The Unpolished Princess

Start: 1572.1

Stop: 1577.4

Today’s miles: 5.3

Total PCT miles: 1429.6

I was able to sleep through the night, mostly, besides rolling every now and then to change position, and checking out my tent when I did so-to make sure everything inside was still dry. On one side of my tent, the rain was somehow splashing mud onto the mesh of the doors of that side of the vestibule, but it wasn’t too terrible in the grand scheme of things..

I didn’t start packing until 7am. The rain had stopped but the wind had not. It was still pretty dang cold, too. As I packed, Margot did too, but everything she owned was practically soaked. The weather said today would just be windy, no rain-so, my plan was to keep hiking and Margot would get a hitch into town in 5 miles to dry out her gear, and take a day to recover from the last 24 hours. The cold and rain put her in a negative headspace and she was contemplating quitting, although I knew she wouldn’t once she got somewhere warm and dry and could reevaluate everything.

I started hiking, and it was beautiful but cold and windy. Nothing crazy though-just gorgeous mountains with lush greenery covering them, and tons of wild flowers and creek crossings. The mountains reminded me of what I picture Scotland to look like-moody skies and green hills as far as the eye can see.. one day I’ll have to go visit to see if the images I’m conjuring match.

The wind picked up its intensity around 9am, and then a guy that passed me from the other direction said that the ridge line he crossed yesterday and that I would cross today was very sketchy in this bad weather. Cool. Ok, no problem. I keep moving. I pass a big tree and head uphill, only to have the skies open up and rain start to slowly pelt me. Noooo! It wasn’t supposed to rain!

I backtracked to the tree and started pulling out my soaking wet rain gear and putting it on. When I was about to put my pack on, a group of 5 day hikers and their dog came through. They told me the weather was supposed to get only worse today, more off and on rain, storms through the night and all day tomorrow. Seriously?! There goes my plan for hiking through today and getting into Markleeville tomorrow morning *if and only if* the storms are bad tomorrow. I don’t want to be soaking wet and freezing cold for 3 days in a row.

I decided after talking to them that I’d want to bail into town today, too. So once Margot caught up to me, both of us struggling to stay upright in the wind, I told her I’d go to town today too, and zero out of the storms tomorrow. Her mood had shifted dramatically, even before telling her this. It’s amazing what knowing you’ll be warm and dry inside soon does to you, she was no longer talking about quitting at all.

We walked the rest of the way to the volunteer cabin at Carson Pass. They gave us a cold soda and hot water and tea. I was shivering by this point. They let us use a sign to hitchhike with-but we had no luck. When it started raining hard again, we came back inside their cabin. That’s when one of the volunteers pointed out to us that it’s Labor Day weekend. Oh. My. God. I had totally forgot!

So, she pulled out a book of hotel and motel numbers and started calling places for us. Then, some guy came up and offered to drive us to the second closest one, only 7 miles away at Kirkwood Mountain Resort, normally a winter ski resort, but the lodge and store were open during the summer. We thanked him and got into his.. wait for it.. CAMPER VAN that he renovated. As he drove, we talked, I peppered him with questions about his build-and then we realized: this is SAUNTER, the hiker we met in Stehekin forever ago! He just finished his thru hike 4 days ago and was out riding around in his van exploring the area. How cool!

He stopped at a lodge entrance and Margot ran inside to see if they had rooms available. She came back to say they did, so we got our packs and thanked Saunter profusely for the ride, then went inside to check in. We booked for 2 nights and once we had our keys we walked over and unloaded. Margot hopped in the shower, took one so fast that I made her get back in! There’s no way she got warmed up enough that fast! And then I did the same. We spread out our wet stuff and laid on the beds. I had to call and let them know that the heater wasn’t working, so they brought us a space heater.. we had a few issues with breakers tripping, but eventually the maintenance man got it worked out for us. Thankfully, we finally started to thaw.

After we napped and cozied up in the covers, we made the trek to the general store, like a 10 minute walk away. I may have spent $88 dollars there, on 2 slices of pizza, some drinks, food for the microwave in the room, and some chips. I may have also gone back inside and bought another slice of pizza before we walked back to the room. I regret nothing.

Back in the room, we’re just relaxing and watching TV. I’ve been working on my blog a bit, but I’m finding myself distracted easily. Oh well, I’m tired. Haha. Plus, the wind is howling past our balcony, and the sounds are so insane. I’m so glad I’m not out there hiking in this madness. So, with that, I think I’m going to roll over and get some shut eye.

Start: 1561.8

Stop: 1572.1

Today’s miles: 10.3

Total PCT miles: 1424.3

Well, today definitely did not go the way I thought it would.. at all.

We got up and packed around 7:30 and were ready to go, when the trail angel, Lisa got to our motel at 8:15. We rode to another part of town to pick up another hiker.. then made the trek to get us all back to the Echo Lake Chalet. We all thanked her profusely and then sat on the rock border to get ready for the day, ie: I had to put my shoes on.. and, then I went inside the now open store at the Chalet and got a sandwich to eat for breakfast, because, why not?

The morning was chilly and very windy. Actually, we were in a wind advisory.. I looked at my phone just to make sure, and we weren’t in for any rain except for 2 hours of light right late this evening. Cool, that’s no problem! So we set off, in the wind, Margot being cold, and me being quite content with the temperature since we were hiking uphill.

It was pretty trail, smooth dirt and lots of trees. We passed several homes on and off the grid, including a beautiful a-frame that Margot loved. We crossed the main highway and then started climbing a bit more, and with each step the terrain became more rocky and exposed. Then I saw the storm clouds headed our way. I pointed it out to Margot, then told her what my weather app said.. and not 5 minutes later it started to rain.

It was a cold rain, with the temps before the rain already being in the 40s.. this was not good. But I assumed it would still stop by this evening, so best to just keep moving through it, to keep warm, and then this evening once it stopped, set up camp and snuggle into our warm quilts. I put on my rain gear: jacket, pants, and pack cover, plus got out my umbrella. I love not having the cold rain smack into my face. Plus it’s always smart to keep your head as dry as possible in cold and wet conditions.

We stopped for lunch in an almost dry spot, with a huge rock blocking the wind. While we were eating, CliffJumper from the other day came by, and then gave me $10 for the Lyft we took out of Echo Chalet. It was very nice of him to do that, since neither of us mentioned asking him to pitch in.. at the time, all I was thinking about was food and a hot shower and a bed, I could have cared less about the cost to make it happen.

We started moving again and the rain just continued to dump more and more. Then, the wind started trying to blow us off the trail, with the rain coming down in sheets, sideways. With a little hail here and there, added in for funsies. Crap. We passed a couple around 3:30 that told us it might snow tonight above 9 thousand feet, just perfect. Could it get any better?

Since we were so cold, fingers and feet numb, we decided to camp at the next lake area, since it was under 9k feet of elevation, and the trail climbed up after it. We found spots, and started trying to set up our stuff, slow moving with numb fingers that wouldn’t cooperate at all. Once my tent was up, I took our water bags to fill at the lake while Margot worked on her tent..

Because of all the rain, I had to walk into ankle deep water to get out far enough to fill our bags. If my feet weren’t frozen before, they definitely were now. Back at the tents, I gave Margot her water bag and then looked for my town shirt to give her so she could try to dry out the inside of her tent, currently looking like it’s own little pond. She was not doing well.

I got into my tent, dried my few little puddles from setting up in the rain with my bandanas and headband, though not completely dry, dry enough. I blew up my sleeping pad and quickly changed out of my wet clothes and into my warm leggings and puffy jacket, my beanie and gloves, and my down booties for my feet. I decided I’d hunker down and get warm, then I’d venture out of my cocoon to cook dinner.

I waited over an hour and never got warm. Even with a dry head and warm layers on, in a 20 degree quilt and a liner as well. No bueno. So, I sucked it up and boiled my hot water to pour into my last Peak Refuel meal. Best. Idea. Ever. I sealed the bag and then placed it inside my quilt, around my hands and feet and core, rotating it every few minutes. I slowly started getting feeing back into my feet, finally.

After I was warmer than I had been, I ate. It made all the difference in the world. I carefully closed that bag, to save it for any other cold nights (to fill with boiling water like a hot water bottle). I laid down and thought I was about to type this out, as it was only 6pm-but my hands were still shaking, so instead I just curled up in my quilt and closed my eyes. I’m writing this all after the fact, because there was just no way I was going to be able to do it that night. I did sleep pretty good, considering. Once I was warm enough and could tune out the fierce, howling wind and rain. Really good, actually.

I tossed and turned and tossed and turned some more until at least 1:30am. I finally got up and took some ibuprofen and Tylenol together, and was eventually able to fall asleep. I feel like my pelvis needs an adjustment. Time to fly my brother, Zac out here to me and get this spine right! (He’s a chiropractor, so proud!)

Once I did fall asleep, I was out. And it was glorious. I woke up around 8 and started messing with my work stuff, I had to login to a meeting with my manager for my annual evaluation, and none of my login credentials worked. I blew her phone up with screen shots and my problems, and naturally-as management does, she was able to fix it for me and we had our meeting at 9am.

While I was on my phone “in” my meeting, Margot walked to a cafe to get coffee and breakfast. Everything went smoothly. My manager didn’t fire me or anything for not checking my emails like I’m supposed to, lol, which, honestly I’m just happy I’ve been able to pay my bills on time the way the service and WiFi has been out here! Ha.

After we wrapped up our meeting, I got dressed and walked to the cafe too. Margot and I missed each other in passing, because she found out the motel is already booked for tonight, so she headed back to pack before check out. She also found us another motel close by, like next door, so we’d just go there.

I got a breakfast burrito and worked on the blog while waiting for it. Then it burnt the heck out of my bottom lip since I was so eager to shove it in my mouth.. sooo.. I worked on the blog a little more before my next attempt to eat it. Eventually, I took the rest of it with me and ate it on the walk back, since it was getting really close to 11am. I packed and we walked over to the next motel: Paradice Motel (apparently spelled that way on purpose, but Margot isn’t so sure).

The lady wasn’t in the office when we got there, but another hiker was. I assumed she’d already been helped and was waiting on her to return. I was wrong. After a few minutes I asked her if the hotel person had already started helping her-when she said no I called the number on the door-no answer. Weird. So, naturally, I just started walking around. I made it to the upstairs balcony area before a cute lady in a blue dress saw me and asked if I needed help-perfect!

The sweet lady is the owner I think. She started helping the other hiker, and then Margot and I had to help translate their conversations.. because the motel owner is Asian American with a thick accent and the hiker was Swiss with a thick accent as well and everyone just kept saying, “excuse me?” Or “what was that?” Ha. It was all quite comical really.

Then it was our turn. The motel lady got the microspikes I sent here from Amazon, and then checked in Margot.. she already had a room ready for us and let us have the keys! No way! She also let us do our laundry (with detergent) for free! She is seriously so kind, even if she is never in that office.. haha!

We laid around a while, resting, and waiting for the load of laundry in the washer to be done. Then we did our laundry while laying around. Once everything was clean, we went exploring the local Lake Tahoe shops, in search of a new pair of socks for Margot. She found some pretty dang quick. We also stepped on a scale that was in a kiddie trampoline area, used to make sure they use the right bungie cables or whatever..

YALL. I have lost 38 pounds. THIRTY-EIGHT FLIPPING POUNDS. I know the scale is just a number and yada yada-but when I was so damn miserable after all of my thyroid failing business, it feels very gratifying for the number to reflect how I feel. I mean, I know my hip hurts, but I’ve been breathing better and moving easier (typically), so I knew I’d dropped some pounds..I thought maybe 15-20, but 38, after demolishing a breakfast burrito.. hell yeah.

Anywho. We ate lunch at a Poke place. It was delicious. We walked by the marina and saw the gorgeous Lake Tahoe. Then made our way to Safeway to get our resupply. The walk back was a long one carrying two bags of groceries each. I’ve got to be real particular about how I pack my stupid bear can later. We also stopped in Whole Foods. Margot is officially in love, and found a few extra things she needed.

Back in the room, I chatted with mom for awhile, then while I worked on the blog, Margot took a nap. Now it’s close to 7pm and we’re going to go eat dinner. I think I’m going to just end this here, because we’ll eat and organize our crap and hopefully sleep.. and tomorrow is an 8:30 leave time to get back up to Echo Lake and Chalet to start hiking towards Kennedy Meadows North. It’ll take us 3.25 days to get there and then we’ll be in the Sierras! I can’t believe it!