July 3rd
We needed an early start and after sleeping through both alarms, the birds singing to the sunrise, fortunately, awoke us at 5:15am. We walked across the volcanic ridge known as “The Nipple” marveling at the morning’s early light on the nearby peaks.
Descending to the Lost Lakes we followed paper plate signs promising food and drink to PCT hikers at the “Animal House”, a collection of RVs and a large tent set up and operated by several trail angels from Placerville. We arrived shortly after 7am to barking dogs and hosts and fellow hikers just rising. We enjoyed their kind hospitality, coffee, fruit and cold drinks, sorry we couldn’t stay for breakfast. But, a planned meeting with the Carrot’s friend, Ron, kept us on a schedule that meant we had to leave by 8am.
We pushed through two more climbs and traversed a lovely basin filled with ponds and wildflowers. It is a familiar area, one that we had frequently visited in the winter on several cross country skiing excursions and were now able to marvel at a different facet of its beauty.
Approaching Carson Pass we experienced a dramatic surge in day hikers and weekend warriors, at least a 100 or more in the mile before the pass. The Fourth of July weekend is in full progress.
Ron took us into Markieville, another old haunt of ours, where we feasted on burgers, fries and salad. We aborted our attempt to visit Grover State Park hot springs when the holiday weekend line created a wait too long. We followed plan “b”, ice cream at the general store.
Ron hiked with us from Carson Pass to the first saddle. We all enjoyed the wildflowers and the fact that the afternoon clouds were building more slowly and less threateningly than has been usual lately. The air was hazy around the saddle. Although part of the haze is no doubt smog rolling in from San Francisco, Stockton and Sacramento and part may be smoke from a lightening caused forest fire near Reno, part of the haze was definitely dust from the hordes of dayhikers out and about.
We stopped at Showers Lake for a long break; time to reflect on the ghosts from past hikes both the 94 PCT treks well as the part of Tahoe Rim hike that did in 2001 with our friend the “Trail Wizard.” Scenes from the lake were both fresh and familiar, filled in with long ago faces.
We moved on down the trail a half dozen more miles to position ourselves for an early morning arrival to Echo Lake resort, our next stop for friends and resupply. The mosquitoes moved with us. Or found us again. Our camp is as infested as any we have had yet, requiring deet, long sleeves and pants and headnets to eat dinner.
