to do a big day towards Sierra City. He also criticized that Altras are all shit, and one would be better with Salomons, for example. I think my next shoes are not Altras.
 |
| Continuing late again. |
After checking the hut, I continued hiking until late. I wanted to do 30 miles. I did not want to push it, especially as I thought that I could not catch up with Bandit. It was very dark when I finally arrived to my campsite. There were other people sleeping soundly under their elevated tarp, so I tried to be very quiet. I also utilised the red light in my head lamp for the first time, as previously I did not even know that it had it. I finally went to sleep 10pm, which is an hour too late.
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