[pct-l] Section K Report -- interesting characters

[Tom Bache]

I recently hiked Section K with my 9-year old son -- the trail follows the
west side of Lake Tahoe from Echo Lake to I-80 at Donner Pass.  This is a
popular trail at this time of year -- a few PCT section hikers, many Tahoe
Rim Trail hikers, and Christmas-at-the-mall crowds of day hikers near Echo
Lake (we started on a Saturday).  Some observations that may be of general
interest -- 

Light gear remains rare -- the only people I saw with it were PCT hikers. I
wonder why? It is not that hard to find.  The Tahoe Rim Trail is not trivial
(it is 154 miles long), and the hikers we saw were making it look hard --
huge packs and (as a result) low mileages (<15 miles/day).

If there was a rule saying that hiking in the Desolation Wilderness is
forbidden unless accompanied by a dog, the number of dogs on the trail
wouldn't change very much (we saw few others without one).

The first third of Section K has some great scenery (beautiful alpine
lakes), but is too crowded for my taste.  The middle third is mostly a
forest-walk with less scenery.  The last third is the best -- much
spectacular crest walking with scenery as thrilling and interesting as it
gets -- geology, history (150-year old wagon roads), technological wizardry
shown in ski lifts and antenna farms on precipitous mountains, endless
wilderness (well -- it ends, but you can't see the end looking west), and
one of the largest lakes on earth.  We also saw a very large blond(!) bear
in one of the more remote areas of the trail (there are many
human-habituated bears in the Tahoe area, but I think this wasn't one of
them).  We came over a rise and there he (I'm guessing, of course) was
feeding in a meadow about 50 yards away.  When he saw us, he ran across the
trail, climbed 6' or so up the far side of a big tree, and poked his head
around to look us over -- very cute if you ignore the fact that he was about
250 lbs of muscle attached to tooth and claw.  He entertained us with a few
other antics before moving out of sight in the forest.  What a thrill for a
9-year old (and me too).

I promised some interesting characters -- this is a couple (age in mid-50's)
from Tulsa, OK. The woman is a hiker called "Steady."  She must be well
known in the hiking community, but I hadn't heard of her before.  The story
is that she is a triple-crown hiker (AT in '93, PCT in '03, and CDT sometime
since '93).  She is now doing a long section hike (Donner Pass to Whitney
Portal) with a friend.  We spent some time chatting with her husband at
Barker Pass.  He has accompanied her on all her hikes --- he meets her where
the trail crosses a road and also offers trail magic to other hikers (like
us) that come along.  He doesn't hike himself, but says that his goal is "to
help others to achieve their dreams").  Think about the remote dirt roads
and small towns he has seen  ...... to people with strange tastes (like us),
seeing them might be almost as much fun as hiking the trail.

I found the spousal trail magic even more extraordinary (ha, ha is what I
got when I mentioned it to my generous wife) when you learn that Steady
keeps going with a huge pack (40-45 lbs was mentioned) and does low mileage
(15 mpd is typical). So her triple crown was won with three very l.o.o.n.g
and hard hikes.  For example, they spent 7 months doing her 2003 PCT hike.
We met her on the trail some hours after leaving Barker Pass, and yes her
pack was huge, especially considering that it was only 32 trail miles from
start to husband and family truck.

We finished our hike, had a quick wash, and hurried off to have dinner with
a Warner Springs friend who is riding her horse in the Tevis Cup 100 mile
endurance race (Truckee to Auburn) tomorrow (July 28).  The PCT crosses the
Tevis course near Emigrant Pass.  Marked long-distance cross-country ski
trails follow along the PCT in the same area.  There are so many interesting
and challenging ways to enjoy the back country ....

Tom Bache
San Diego