Section K is 64.5 miles and runs from Echo Lake to Donner Summit. Section L is 38.5 miles long and runs from Donner Summit to Highway 49 / Sierra City. So these got smushed together into one post. July 15th - 20th.
Day 70, 7.7 miles to Aloha Lake.
Sea Lion and I were again up before most everyone else and we rented the Lime electric scooters to zip to the grocery store for brekkie supplies. I was amazed that the scooters only costed 60 cents each way! It seemed like the whole hostel went to the casino buffet for brekkie while I worked on blog stuff and she tuned her resume and applied for some remote jobs. Around 230 we set out to go to Coldstone Creamery since it was National Ice Cream Day. We then had a rough time getting back to the trail. The celebrity golf tournament was in town and just ended so the stream of traffic seemed to be rich folk uninterested in picking up hikers. We thought we should get back to the Y, so we rented Lime bicycles but soon got sick of that, unsuccessfully tried hitching again, then took an Uber to the Y. After about an hour, Rudolfo scooped us up in a newly refurbished VW bus. He was a chill guy just taking it for a Sunday joyride, so he was happy to drop us off. We hiked to Echo Lake along the shore and past tons of cozy cabins, and continued up to Aloha Lake. It was like the whole hostel relocated there and we were among the last to arrive. It was a beautiful lake and the sky was still aflame from the sunset.
Day 71, 23.7 miles to Bear Lake Outlet.
My sleeping pad has had a leak for awhile now and I finally took it down to the calm lake to submerge it, see bubbles, and find the leak. However, the leak is very slow, it takes 6-7 hours before my shoulder or butt contacts the ground, so the hole is miniscule and I couldn't find it. We soon hit the 1100 mile marker and I was pleased that there was only a single marker. We passed a few more lakes on the long and gentle climb over Dick's Pass. After 700 miles, my shoes had lost all their cushion and the rocky trail didn't feel very good. At the top, Moose had made snow cones for everyone from the nearby snow patch and a Mio water flavor he packs out. I was happy to have a snocone but bummed that I missed out on this treat in the Sierras. We bounded down the other side and took a long break at Lake Fontanillis, where I swam out to an island and found a jumpable cliff. I did a depth check before jumping and it was fun but then I swan back to the crew. I did consider grabbing a my GoPro and returning for a second trip but I was hungry stayed to hang out. From there we all departed for another stretch before taking a break at Richardson Lake. It was not clear and blue and as inviting as the previous lakes, so none of us went swimming...we are pretty spoiled. Sea Lion and I took off first and got to the campsite which was pretty sweet, had plenty of tent spots, a chilly stream, and the kicker, a fire pit. Everyone else started to trickle in right after I got a fire going. Once settled, we all ate around the fire and Moose made whiskey and hot chocolate to share. It was a good day.
Day 72, 25.6 miles to the John Benson Ski Hut.
The plan was to do a 30 miler and be very close to Donner Ski Ranch, which is a quick 0.2 off trail and gives PCT'ers a free 40 ounce beer! So we were up early to attack the climb up to a saddle with views and along the way received word that the Ski Ranch doesn't open until 11. No sense in doing a 30! We slowed down a bit and enjoyed the long ridge running past the Alpine Meadows and the famous Squaw Valley ski areas. It was hard to imagine the rocky terrain being covered with enough snow to be skiable but I definitely want to go back this winter! I climbed up a rock formation and had to change my route towards the top because all the rocks were loose and crumbly but I made it up. On top there were some Hawks circling around and one swooped right at me. The crew took a long siesta at the Five Lakes Stream and when we left the afternoon heat was out strong, my 1L of water barely lasted until the next stream. I caught up to Sea Lion on the final climb and at the top we took a short side trail to scramble to the top of Tinker Knob. It had amazing 360 views that were cut short from a smokey haze rolling by from numerous wildfires. We hung out for awhile, sat in the big rock-throne people had built, and shouted Monty Python quotes at people as they hiked by. Moose made more snow cones for everyone and then we went along the ridge to get around Anderson Peak and up to a ski hut that is not listed in most of the trail guides. I was the first one there and felt certain it'd be locked but was excited to see it wasn't! There were six bunks, a big dinner table, a kitchen area, a loft, and a two-story outhouse for the winter. It was a bit precarious to climb up the rickety ladder in the summer when there isn't 10+ feet of snow. We had a traimily dinner around the big table and watched an awesome sunset from massive boulders in the front yard. It was another good day.
Day 73, 6.8 miles to Donner Ski Ranch.
I got up early to watch the sunrise but there were no clouds, so it wasn't as brilliant as Lost Lakes but it was still enjoyable. We left and hiked down the rest of the ridge and I soon fell behind from taking pictures and having to get pebbles out of my shoes. Then I fell further behind when every group of day walkers wanted to have a full conversation with me. Luckily, my timing was perfect and as soon as I stepped on to the road a pick up truck was pulling over to give us all a ride to town. I didn't even have to break stride, I just walked up and hopped in. We first went into the cute old town of Truckee to get breakfast at Jax on the Tracks while we waited for the ski ranch to open. Then it was a two-part hitch back to the mountain. The first was a Subaru with an already full trunk, so the four of us had to ride with our packs in our laps and also make room for his dog. The second was another Subaru, thankfully with trunk space, so it was a more comfortable ride. Subaru love. Back at Donner Ski Ranch we collected our free 40s and mingled with the other hikers. After catching a buzz we decided to stay for lunch, then another beer, then another round, and as we started to make plans to leave, the Captain arrived. He is a very generous Canadian man who started to make sure the pitchers were never empty and then bought pizza, spring rolls, and nachos for the entire bar. We wound up staying until the bar closed at nine and then stumbled half of a mile up the trail to the first group of camp sites. The vortex hit hard!
Day 74, 25.5 miles to Mules Ear Creek.
Everyone was on the struggle bus this morning and the four miles to the next water at the I-80 rest area dragged on quite slowly. I felt much better after getting some cool water from the drinking fountain and then we joined Mousetrap and Shark for breakfast in the woods next to the rest stop. From there, the trail had a quick incline up to the Peter Grubb Ski Hut where I stopped in to check it out but wanted to keep moving. It was another beautiful day with wildflowers and blue skies with wisps of white clouds. We took a quick break at the Basin Peak Spring and then went on a 6.7 march to Snowbank Spring for another rest. I could get used to these ice cold water sources! From there we planned to go 10 miles to Mules Ear Creek and call it a day. I took another quick rest about halfway and saw a big tree fall over when a gust of wind whipped by. The sharp crack and loud thud was kind of surprising on such a peaceful afternoon. We got to camp and some of the crew were getting ready to do another five miles to make their hike a bit easier to get into Sierra City tomorrow. I fetched some water, took a squirrel bath in a pool, then helped set up the tent and I made a fire for the night. Mousetrap and Shark joined us and it felt good that I was able to get a few chores at the same time; transfer some photos and sew some holes in my socks
Day 75, 20.7 miles to Camp 1200.
I bounded down the hill to Pass Creek where an old army truck was parked. Not sure what its use is but it looked cool so I took a picture. We got some water from a nearby ice cream and then hiked another few miles to Milton Creek where we again ran into Colin, the cheery old Englishman, so we took the quick break few chat with him. We hiked together the rest of the way to Sierra City and I was very tempted to try some cliff jumping into the North Yuba River. There were round rocks, nice cliffs, waterfalls, and blue water which looked deep enough but also hard to climb down to for a depth check. Also, we had one hour to get to town to pick up some packages before the Red Moose Cafe closed. I begrudgingly kept walking and we soon got to Highway 49 where a hitch seemed unlikely and it was only a 1.5 mile road walk. We started walking with our thumbs out and the second vehicle, an old military Pinzgauer, pulled over and said pop and. We rode in the back along with a sweet dog and got dropped off with plenty of time to go. We collected our goods, a food resupply from Zero Day, new shoes, and a bunch of matching fanny packs for the traimily. We then joined the hikers on a vacant hotel's porch across from the general store and indulged in some chili cheese fries, ice cream, and Gatorades. Then, I did the soapy water trick to find the leak in my air mattress and patched that up. Most hikers were starting to buy beers and talk about staying in town but the Donner Ski Ranch vortex was a mere two days ago, so we got out of Dodge. Locals told us that the big ascent out of town was best done in the late afternoon anyway when the exposed trail was in the shadow of the Sierra Buttes. We hit the 1200 mile marker and as we were enjoying our celebration beverages, Sea Lion spotted a single campsite just below the trail. It had a view of the setting sun and was a perfect spot to call it a day. The end of section L was perfect.
