Mile 1126.8 to 1156.

The morning mist blushed orange under the sun’s first rays and the birds flitted between the trees. Mornings in NorCal are turning out to be not so bad. Photographically, it has been hard to find a view thay isn’t blocked, but the sun filtering through the trees is still nice to watch.

Bedazzled and I packed up our camp and left at 5:30 hoping to find a good spot to watch the sun finish rising, but our plans were foiled by the trees. At least the trail was cush soil and made for easy walking. Soon we climbed out of the woods and started a long run along a ridge. So far, we have been enjoying the ridge walking in NorCal, but our views have been nullified by the smoke from a wildfire near Yosemite. We made good time and covered 11.6 miles by 10:00.

We came upon Wing-it who we thought was a couple days ahead of us and were happy to see a familiar face. Soon we came to Squaw Valley Ski Resort. It wasn’t open, but there was still snow on its slopes and unfortunately the trail went right over them. We proceeded to ski/fall in our trail runners until we could make it to some rocks and pick up the trail again. Let me tell you, skiing down a slushy snow slope in tennis shoes is no way to have a fun time. The trail continues to present new challenges everyday.

Bedazzled and I grab a sweet lunch spot up on a ridge and enjoyed our hour break. As we were getting ready to go, Vipr and Fun Dip walled up, but carried on to the next water because Vipr had runout. With all the smoke in the air, it is making everyone really thirsty and you constantly want to chug water.

After lunch, we ended up on another ridge run with valleys and mountains on either side. I am sure the view would have been one of the best of the hike so far, but the haze and smoke ruined it. I would love to come back and see it at a later date.

Being in the Sierra for the past month, we had gotten used to having water everywhere. In NorCal when you are on a ridge run, there is no water because you are at the highest point. I hadn’t really been paying too much attention to the water sources coming up and got a little nervous because the smoke was making me so thirsty. I only had 1.5 liters and the next water was listed to be in 7.5 miles. Definitely do able, but cutting it close. Luckily we found a large patch of snow and were able to collect water from its run off. We also came across a surprise stream too. I will have to keep an eye on the water sources from here on out.

At Doner’s Pass we came upon some trail magic from Town Food. He had everything you could want: fresh fruit, good beer, cookies, cereal and milk, toilet paper, tent stakes, you name it and he had it. Thanks Town Food.

We left the magic at 6:20 and walked another 3 miles to just before interstate 80. Bedazzled and I setup a cowboy camp and a little while later Vipr, Fun Dip, and Olaf arrived too.

My German readers may wonder how my German is coming along. Well today I learned how to count from 1 to 100.