Friday, July 23, I found myself waking up at 4:00 am. The car was mostly packed. I was in the car and on the road at 4:50 South Tahoe Lake bound. My plan was to check into the motel, unpack my car, get out on the trail and get some hiking in. Little did I know that the boys were already up (up at 3:30 and hiking by 5:00) and getting ready to hike 17 miles by noon. I pulled into South Tahoe Lake abut 11:15. The car was unpacked (resupply food items, fuel, Ahnu shoes, and my gear) and I was almost out the door heading to the trail when my phone rang. Yes, it was Dave and he was already at Echo Lake. I found out that Zero and Fire Marshall needed to get to the post office and not wanting to get there when it was closed, they arrived about 4 hours earlier than I had thought.
It was wonderful seeing them. They had met up with some new friends and I found them seeking shelter under the shade of a tree. Dave has been telling me that he's losing a lot of weight, so I expected to see a very scarey Dave. What I saw was a thin Dave, but not yet scarey looking! I'm in the process of feeding him everything I can!
Dave explained to me that plans have changed for the remainder of his hike. The guys had run into Billy Goat, a very well known PCT hiker legend with over 38,000 miles of hiking under his belt. He told the guys that they were in jeopardy of not finishing the hike to Canada because they have lost so much time. They are about three weeks behind where they should be. His suggestion was that they jump 400 miles ahead, get out of California in about a week or two, and conquor Oregon and Washington before the weather makes the trip impossible. From Canada, they fly back to Echo Lake / South Lake Tahoe and complete these 400 miles. This area is lower in elevation and the weather will not be as severe as the last section of the trail.
Today we printed off maps that will get them to Oregon. When I get home I'll send them the rest. We've also gotten the few resupply items I did not bring. Dave will spend this evening packing and attempting to lighten his load.
Tomorrow I'll take Fire Marshall and Zero to get the couple of items that they need for resupply. Then we'll head for the trail and set up the Ahnu shoe give-a-way. We have 20 pairs of shoes for some unsuspecting hikers! We'll probably camp tomorrow night at Echo Lake. We are debating if I should on Monday drive them to the PCT 400 miles up (driving is under 200 miles). I'd then need to drive home - that's a lot of driving. I'm suggesting a bus ride, or maybe renting a car!
As the plan progresses, I'll pass it on. Dave is working on locations and mileage tonight too.
We said goodbye to a new hiker friend, Moleman. Dave spent a few days with him and now has ideas for new adventures. Moleman has written a book about his bike ride from San Diego to Florida... I see a cross country bike trip in my future.
I'll be working on downloading pictures - so next blog you should get to see Dave and friends.
Trail Angel Jane
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