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Days 86 - 90 (July 17 - 21): Miles 1195 - 1290

On Tuesday morning I resupplied at the general store and had the best breakfast burrito, also sold by the store, on the trail so far.

We started our climb out of Sierra City around noon but lots of shade from the trees and some clouds made for an fairly easy afternoon.

On Wednesday afternoon I was walking along when I saw Rian's pack next to the trail. I figured he had maybe gone down to a lake called Duck Soup pond to get some water. When he finally appeared he had for bottles of Heineken in his hands. He put them down in front of me and then proceeded to pull another 3 bottles out of his jacket! It looks like some ORV campers left them down at the lake. We drank 3 each and gave the last one to Nugio, a cool guy and fellow PCT hiker.

I think I might have picked up a bug because the last couple of days I have been having feverish symptoms. I'd feel very cold one moment and very warm the next, especially at night. My muscles are also stiff and sore like with the flu although I have no cough or running nose. I was thinking Gardia but my stomach has been fine.

I'm in Belden Town resort now and might head over to the Braaten's later with Rian. If I don't feel better I might stay the night. There are loads of bikers here this weekend.

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Days 82 -85 (July 13 - 16): Miles 1093 - 1195

So the last few days I made some big miles. I left South Lake Tahoe on Friday morning and started hiking from Echo summit around 11:30.

Echo lake is pretty cool. The lake is surrounded by all these cabins that can only be reached by boat. After Echo lake you reach Aloha lake which is more remote and very beautiful. There were a few other amazing lakes up in that section coming down from Dick's pass.

I saw a beautiful deer right next to the trail close to Paradise lake. It didn't move as I walked by but just stared at me. Pretty cool moment.

I did about 30 miles on Saturday and 28 on Sunday. My biggest days yet. The body was feeling it though.

When I arrived at Sierra City a RV camper at Wild Plum campground offered me a cold beer! I walked down to town and the Red Moose Inn where I found Rian, Brian and Gnu! The Red Moose is awesome. The friendly owner allows hikers to camp in the back yard, have showers and do laundry for free. We got coffee in the morning and you can get good breakfasts here.

On Monday night we all went down to the hotel and played some pool. Sierra City is a great town with lots of old buildings. One of my favourite towns so far!

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Day 81 (July 12): Another zero

Well my shoes got delivered by noon but I decided to stay another day. The Apex motel is great and I enjoyed staying there.

I had some trouble getting my package from Tahoe valley post office. They thought it had gone to the main PO but after phoning around and visiting them a second time I got my shoes. The green ones in the picture have over 1100 miles on them!

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Days 79 - 80 (July 10 - 11): Two zeros!

So we met a guy on the trail called Eric. He offered to drive us around Tahoe to do our chores. PO, resupply etc. done! I made a new frame for my backpack thanks to some advice from Carpenter. I've been having trouble with my Golite Pinnacle (hanging too much on my shoulders) so hopefully the custom frame will do the trick.

Eric is a very cool guy who loves his fishing. He showed us some awesome photos of his catches in and around Lake Tahoe.

On Wednesday we spent our afternoon at Camp Richardson beach on lake Tahoe. It's great taking some time off from hiking! Glad to get some time to rest my ankle. I ordered some new Brooks Cascadias which will hopefully arrive here on Thursday.

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Days 75 - 78 (July 6 - 9): Miles 1018 - 1093

So we arrived at Sonora pass on Thursday and Rian's parents took us down to Kennedy Meadows resort where we showered and did our laundry. We shared a dorm style room with Mad Dog and Smiles (this should actually be part of the previous post)

The Friday through to Monday was another tough few days to get to South Lake Tahoe. I guess the Sierras were catching up with us. This section wasn't as tough as the one to Senora pass and the mozzies were not as bad but the last few weeks were taking it's toll on our bodies I guess.

We reached Echo summit on Monday and after 10 mins of hitching a cool young guy from Tahoe, who was dropping off a south bound hiker, took us in to Tahoe Valley. We got another ride to the village from a dude who section hiked last year. There we hit one of the motels for some R & R. Brian was in the motel next door so he came over and we had beer, pizza, burgers and ice cream!

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Days 75 - 78 (July 6 - 9): Miles 1018 - 1093

So we arrived at Sonora pass on Thursday and Rian's parents took us down to Kennedy Meadows resort where we showered and did our laundry. We shared a dorm style room with Mad Dog and Smiles (this should actually be part of the previous post)

The Friday through to Monday was another tough few days to get to South Lake Tahoe. I guess the Sierras were catching up with us. This section wasn't as tough as the one to Senora pass and the mozzies were not as bad but the last few weeks were taking it's toll on our bodies I guess.

We reached Echo summit on Monday and after 10 mins of hitching a cool young guy from Tahoe, who was dropping off a south bound hiker, took us in to Tahoe Valley. We got another ride to the village from a dude who section hiked last year. There we hit one of the motels for some R & R. Brian was in the motel next door so he came over and we had beer, pizza, burgers and ice cream!

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Days 71 - 74 (July 1 - 5): Miles 942 - 1018

On Sunday Rian's parents dropped us at the trailhead and we walked the short distance down to the store and camp grounds at Tuolumne. We each had a coffee and and ice cream. I went off to the camp ground to find Gnu after hearing he is camping there. Rian joined up with us later and we decided to stay the night. I phoned Brian and it turned out he had just arrived back in Tuolumne after spending a few days with his girlfriend. So the team was back together again!

We drank some beers and headed up along the creek with a young english couple from Liverpool to try some bouldering on the rocks nearby before heading back to the camp site for some sleep.

Monday through to Wednesday had some tough hiking at times but we also chilled a lot and swam in quite a few of the creeks and lakes. There were some awesome views of the granite landscapes surrounding us.

On Wednesday we reached the 1000 mile mark! I carried a can of Budweiser with me, that I found in a trail angel bear box in Tuolumne, and we drank it at the mark.

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Days 68 - 70 (June 28 - 30): Miles 903 - 942

On Thursday morning I took the shuttle back up to the trail head and found Rian and his dad there. I was glad to see he didn't leave the day before and that we could hike out together. His dad joined us for a few miles before saying goodbye and turning back.

We hiked the few miles to Red's Meadow where we had a meal and some beers. We were dissapointed to see the hot springs were all locked up as the resort was getting ready to open for the public. We hiked on past Devil's Postpile and did only a few miles before camping.

On Friday we hiked up and camped on Donohue pass. The mosquitoes were out in full force again through this section. We saw a lot of south bound JMT hikers. Rian picked up a cool cowboy duster that he sported around in and decided to carry it out with him.

In Saturday we descended into the beautiful meadows before Tuolomne and took to breaks to jump into the creek. Rian's mom had hiked up a few miles to meet us. We hiked out to Tuolomne Meadows and I drove out with them to a nice camp site just outside the park where we stayed the night.

We had a barbeque that night and met a friendly local and fellow camper called Jim who ended up chatting the night away with us while bringing us food and drink as well as playing some songs on his custom Martin guitar. He said he used to play and write songs with Hoyt Axton.

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Days 67 - 68 (June 26 - 27): Miles 893 - 903 and a zero

I got to Horse Shoe lake at around 11 on Tuesday morning. I didn't have any cash for the shuttle into town but I decided to walk down instead of trying to hitch. The walk was pretty nice and - I took a bike/pedestrian tarmac lane going pretty much all the way down to town.

I met Gnu and Paul (Easy Miles) at the motel 6 and then went in search of Rian at the camp grounds. I found him there and we spent some time there and at the library. I left him to organise his supplies and headed off to get some dinner. Me and Gnu went to John's pizza place where we found Paul. It was Paul's birthday so we celebrated with a few beers and had some good pizza.

On Wednesday I spent most of my time buying and organising supplies as well as eating lots of town food. I enjoyed my time in Mammoth. It's a nice town with good facilities.

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