Day 66: 37.5 miles
The day after I hiked my longest day ever, I woke up feeling sore but surprisingly not as bad as I thought. I didn’t start hiking until 6am which I consider late but still early enough for another long day. I wanted to see if I could do it. I talked on the phone to my mom for three whole hours.l in the morning. I hardly saw anyone all day and I definitely didn’t talk to anyone either. The terrain was mountainous but gentle when I had to climb. Today I crossed the Nevada state border for a second time and climbed up to the top of Relay peak where I got a great view of lake Tahoe, Reno, and Truckee. By the end of the day I was pretty tired. I knew I could walk two more miles to hit 40 miles for the second day in a row but I didn’t want to camp by a highway alone so I stopped two miles early at 8pm. Jenga would pick me up in the morning.
Day 67: 2 miles
Today Jenga picked me up at the mount Rose trailhead at 8am. We sent the day hanging out in Reno. It was great to see my old hiking buddy! I was also grateful for a rest day after hiking almost 80 miles in two days.
Day 68: 30 miles
Jenga dropped me off at the trailhead around 10am. Despite the late state I was determined to get miles in so I could be done with this trail tomorrow! The views were gorgeous. I felt really slow but made it to camp by 8:30pm. It was my last night on the TRT and I was happy for a great view at camp. I was also feeling anxious to be back on the PCT heading north again.
Day 69: 10 miles
I finished the Tahoe Rim trail today! At Kingsbury grade. Then I hitched back to South Lake Tahoe where I did some town chores before attempting to hitch to Tahoe City so I could hike back to the PCT from the other side of the lake and continue where my PCT footsteps left off. I heard that my friend Diva was in town and a guy named Josh from the town I’ve lived in the longest. I stayed in South Lake Tahoe so I could meet Josh and we all hung out w Diva together. Diva is taking six days off the trail to spend time with her boyfriend Kurt while her hiking partner goes to a wedding. I know Diva from the AT in 2019. Her and Kurt offered to drive both me and Josh back to very difficult places on the trail which was a huge save! I ended up sleeping on Josh’s hotel floor for the night. It was great to have another rest day in town and get to eat more food before pushing miles to catch up to Diva while she was still off the trail.
I did zero PCT miles these past four days. They were all spent exclusively off to hike the Tahoe Rim Trail! Overall I’m really glad I took the time to do the extra hiking. The best part was when the two trails overlapped but I did get to check Nevada off as state #24 on my backpacking list and now have a very short thru hike under my belt! I also felt like it was a valuable experience to be on a totally different trail by myself without the hiking community I’m used to. It was different for sure. I enjoyed getting to push myself without judgement because I was alone. I definitely missed having company for sure though.
Des Hikes Thru 