I don't think we've ever moved so fast. We were up by 6:45 am and by 7:05 am, with the bugs dive bombing our heads, we were on the trail dreaming of the breakfast that IHOP had already started preparing for us! Highway 50 was only a short 3 miles away so perhaps this was the reason for our quick departure this morning. Gravy wasn't really up to our speed this morning, but who could blame him. He emerged from the tent with an unhappy look on his face."I knew you girls weren't going to leave at 8, but gosh I didn't think you'd be leaving by 7!" He whispered due to the fact that we were sharing our campsite with 2 other hikers.
We assured him all would be okay. We promised to wait for him at the hitch spot because if we stayed any longer the bugs were going to eat us alive. Waving an I'll see you soon goodbye we headed down the trail Replay in the lead.
Within 15 minutes of getting our party all together on the side of the highway, the hitch gods appeared. Rocketman, a friend of Gravy's from earlier in the hike, pulled up in a shiny convertible Mercedes. With the top down and our packs sticking out, we flew down the road towards South Lake Tahoe. When we arrived in town we spotted another group of PCT men. 5 Dollar, Strider, Oz, and Waffle oggled over our ride and told us the best spots in town for our gear and resupply. Soon into the chit-chat our stomachs began to grumble. Rocketman them and mentioned that we'd better get breakfast soon so off we went.
By 10:00 am we were seated in our booths, our large packs shoved in the storage closet in the kitchen. We all started with water, coffee, and a milkshake. Gravy even stepped it up with a Diet Coke! Ordering breakfast was a bit of a comedy routine as we each added an extra item to our order between breaks in the waitress to customer conversation. It didn't seem like long before plates of food arrived at the table. Before this adventure I never could've finished a meal at IHOP, but today I easily polished my plate. I honestly can't think of a time I've enjoyed food that much!
Full and happy we strolled down the street to the local Outfitters. As we walked we promised one another that we would meet in NYC to share stories and pictures from the last part of our hike. Gravy was sad he wouldn't be joining us for the last leg of our hike. He was waiting for a package from the snail mail post office and due to the fact that it was Saturday he was stuck for another 2 days in town. We said our goodbyes at the Outfitters where we all replaced our wornout socks and empty fuel cans.
The next stop on our list was the supermarket. I think we over stuffed our bearvaults, but since we only had 3 days why shouldn't we live it up with extra candy bars and a fresh fruit for every day? After packing everything in, a gentleman we met at the Gas Station down the road gave us a ride back to HWY 50 where we hitched another ride with a climber to the start of the trail. By 4:00 we were on the trail heading towards Echo Summit.
We are now entering Destination Wilderness. The plan is to hike 11.5 miles and then stop for dinner. We've heard amazing things about this part of the trail and I'm incredibly excited to see all the lakes surrounded by huge boulders. I'm getting a bit sad that the hike is coming to an end. I know that we've met our orginal goal and moving further and faster than we both thought possible. Still there is a part of me that wants to hike until the end. We chatted about hiking sections in the future so I'll just keep my fingers crossed those plans come to fruition.
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