I made a solo motorcycle ride from Victoria, BC to Lake Tahoe and hiked the Tahoe Rim Trail. I received spousal approval to shirk familial responsibility for about 2 weeks. My plan was to ride to Truckee in 2 days, spend a day at Lake Tahoe and then hike. I would have a maximum of 12 days on the trail. That would leave me 3 days to get back to Canada in time for work.
July 15, 2016. I was up bright and early to catch the 6am Coho Ferry from Victoria, BC (home) to Port Angeles, WA. Great weather and good temps for riding. The bike had everything needed for the ride and a possible 12 days of hiking:
Nearing Port Angeles:
The route followed the 101 to Olympia and onto the I-5. I bypassed Portland on the 205 eventually hooking up the Oregon State Route 26. The evenings destination was Bend, OR. One of my co-workers has relatives who live there. We stayed with them in 2013 when we hiked the Three Sisters Loop. The High Desert was hot and dry for this Canadian but the beer was cold in Bend!
July 16. I had not completely decided on a route to get from Bend to Truckee. I had made arrangements through the TentSpace thread on ADVrider to park my bike in Truckee while I hiked. Bruce, my buddy’s uncle, recommended riding east on the 20 and checking out Eastern Oregon and Northern Nevada. The weather didn’t look too hot (for summer in Nevada) so I figured why not. Bruce likes hunting Chukars in Eastern Oregon. Apparently, ‘They good eatin.’ The roads were empty. The area is very alien compared to Vancouver Island. I saw a couple of cars an hour on the 20.
The winds on the I80 were brutal. My poor motorcycle didn’t see under half throttle for the entire stretch of highway from Winnemucca to Reno. Amazing terrain. The wide open spaces and hot.
Truckee was great. My host put me up in his tree house. The tree house has a larger TV than my own house. And my TV is 55″.
July 17. My ADVrider inmate offered to drive me to Tahoe City to the start of the trail. The only payment he would accept for hosting me for the evening, motorcycle parking and driving me to the lake was a cup of coffee. I spent the day checking out Tahoe City and camped at the Tahoe State Recreation Area campground. I hoped the extra night before hitting the trail would help me ease into the higher elevation, lower humidity and warm temps
July 18. I was up at 6am and started the walk to the trailhead before 7am. It was good to get moving early to avoid the heat of the day. The hike into Watson Lake was easy and fairly quick. I arrived there shortly after lunch. I wanted to hike further but the next water source was a further 17 miles away. When planning this trip I decided to take it easy to first few days so I would not burn out. I saw one group of three people on the trail. I would see them again several days later. Watson Lake was nice enough but has road access. There was some partying that evening but nothing too bad.
July 19. Overnight it was comfortably cool. I was up at about 6am and on the trail again by 7. I loaded up with 4 liters of water for the 17 miles dry stretch Grey Lake. The hiking was again pretty easy with good views at times. I saw a few hikers on the trail and a few mountain bikers. The bikers don’t bother me as I am an avid cyclist. I arrived at Grey Lake mid afternoon. The elevation was slowing me a bit. I had the lake to myself. The camping area near the lake was showing a lot of signs of use. If you walked a few hundred feet from the lake there was TP stashed under logs and rocks. None the less it was a beautiful area. Somehow I have misplaced the pictures of Gray Lake?
July 20. Overnight it was cool. Probably a bit below freezing. My alarm went off at 6am but I stayed in my shelter until 7am. It warmed up quickly once the sun came up over the ridge. I was on the trail by 8am. The hike over Relay Peak was slow as the elevation was draining my energy. I ran into the TRTA section hiking group just before the summit. I had the summit to myself. I made it to the highest point of the trail; all down hill from here.
The descent to the Mt Rose Summit trailhead was pretty quick. There were a lot of people near Galena Falls. All the day hikers smelled like soap and perfume. Nearing the trailhead I started chatting with people because I was looking for a ride into Incline Village. I asked two old ladies and they said they would give me a ride if I was still in the parking lot when they got there. They were 78 and 84. They hiked Relay Peak that morning. I hope that I am still going strong in my 80s.
Hitchhiking to Incline Village was easy. Stuck my thumb out and the 3rd car picked me up. The driver was heading to business lunch meeting. It was across the street from the Raley’s grocery store. Doesn’t get easier than that! I resupplied after grabbing some Thai food for lunch at a small restaurant. This was the first time I have ever resupplied during a hike. Previous hikes, up to 12 days, on Vancouver Island required manning up at hauling a huge whack of food. It was nice carrying only a few pounds of food.
I picked up my Desolation Wilderness permit and caught two quick rides back up to the trail. I thought I would spend the night at the Mt Rose campground. Turns out you have to pay to camp so I kept hiking to Ophir Creek and set up in the trees just past the meadow. Later in the evening a thru-hiking couple and their 2 dogs camped near by. I would see them again on the last day of my hike.
July 21. Up at 6 and on the trail before 7am. Another short day of about 12 miles. The hiking was easy, the views were great and the elevation was no longer slowing me down. The trail alternated between lake views and Carson Basin views. No bikers on the trail as they are only allowed on ‘even’ days. I got to camp really early and had plenty of time to relax. The camping at the Marlette Peak Campground in not the nicest but there is water! The hand pump was so worn out I would not be surprised if it is broken by now. I shared the campground with a couple from California that was section hiking part of the trail and a single lady who had thru hiked the trail last year.
The views around Marlette Peak and Lake were probably some of the best of the entire hike.
July 22. Up around 6 and again on the trail by 7. One of my co-workers was going to fly into Sacramento today, rent a car and try to catch up to me on the trail. I did not end up seeing him! When planning this trip I thought I might try dry camping on South Camp Peak. Turns out I need too much water to dry camp. The dry air sucks it out of me. I only ever carried a maximum of 4 liters on the longer dry stretches. I have now figured out that I get 20mpg of water. The morning hike was much like the previous days; good views and easy. I got to Spooner Lake before lunch. I filled up with water at the lake. It was pretty nasty. I am glad I was using a gravity filter to strain out the floaty bit.
The hike up to S. Camp Peak was warm. The weather had been slowly getting a degree or two warmer each day. The heat, elevation and lack of humidity was not affecting me much. I was able to cruise through to Kingsbury grade in less than 10 hours including a lengthy lunch break. I hitch a ride down to Stateline, NV for another resupply. I had hoped to find somewhere cheap to stay for the night. Turns out that there was a celebrity golf tournament going on. Everywhere was booked and the prices where jack up! One place I had stayed at before raised their rates from $80 to $300!
Wandering through town I was asked if I was hiking the PCT by someone else who looked like a hiker. His trail name was Fox and he was hiking the PCT. Together we found the hiker hostel. Turns out they were full and I didn’t have a reservation. Slightly bummed I sat on a picnic table trying to find somewhere to stay for the night. After 15 minutes a staff member came running out and said they had a cancellation. I paid for the night and got cleaned up. I have never stayed in hostel before. It was interesting. Being 35, married, with a family, mortgage, ‘real’ job, etc, I think I was not in their core demographic but everyone one was super nice and I would highly recommend staying the night if you are off the trail for a night.
July 23. Up at 6. Still no word from my co-worker. My phone was acting up and I could not text, call or email so I had no idea where he was. I did have a spot tracker with me though. Eventually he caught up to me just after lunch and about a mile past Star Lake. Turns out the previous day he flew from Victoria to Sacramento, rented a car, drove to Lake Tahoe and hit the trail at Spooner lake at about 4pm. He ran up to S. Camp Peak thinking he could catch me. Didn’t happen! So he ran back down to his car and camped on the side of the road. Next morning he thought he would find me in S. Lake Tahoe be following the Spot tracker. Again it didn’t happen.
He ran up the trail to Star Lake and got there 5 minutes after I left. Some bikers there pointed him in the direction I went. After we chatted for a bit he ran back down the trail. He figures he ran more than 45 kilometers in the mountains in less than 24 hours just after coming from sea level. Not bad for a 52 year old dutch guy who once ran a marathon in clogs
More to come..
