9/7/2023
Section: Milepost 1121.4 to 1093.4
Total Trail Miles: 1846/2650
Distance: 28.71 Miles
Moving Time: 12:23 hr
Elevation Gain: 4,564 ft
Today was a juge day. We had randomly been connected with some wonderful people in Placerville via a mutual friend of Amanda’s named Katelynn Barnes who had hosted PCT hikers before and were excited to host us. We had agreed with them to meet at Lower Echo Lake today, in the evening. Now, the only thing that stood between us after 9 days on the trail and a car ride to a mattress was 28 miles so… we were stoked but knew we had a long way to go.
The stage today is defined by a high point at Dick’s Pass (yea - can’t make these names up). It starts by circumventing Sourdough hill and passing the western shore of Richardson Lake (White Man Names, amiright) before ascending to gain a ridge across the lower flanks of Lost Corner Mountain. Once on the ridge, the stage continues its solemn climb up and up towards the pass. Along the way, it skirts the shores of Middle Velma, Upper Velma and Fontanallis lake. Oh, don’t forget Dick’s lake - yea, the pass and the lake are named after this dick. Once Dick’s Pass is mounted, the path drops precipitously across the upper basin of Half Moon Lake before curling down to Susie Lake. Susie lake starts a long chain of lakes, including Heather and Aloha, before the trail drops out of the lake basin, past Upper and Lower Echo lakes and eventually deposits weary PCT hikers out at the Lower Echo Lake trailhead. Did I say lake enough?
We woke up at five which, even for us, is a little early, but we knew we had a long way to go and a rendezvous with an actual mattress later this evening so, we were pumped. We shot down some breakfast with a little coffee before getting our things packed up. As we packed we talked with our herb-loving, Canadian neighbors about the PCT. They were hiking it but we hadn’t run into them before so we exchanged beta about everything they had coming ahead as well as what we had coming downtrail before heading on out. 10 minutes before 7 we were on our way, making quick work of the gorgeous trail lined out before us.
The Desolation Wilderness is poorly named. As one of the crown jewel wildernesses of California, it gets a lot of love - and rightly so. The area is pock-marked by quintessential high-Sierra lakes nestled at the bottom of centerfold-worthy granite basins so, it was not a surprise when we ran into a group heading north through the wilderness, early in the morning and then continued to do so for the rest of the day. We wound our way up along Richardson lake in the early morning light. The trail was smooth but I was a little worried about running into a bear since we were so quiet. Crazy that we have walked over 1800 miles and not seen a single, brown-furred buddy. We’ve run into plenty of bears hiking in the past, but none yet on the PCT, however, we had heard that, if we were going to see one, the area around Tahoe would be the place.
We continued on, reaching our first string of lakes at Velma and peered jealously at the first of many tents set up on idyllic granite shelves, their inhabitants still fast asleep inside. This would be the first of many instances where we found ourselves envious of the flexibility that comes with weekend backpacking. After leaving Dick’s lake behind, we climbed steeply, running into some cheery Tahoe Rimmer’s on our way up and were on top around 1 pm where we took the opportunity to eat lunch and film the epic climax of our sprint up Dick’s pass.
After about 30 antic-filled minutes, we started to descend. Dick’s was the first place I had gotten decent reception in a few days so I sent out a text to our mutual friends in Placerville and gave them my best estimate of our arrival time. Hannah texted me back saying they would be there and we began our descent. I also let her know that my phone was going out on me. Everything is dead - my phone, the power pack, headphones. Nine days is a long time to go without a decent charge and I'm pretty sure my little solar panel is toast as well.
On the south side of Dicks, things started to get rocky - like literally, the trail became a chaotic mess of marble size stones that slowed our progress waaaay down. This section is right up there with the Marble Wilderness for trail difficulty and brought our moving average down to less than a mile an hour in some places. I love these trail runners for hiking but they do not soak up stones like a pair of boots can - still worth the trade-off though. We are really in the core Desolation wilderness now and these lakes are GORGEOUS! Amongst the granite outcroppings tons of tents started popping up - vibrant reds and oranges amongst the beige granite. At one point I got another note out to Hannah indicating we would be about an hour behind, which she indicated would not be a problem as we sprinted along the eastern banks of Aloha lake. By the time we departed from the south end of Echo lake we were crawling. Nine days ending in a marble strewn mess of trail will really take it out of you.
The sun set on us as we made our way past Echo lake, serpentining around homes built up on the lower banks of the lake. Car headlights beckoned us on and eventually we were down to the parking lot, making our way across man-made bridges over fish laters. It was at this moment that a black, bushy dog ran up to me barking and I heard a guy farther up the trail yelling “Aria, Aria, ARIA!!” He recognized us as he came around a turn and waved as Amanda said hello to the excitable Aria. He introduced himself as Hannah’s husband, Evan and asked, with a smile, if we were looking for a ride. We laughed and introduced ourselves and said sorry and thank you half a dozen times before starting a short walk back to the car. At the car we said hello to Hannah and apologized for how bad we were sure we smelled before getting into their car and speeding down I-50 back to Placerville. Along the way we talked, getting to know each other. Hannah was a local librarian and Evan worked for the local government with marijuana growers in the area on permitting. About 50 minutes brought us down the gentle west side of the Sierra and into the lower foothills where we stopped to get late night drive-through Mexican. It was exactly what we needed when we got back to Hannah and Evan’s place, where they said there was still a chance we might see a bear as there had been a local one pillaging the garbage cans.
After our Mexican dinner, Amanda went for a shower and I talked with Hannah and Evan. We found out then that Aria was not a fan of me in the slightest but curious enough to still investigate the chances of friendship. After Amanda was done with her shower I took mine before passing out on a wonderfully soft bed, my bruised and battered feet finally getting a chance to do some repair and so looking for a 0-day in Placerville.
