So we got a good 5:35 am start and hiked ten miles to where the shuttle to Trout Lake picks up. Arrived an hour early but managed a hitch in the back of a pickup truck.
In Trout Lake we did laundry, showered, had street tacos and huckleberry milkshakes and were back on the trail about 4:10 pm and at a campsite about 6:15. Beautiful open field with soft grass.
Of all things we ran into Bambi who recognized Win from meeting her at Kennedy Meadows North. Like many hikers she skipped the fires in Northern California and all of Oregon.
Trout Lake had over ninety hikers yesterday and more today. The bubble has hit in force about 2-3 weeks or more early.
We continue to meet SOBOs. For the most part, unless they flip or skip they are too late to get through the Sierras in time. The late, late opening of the Terminus really has blown up the SOBO class.
We are lucky in that we’ve already done the middle, so to speak. We will clear Washington well before the end of September and finish the Sierras in time.
Then we will be in the desert after it cools off some with those SOBOs who made it through in time.
2235.5 is our Milepost for tonight. 2653 is the terminus. About 21 days at our pace which is now around 25 miles a day, ~15 mile Neros.
We will finish Washington by (on or before) our target date of September 14.
Then Mile 942 and south to the finish. A finish by the end of October looks possible. We will see.
We could have slept in town but there wasn’t a good reason.
BTW, next time I will have a hamburger and ice cream. But it was a good change.
Funny moment. Someone called it quits and donated all their food. The store owner gave it to me to distribute. Of course I took the good stuff —the empty zip lock bags (which no one else wanted) and other hikers were delighted to get the food.
With all the town food dinner tonight was water and some mango slices and a granola bar. I think my weight is around 150 something (159?). I’ll eventually get a good measure. Win appears to have lost fourteen more pounds.
A beautiful day. Met lots of people. The early bubble has resources slammed but people are acting in good grace.