Shelly’s efforts have raised $692 for the Fast Track To Work program. Thank you to everyone who made a donation and thank you Shelly!

Aug 15 Soquel Mountains 600+/-

I’m home now, everything’s washed and mostly put away for the season. My feet which were heroic, have already recovered from the small blisters I carried for the second half of the trip and are feeling fine. I’ve eaten everything I craved during the trip and now I’m back to my normal diet. Don’t want to go too crazy on that front!

Goals, I never articulated my goals in this adventure, but I did have some. In no order of importance here are the main ones.

#1 hike the TRT-success on this one. 165 miles done.

#2 Be flexible, creative and positive in the face of hardships-I believe I was able to keep pretty upbeat, even when I was doing something very hard for me (hiking in the heat). Also, the problem of no quick and simple way to treat water presented a major challenge to my skills and ability to stay safe and healthy. So far so good on that front. So I give myself an A on that goal.

#3 to challenge myself in two areas of concern. Hiking in the heat and with limited water resources. I do believe I managed water resources quite well. My attitude about the heat was not always cheerful, but I didn’t melt, physically or emotionally so I guess that is something. At least I know I can do it if I must. I give myself an A on water management and a B on heat adaptability.

It might seem strange to be evaluating myself in this way, but this trip was, in part, to challenge myself in a controlled way in areas where I did not have much experience and/or confidence. My long term goal is to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, many issues that I had to deal with on this trip are issues I’ll have to manage on a PCT hike. Heat, weather, long daily miles. So in this way I feel my trip was successful. I got to find out how I handle some stressful situations and do it in a more controlled manner. Plus it’s just dang pretty out there. So I encourage everything who ever thought they would like to find out what is beyond that day hike length or beyond the auto pullout view area, get on out there. There is plenty of space for everyone!

Thanks for donating to FTTW and for reading my meandering words.

Shelly Skye

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.

Aug 11 Richarson Lake 7,550’

10:54am I left camp this morning and rolled in here at 10:30am…that’s 8.8 miles in 4 hours. It helped that all but 2 miles was flat or descending. Never-the-less a good place for me.

I’ll be hiking on to Barker pass today and probably a bit beyond to where there is a spring/creek 2.5 miles past Barker Pass if I can manage it. This will make for a 17.8 mile day. Yikes a mundo! Stay tuned.

6:45pm Approx. miles 149.5 8,000+/_

I found the little creek beyond Barker pass that the guide book spoke of. It is indeed beautiful, sitting above the north fork of Blockwood Creek with a view out of my tent screen of Lake Tahoe. Pretty dang cool.

I need that tent screen tonight as the mosquitoes are out. In fact today I got more bites (4) than I had the previous ten days (3). Believe you me I am not complaining because I have been extremely blessed to be almost completely free of the little buggers. One of the benefits of backpacking in August.

Just after signing off at Richardson Lake I met a woman walking towards the trail with pack on back. I struck up a conversation and it turn out she and friends were going out the same way as I. The question of water ahead was asked (by me). They ended up filtering water for me. Sweet!

I was a little slower than they in getting to baker pass, but when I arrived they were sitting at a picnic table munching and chatting

So there were Andrea, the first one I met, Joan and Jeff and their daughter with boyfriend. It turns out that Joan had done the Tahoe Rim Trail last year, in section hikes, mostly day hikes. We had a lot to schmooze about. Well Andrea, the one who owns the water filter I used, offered to let me borrow it for the rest of my trip. I thanked her many times. That one worry, about what water to drink and where I can find safe water, is no longer an issue. Phew.

I must say I am beat tonight. I probably say that every night, but I really mean it tonight. No joke here. 17.8 miles matches my largest day ever on a hike…the day I completed the JMT and climbed Mt. Whitney. Nothing so dramatic today, but I do have a gorgeous home for the night and full water bottles, the simple things in life…Ahhh

This still leaves me with 14.2 miles to do tomorrow, but if I get an early start I should be done by midday. I start the day with a climb to the beginning of Granite Chief Wilderness, where the TRT and PCT split. The TRT to my truck in Tahoe City. I know which trail I’m going to take!

Aug 10 Aloha Lake 8116’

9:25am- I slept in till almost 7am this morning! The sun hitting my tent is what woke me up I do believe. Needless to say I hopped up, packed my stuff, ate some cereal and was out of camp by 7:45am.

Right away I was climbing on rocky tread, the kind where every foot fall is important. Kind of like walking on giant marbles! I was groggy, tired and none to chipper. But as it always happens I got to the top of that hill and the tread turned to soft dirt, it leveled out and I started to feel I could actually walk!

I stopped here at Aloha Lake to make a giant pot of coffee and to see this famous lake. It is pretty extraordinary. Very few trees around the lake itself with hundreds of small rock islands out in the lake. There is a huge mountain mass as a back drop to the west side of the lake called the Crystal Rouge. A massive mountain of granite. It sure is something to see.

7:41pm Middle Velma Lake 8000’+/-

My my, Lake Aloha seems almost a lifetime away. Was that only this morning? This journal tells me so.

OK, I have to fess up. I got lost this afternoon. Somewhere between Dicks Lake and Velma. I went zig when I should have gone zag. I knew I had it wrong when I showed up at what I thought was middle Velma, but it was on the wrong side of the trail. Or rather I was on the wrong trail. Anyway I knew I had screwed up so I located the nearest campers for orientation. This nice guy had a larger map and I quickly got on the right track. It only took me 15 extra minutes to find the right place so I wasn’t to far off. It did kind of make me nervous, not to mention hurt my pride.

In between Lake Aloha and getting found I climbed up to Dicks pass@ 9,380’, the highest I’ve been in awhile. It was quite a slog, 2.9 miles of 1,100’ gain, but it was very interesting to try and guess which huge mountain mass was going to be the one. I was wrong.

At lunch today I was going through my meals for the remainder of the trip and I find I have one less dinner than I need. I am not sure how it happened because I was working off a list while at Berkeley camp. The only thing that could of happened was that the meal dropped off the bench behind the spot I was working at. It was my favorite meal too so I know I wouldn’t deliberately leave it behind. Anyway this means I’m either going to eat snacks for dinner one night or I’m going to have to change my plan and walk longer for the next two days. That would mean 17.8 miles tomorrow and 14.2 miles the next day, eating dinner in town, if I can still stand after 14 miles. I guess I’ll just have to see how it goes tomorrow. Today’s total (before getting lost) 14 miles. Trip total-134 miles.

Aug 9 3.5 miles from Showers Lake

9:10am Holy cow! It sure was windy last night. I had to add extra line to my back pole and attach to a tree. Rocks on all anchors and everything held well. I did have to wear earplugs due to my tent flopping-very noisy! It was still windy when I got up around 6am so I was also quite cold. Scurrying around helped and I took off at 7ish with my wind gear on. It only took ten minutes till I had to stop and remove everything extra. Such is the effect of exercise. I saw my first marmots this morning. I heard their warning cry before I saw them. They are such cute, furry critters. I’ll be seeing them a lot now as I am moving onto their habitat-alpine rocks.

12:38 Echo Summit Trailhead 7,380’

Well I’ve sorted out what food I have and what I need to pick up @ Berkeley camp. I’ve got 2.2 miles to walk to the next and final trailhead then four more miles to go before I am done for the day. Stay tuned for the next installment as this will be mailed today.

Aug. 9 Tamarack Lake 8000’

7:25- I pulled a 10 hr. day today. Of course that included many breaks and my resupply stop at Berkley camp. They are very kind to let me leave my stuff there and come back for it when I’m done. Nice people.

I am camped at a lovely little lake, for the first time with other people. I met a man named Scott who is out here with a small part of his Boy Scout troop. I count three adults and three kids. I guess that’s enough supervision. Anyway, I got to talk light weight gear with him which was fun. Later I was walking by with my H2O bottles trying to find the lake inlet and he offered me some filtered water. In return I gave him some plastic repair tape; I’ve been carrying in my repair kit, so he can fix a leak in his water bladder. A fair trade. It is a relief to be around other backpackers. I haven’t had to watch my back to keep from being run over by bicyclists since yesterday at 3:30pm. I didn’t realize how much of my attention was put towards that awareness of danger. Not that they are bad people or anything it’s just the speed at which they can come upon you. It can be unnerving.

I met a young woman on the trail this afternoon. She’s a back country ranger and had spent the week working with a youth group building trails. She was looking forward to an ice cream at the store on Echo Lake. She did ask where I was planning to stay, but I said I wasn’t sure and that I was doing the Tahoe Rim Trail. She said, “Oh, so you’re just moving on through.” Yes, I guess she’s right about that. I was surprised she did not ask me for a permit. I probably reminded her of her grandmother. J

The wind is blustery again tonight. I hope it calms down so it won’t knock my tent about all night.

Tomorrow my quest will be for safe drinking water and Middle Velma Lake-14 miles. Today’s total miles-14.5. Trip’s total miles 120.

Aug 8 Big Meadow Trailhead

12:44pm Well, I made myself a big ‘ole mistake this morning. I inadvertently left my water treatment setup at Armstrong pass. Somehow I missed getting it in my pack. The big problem is that there are no outfitter stores between here and Tahoe City. So…looks like I’m going to have to depend on my observation skills and wits to keep myself hydrated and healthy. I’m going to have to check the maps to see where water sources are coming from etc.

Springs will be the best choice with the creeks coming out of steep ravines next best. Then inlets to lakes unless the water is coming from a popular lake up above. Suspect water can be boiled for cooking with. Wish me luck. Nine miles done, six more to do.

7:08pm Showers Lake 8,650’

Somehow 15 miles seems a lot longer than 13, way more than two miles. I guess it’s not, but it sure felt like it today.

I actually saw some backpackers today. I was resting at the junction of TRT and the PCT when they came along, headed south to Carson Pass. We chatted a bit then they asked me where I was planning to go for the night. When I said Showers Lake they told me a large group of pre-teens had shown up while they were resting and had proceeded to take over the whole place. Physically as well as psychically. They suggested I reconsider my planned stop for the night. Well I spent the next few miles looking for a spot, but I was walking through a huge meadow and there were no high and dry areas. I finally stopped at five to cook dinner then went on looking. Everything was either to steep or to wet. So, here I landed, Showers Lake with loud people. Fortunately I took the first site I could find, which is at the opposite side of the lake from the loud family! And my spot is beautiful with a full view of the lake from on high. So all in all it has, so far, turned out well. I’m too tired to continue. Today’s miles 15. Total miles 106.

Aug 7 Armstrong Pass 8,700’

6:49pm I’m a day behind here as yesterday was a blur. A quick recap. I walked the 7.1 miles to Kingsbury S. trail head and arrived a bit after 11am. Char and Blue were waiting so we lost no time and hopped into the car, drove to South Lake Tahoe and stopped at a locals place “Freshies” for lunch. My turkey burger was less than exciting, but Char pronounced her fish tacos “excellent.” Off to the motel where I showered, yes, changed into the town clothes Char had brought. Chores of laundry, picking up needed items and repacking my pack took up time ‘till dinner, which was excellent. As was the beer! An excellent night of sleep, breakfast at IHOP and I was on the trail and walking by 8:30am.

Today was a big up day. In fact of the 13.7 miles I walked by 4:30, 11 of them were up. As in climbing. As in elevation gain. As in up. You get the idea. I’d say I did pretty good with it all, though I did get two small blisters on my left heel. I didn’t get to them in time so the hot spots actually did blister, but not deeply-the first layer of skin only. I hope the climbing I do tomorrow doesn’t aggravate things.

At 8 miles today I passed a very pretty lake, Star Lake. Had I not just taken a second shower this morning I’d of been tempted to take a dip…it wasn’t that cold! Jobs Sister (a peak) was reflected on the water, which made for a nice postcard picture.

What a difference the water situation has been today. There was a creek two miles from the trail head, Star Lake three springs coming here to Armstrong Pass. The pass itself is dry, but tomorrow I’d have another water source in five miles. So I think the worst of the water carrying is over. Oh yea.

Well, it’s getting on to dark so I’d better finish a home for my food so a passing hungry critter doesn’t steal it from me. So far so good! Today’s miles 13.7. Total miles 89.

Aug 5 Snow Valley Peak Area

9:27am One thing it is good to do before leaving on any trip where you have to live outside is to find out the long range weather forecast for the area you’ll be traveling. Which I dutifully did before I left. Sun, sun, sun, scattered thunder showers, sun, sun, sun, sun. So I woke up this morning to scattered cloudy skies, I wasn’t surprised.

At 6:30 I got up to make coffee and within a few minutes it started to sprinkle. Right on time! I leisurely packed up, after a slow breakfast, then hit the trail at 8:00am.

The trail started climbing through fairly dense woods and within ½ hour I saw a smallish pile of bear scat with a hind foot print near. About 3-4 inches long. The scat was dry, but I started looking closer at the ground and in a few yards saw a front foot print 5-6 inches long. Yowza! Pretty exciting! On the other hand I did not want to surprise the bear in these close woods so I began my “hey bear” call. Every few minutes I’d call out to let any potential bears know I was there. It doesn’t do to frighten wild animals, four legged or two. They can be unpredictable when frightened.

By the way, I think I have solved an age old mystery. Without a doubt, bears do indeed shit in the woods.

7:50pm South Camp Bench 8,800’

After my slow start this morning I spent the first couple of hours traversing the west side of a big ‘ole hill. There were fields of Lupine and Sage-can you imagine that. Quite a nasal party. After that it was back into the woods and a steady 5 miles down to Spooner Summit. The water I had stashed for myself was still there-phew-so I filled up my four liters and was ready to tackle the next section by 2:30.

Spooner Summit to the Kingsbury Grade north trailhead is only 12.2 miles however it appeared that there were only two reasonable choices for me to camp at. The first at 3.5 miles in was possible, but the very best is the South Camp Bench. I was told by a day hiker today that it is the very best view on the whole Tahoe Rim Trail. So I humped it up to the junction on Genoa Peak Rd., only to see a swath of old logging debris and no where reasonable to sleep. I’m not really one to sleep on the side of a road-even a forest service road. So I cooked my dinner there and at 5:30 I took off for, what the guidebook called, “an unrelenting 800’ climb” Doesn’t make it sound appealing does it?

Well I already hiked 12 miles, what’s 2 more? So here I am in a nice, quiet nook just a stones throw from the trail, but unseen by the bike riders who are still out there. And the view? Stunning.

Talked to Char on my cell tonight and she is leaving Santa Cruz at 6am with the goal of us meeting up by noon. I think I will sleep in as it won’t take me that long to hike 7.1 miles tomorrow morning. Today’s miles 14

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Aug 4 Marlette Peak Campground 8,200’

3:38 pm Success! I got some deep sleep last night. Not too much, but I am happy to of gotten some. I was visited by 2 guests in the night. The first was banging around my cook pot, but when I managed to find my glasses and a lamp, nobody was there. A minute or two later I heard some crashing in the trees. So who know what kind of critter it was. A noisy one I guess.

The second guest was a fit of sneezing followed by a torrent of nasal activity. Unfortunately, this guest has stayed with me all day long and as a result I’ve felt a little under the weather. I do believe I have a cold. I forget when I’m out here just how much of a blessing it is to have a nice clean handkerchief with which to wipe my nose. If you saw the funky, little dirty bandanna I’m using, well, let’s just say the germs would be afraid of living on it. I guess that could be a good thing, eh?

Fortunately for me the first 9 miles of the day were generally non-taxing. Some up, some down. After lunch began the big climb of the day 700’ in 2.5 miles. That might not seem like much, but it is hard work in the full sun, right after lunch. I am quire nervous about the possibility of there not being any water in the campground as the guide book states there is no water here. The backpackers I met my first day out told me there was a big green box with water in it so I was hoping it would prove to be true. I was doing all kinds of contingency planning, in my head, just in case, but when I rolled in here @ 3:30pm with less than 1 liter in my bottles I was happy to see that big green box and even happier to find it chocked full of 1 liter water bottles. The Tahoe Rim Association stocks it so that people using the trail won’t be left high and dry, as it were.

Marlette Peak campground is in Nevada State Park and in this whole area one can only camp in two places, only one campground is on the Tahoe Rim trail. So imagine my surprise when I walked on in here, to see lots of forestry type people scurrying around with their Nomex suits (fire gear), yellow hard hats and chain saws. It looks like they have taken down, oh I don’t know, probably 50 trees and have neatly stacked the cut trees in large tidy piles. It’s early yet and they are still at the sawing, but when they quit for the day, I’ll ask them all about what is happening. The Tahoe Rim trail, at least the part I’ve seen so far, is predominately used by bikers. Today I saw no day hikers or back packers, but probably 15-20 people on bikes. Most are nice, hikers are supposed to leave the right of way, but some are positively obnoxious, screaming by at top speed with hardly a thanks while I’m scrambling to get off the trail. Thankfully I only saw 3 of that vanity today.

Speaking of vanity, I haven’t seen to much wildlife, birds, chipmunks and little mousy looking critters, but no large types. Every morning when I begin walking I see deer tracks over the tracks of the previous day, but no deer themselves, and I’ve been looking!

5:55pm I’ve eaten, washed up as much as can be expected, settled my tent and gear in good order and now I can check out tomorrows plan of action.

It looks like I have 9+miles to go tomorrow until I come to Spooner Summit and the last segment of this first of three food drops. I say drop, but really my friend Char and her wonder dog Blue will be meeting me day after tomorrow with my second box of food and supplies.

There is reliable water from Spooner Summit to Kingsbury North-a12.2 mile section. Therefore, I will again be taking enough water to dry camp over night and get to Kingsbury in an excellent hydrated state. I’m clueless about where I’ll stay in that section. Probably where I am just to tired to hike up yet another hill. I do know I am looking forward to a shower and a salad on Wednesday afternoon!

The group of sawyers is part of Americorp. They work 10 hr. days in the summer with 3 days off. In this spot they are clearing weak trees and underbrush to lessen fire danger. They will come back in winter for the wood and to burn the piles of brush. All three of the folks, 1 man, 2 women, loved their work. Sure wish there had been something like that when I was coming up. Women with chainsaws….sounds good to me! Days approx. miles-13