September 30 - October 6, days 184-190
PCT km: 1,755; kilometers hiked: 3,251
Today Gail gave us a lift from the trailhead to South Lake Tahoe. The Sierra Nevadas are done! Now we have another 600 miles, through northern California to Ashland, which is in Oregon near the California border. We'll likely need another 4 weeks. If the weather stays good, Sabine will be able to finish in the second week of November. Olli will have to head home to Germany mid- to late October. Work calls....
To recap:
At noon on September 30, the pass from Kennedy Meadows Resort to the trailhead was reopened; the roads had been cleared of snow and were drivable. Our stay at the resort had thus been extended – and was wonderful. We met nice people and shot fabulous interviews, including with owner Matt. And ate a lot of delicious food ... Unfortunately, the stay put a big dent in our budget, despite staying in a cheaper dorm (multibed room, which we fortunately had to ourselves) rather than a cabin.
The blizzard must have raged: above 2,800 meters everything was white – and we faced an ascent to 3,200 meters! Funny: in June we flipped the Sierra because of snow and now we have eto deal with snow on the final 125 km. All in all it was doable; there were hardly any tricky bits. Nevertheless, we had to be careful due to the danger of slipping. We always had our microspikes, in a pinch. The nighttime temperatures were challenging, however: minus 12 degrees Celsius, which meant our water froze even inside our tent! Crawling out of it in the morning was tough. Fortunately, it got a little bit warmer every day, and even at night.
While the passes weren't quite as long or as high (up to 2,800 meters), there was a lot of zigzagging, which was exhausting. The trail also got increasingly lonely; we met fewer and fewer hikers. This was due in part because the 200 km that the John Muir Trail runs congruent to the PCT ends. We thus no longer encountered any JMT hikers and only a few PCT hikers. With a few exceptions, however: we met No Poles, Swiss Miss, and Stevie Wonder on the trail, heading south. Bobby-o, who'd also been stuck in Kennedy Meadows and who like us was heading north to Ashland, had left the resort by shuttle earlier. He was thus ahead of us on the trail. We'd spent a wonderful evening with Bobby-o and a few of the other southbound hikers who'd been stuck in Kennedy Meadows.
We even experienced a bit of trail magic in the Sierra: at the trailhead to Carson Pass on October 4, we met 79-year-old Bob, a retired police officer from Reno, who had hiked the John Muir Trail last year! The John Muir Trail is about 340 km long and one of the oldest and most popular trails in the USA. Bob, who had just completed a day hike and was waiting for his wife and friends to catch up in his modern mobile home, spontaneously gave us peanut butter, candy bars, and cookies, which we ate immediately. Normally his camper is packed with food, he said; he'd have liked to have offered us more. But because the vehicle had been at the shop a few days earlier, he'd cleaned everything out. We were delighted with what he could spare, though! Bob’s trail name: Lawman.
Two retired teachers, Howard and Jim, whom we'd met on the trail earlier at the parking lot, also gave us some of our favorite chocolate: Dark Cherry Almond.
Right on schedule, after 5 days, we reached the trailhead on Highway 50 on October 5. Within 10 minutes we hitched a ride with Gail to South Lake Tahoe, 19 km away. When Gail found out we were heading for a hostel, she spontaneously invited us to stay at her house! This was unusual enough by American standards, but certainly no one in Germany would have offered a stranger a place to stay after 10 minutes’ acquaintance! Terrific! We were able to do our laundry there that evening.
At lunch Gail drove us to an Indian restaurant, Nikki's Chaat Cafe, highly recommended by hikers using the Guthook app (all-you-can-eat buffet). The food was outstanding and a welcome break from burgers. We interviewed the chef, Bhu(pendra), who arrived in the USA in 1992 with 32 dollars in his pockets, to enable his daughters to go to college. He worked hard, first in the launfry of a casino (in India he'd worked in his family’s laundry business), followed by a stint as a pit boss at the gaming tables, before opening his own restaurant. Today he's proud of his accomplishments: For 15 years, he owned a well established restaurant in South Lake Tahoe, which by 2013 had doubled in size within 8 years. He's just sold it, though he occasionally helps out the new owners. This wouldn't have been possible in India. In the USA, anyone who works hard has the opportunity to make something of himself. In India, origin and family count more, although that's changing. He named the restaurant for his youngest daughter – following an astrologist's prediction that doing so would guarantee the enterprise's success.
Hung out on the beach in chaises, enjoying the sunset. Then headed for a nearby wine bar. Met trumpet player and pianist Kris, who plays there regularly. He used to play trumpet with Frank Sinatra, among others! He invited us to the next morning's service at Hope Lutheran Church (10 am), where he plays the grand piano. We planned to get back to the trailhead tomorrow afternoon. (Clarice, the daughter of one of Gail's friends – who's a trail angel – is kindly driving us.) Let's hope that works; we want to have breakfast at Bert's Café, resupply, blog, and take care of a few other tasks.
More from South Lake Tahoe in the next blog.
The following photos are not in chronological order, alas ... : Link