Day 74 – Sunday, Aug. 6

PCT Mile 1,124.8, Barker Pass Trailhead, to PCT Mile 1,137.9
Day Total: 13.1 miles

We slept in late and enjoyed a big breakfast David made before packing up all the food we bought.

We loaded up our clean clothes and our new water filters. Stephen brought along the extra cans of Coca Cola he had bought to leave at the PCT as a little trail magic.

David dropped us off at the Barker Pass Trailhead and Stephen quickly found some PCT hikers with whom to share the Coca Cola – our friends Moe and Toe! We hadn't seen them since sharing an AirBnB in Mammoth Lakes. It was nice to see familiar faces and catch up with them.

We hiked up to a ridge and into Granite Chief Wilderness and had tremendous views of Lake Tahoe all afternoon. The lake so blue!

We walked through wildflowers and in and out of the trees all afternoon, enjoying an afternoon snack up high on the ridge in the boundaries of Alpine Meadows ski area. It's bizarre to see a ski resort without snow. It almost feels like it's naked.

We hiked a few more miles downhill into the dense woods and found a campsite just before dark.

A hiker we had met before, Just Mike, was there and had a little fire burning. We joined him, set up the tent, and cooked up two of the Mountain House meals that fellow gave us the day before we got to Tahoe.

I woke up startled by the sound of sticks breaking under footsteps about an hour after falling asleep. I thought it was a bear coming to steal our food.

Turns out it was Just Mike getting out of his tent, probably to go to bathroom. It was a long time before my heart rate calmed down to normal and I was able to fall asleep again.