Day 56: Crossing State Borders, Hopping Off Trail, and What Now? (8/18-8/27)

8/18-

Today’s Miles: 8

Total trip miles: 938

In the morning, I pass a sign that says “State Border” and has an arrow pointing one way to California, and another arrow pointing to Nevada. I hadn’t really thought about it, but I had actually been in Nevada these past couple of day. And today I’m entering into California. Now, of course, I had expected to enter into California from Oregon and not Nevada, but hey, this new hike is giving me 4 states as opposed to the 3 in a traditional PCT thru-hike.

At some point in the morning, my walking stick sadly snaps on me. An omen to come for the day? I’ve had the walking stick since Bend, OR which was over 200 miles ago. I try to find a new one but they are all too short or too long or too heavy. It’s all legs for today.

It’s around 11:30 am when I stop for lunch. My appetite is not the only thing that is stopping me- the air is not only hazy with smoke but has had a strong burning smell to it since I woke up. I check the air quality of Kings Beach, the closest little town to me, and it reads “very unhealthy”. And then, I check my text messages, to see I have a text from Max Heap informing me that the PCT is now closed in the Lake Tahoe area due to the Caldor Fire. That’s not to be confused with the Dixie Fire, the original fire that caused the skip from Ashland to Tahoe. The implications of this new Caldor Fire are that I can no longer rejoin the PCT from the Rim Trail, thus thwarting my revised plan.

I try to keep things factual as I make a decision. What do I know? I am on the north end of the Tahoe Rim Trail. I can no longer take the Rim Trail to the PCT and walk into Bear Valley. The air quality is currently very unhealthy. The Caldor Fire is minimally contained and has grown at a rapid rate in the past 24 hours.

So with all of this, it’s pretty obvious to me I need to get off trail. I’m not in a bad spot to do so, as I’m about 4 miles away from the small Tahoe town of King’s Beach. In a perfect world, I would figure out a way to get from King’s Beach back to my place in Bear Valley, where I can regroup a bit. But how am I going to get from Kings Beach to Bear Valley?

And this is where I’m helped out again by a friend named Gary. Gary lives in Modesto and an avid hiker himself, told me before my trip to call him if I was in a pinch. This is definitely a pinch and it’s a huge ask, but I text Gary and within 10 minutes he calls me and says he can pick me up in Kings Beach and take me back to Modesto, where my car currently sits and is only a 2 hour away drive from place in Bear Valley. It’s incredibly generous and somewhat alleviates the sting of having to leave trail yet again.

Gary picks me up in the evening and we head back to Modesto, where my car awaits. The car ride back to Modesto goes by some Northern CA sections of PCT trail such as Donner Summit. It’s pretty and makes me excited to do Nor Cal at some point, whether it’s this or next hiking season. Overall, I’m in pretty good spirits as I recount different parts of my trip to Gary and watch the scenery fly by.

My car is not only waiting for me, but has even been washed! I had been leaving it at John sister’s, Sarah’s house, and she and a few of her kids had cleaned the dirt that had been accruing from sitting for the past two months. After thanking everybody, although words fall short of how much of a lifesaver they have been, I get behind the wheel and drive back to Bear Valley under an ever smokey sky.

So… What’s going on now? (8/19-8/27)

I spent the last week and a half at my place in Bear Valley. This was partly due to ongoing smoke in the area, but also reevaluating continuing my hike. I happened to be back home when school was starting up for many districts and I poked around looking at teaching jobs. Nothing really came of it and as the days went by, it felt more and more right to get back on trail. So to getting back on trail! I plan on hopping back on the PCT at Sonora Pass on Saturday, (8/28) and then continuing southbound from there. Sonora Pass is right on the northern edge of the Sierras, right by Kennedy Meadows North. So I have all of the Sierras to look forward to and then after that, it’ll be the desert that separates me from the Mexican border. That’s another 1,000 miles of trail ahead of me, with another 250 trail miles to Mt. Whitney.

Also, rather improbably, I’m joined at my house on Thursday night (8/26) by Mousetrap. I hadn’t seen Mousetrap since all the way back in Stehekin. Once he had gotten to Ashland he had rented a car with the closures and was dropping off some hikers at Kennedy Meadows North. We will head out together on Saturday morning from Sonora Pass, and hope to catch the group of hikers he dropped off!