Sliding By

I’m slow getting up. Temps are in the low 40s and I’m comfy in my quilt, delaying the rising. I finally let the air out of my air mattress and that decides the matter. I am out of camp by 6:30. Not great, but I only have to hike 15 miles today.

Uh oh, I have cell reception. I give Patti a call and then I book the room I will need in South Lake Tahoe in two days. Then I do the Wordle. For crying out loud. Am I ever gonna start hiking?!

Clouds

Cloud watching. It’s been a life-long hobby. It’s one of the things I did with Patti while we were dating. The clouds in the skies today are new.

And this one is layered and feathered, like the tail of a celestial Pegasus.

And doesn’t this one look like a giant white albatross flying toward you, its wings spread wide across the entire sky.

And finally this one whose wickedly twisted shape is the stuff of nightmares.

No Grind

Right out of camp I am climbing 1300 feet to an altitude of 8400 feet (only exceeded by yesterday’s late afternoon climb). It’s cool and I go right up. Yes, I just go up like I am walking from the house to the barn. I feel myself doing it, wondering when the wheels will fall off and they don’t. A good sign. I am getting stronger.

As I make the top, it’s like yesterday all over as the trees drop away and I’m ridge walking again. The wind is strong and cold. My nipples are poking holes in my hiking shirt.

I am happy to be here. I could never experience this at home, as much as I do love Florida.

I am in the Squaw Valley skiing area. These ridges I am walking form the top of several “ bowls” that skiers plunge down into (fools that they are)! The particular ski area I am in this morning is Alpine Meadows.

From up here you can also see Lake Tahoe.

Twin Peaks

Moving away from the ski area, I see the beginning of the end of the high altitude hijinks. That mountain on the left with the double peak is called Twin Peaks, I will move around to the back side of it from the right.

In the next photo I have moved around Twin Peaks a bit. You can see the distinctive divot of the peak on the left. I am going to make my way along this ridge and exit this area at that little dip at the end of my pole.

On my way there I pass the junction of the PCT with the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT). The two trails follow the same path for a while. I run into several TRT hikers throughout the day.

Saw this giant fungus by the trail. It has been poked a dozen times by hikers with nothing better to do. This thing just keeps on going. What is it?

Sliding Down

I spend the afternoon among the trees at lower altitudes. The forest is sometimes pretty and sometimes horrifically broken. I am too tired to record either. I guess the morning excitement has left me exhausted.

I will say something about the amount of deadfall here. This forest with dead trees cluttering the forest floor is ripe for the kind of destructive burns that I walked through north of here. These fire kill every living thing. Colorado collects these dead trees in massive piles and burns them in the winter. Why doesn’t California do the same? I need to talk to a forester about this.

I did find one refreshing moment. I have not captured these white flowers yet. I think they are pretty.

I hike 2 miles further than planned. The planned campsite looked like it belongs to the Nazgûl (those savage undead riders in the Lord of the Rings). I have settled in the site I used in 2022. It has changed very little.

August 17, 2025

Miles hiked today: 17.5