Aug 12 “The Brewery” South Lake Tahoe

5:02pm I’m sitting here having a “Bad Ass Ale” with a clean body, clean clothes and a big appetite. I think I’ll go for the “All Mountain” salad for dinner.

I guess by now you see that I finished the trail earlier today. At 2pm to be exact. But I’ll start at the beginning.

My alarm went off this am at 5:30am. For the second time on this trip. I slept well and long last night. What a difference this makes on my ability to power through long days with energy to spare at the end. The sunrise was exquisite (I hope the photos translate) and I was on the trail by 6:58. A little slow, but I wanted to savor the last morning of this adventure. Listening to the creek gurgle by, the jays raucously yakking and the sound of early morning helicopters doing the sunrise tourist fly by.

One thing I haven’t mentioned is the contact I have had with women out here on the trail. Singly or in groups they uniformly stop to ask me questions about my hike. Two reactions are common. First, they will ask some variation of “whatcha doin’?” Then when they hear I am hiking the whole TRT their eyes widen then they always ask, “are you alone?” When I respond with a yes to both questions there is a kind of light in their eyes that reflects surprise, or amazement or admiration. I always feel kind of embarrassed by this response so I try to turn it around and say some variation of, “it’s not that hard, you can do it”, which I absolutely believe. Anyone who can walk can do this kind of hike. If they don’t walk well it might take them longer, but long distance hiking is 10% physical and 90% mental so anyone with desire and minimal physical abilities can do this thing. So, if you are stubborn and want to do a hike or something similar to this, go for it.