Pacific Crest Trail : Meyers to Sierra City

Miles this section : 104
Miles completed : 1195

Echo Lake - far away in time?

I have a morning off in Meyers, still no time for zero days but the 'two heroes' thing works, twenty-four hours' rest at least.  I get my usual coffee and pancakes, then do some shopping - and this time I remember to buy some lip balm, hope it works.  Then back to Bob Dog Pizza for lunch, a calzone, not as huge as the pizza last night but very good.  Back up the steep road to the trail, no problem, my pack still feels light without the bear box.  From here the trail goes past Echo Lake, and various other lakes, it is very scenic, and I share the walk with a lot of day hikers.  Snow appears after six miles of trail, it had to happen.

Ski lifts on the Tahoe Rim.

I pass many more lakes, some deep blue, some still frozen, the trail likewise alternates between snowy sections and miles of clear trail, some of the latter being glorious ridge walking, now this is more like it.  I am trying to average twenty-two miles a day, to make up a bit of lost time, but it's hard, I end up walking 'til 8pm each day - sunset is around 8.30pm now, and there are no bad creeks to halt me so I can do this, but it is exhausting.  On the third full day out of Meyers there is a lot of snow, and to make things worse I have an actual foot problem - my right little toe had a small cut, guess I didn't give it enough attention as now it is infected and swollen, and at times agonising to walk on.  I stop after only twenty miles, there is a hut, first I've seen on the trail.  Peter Grubb hut, it is much like those in New Zealand, and indeed as was often the case on Te Araroa it is full of people so I camp outside.

Fine walking on the Rim Trail.

Thankfully the toe seems better the next day, and I get some distraction from it in the form of company, hiking with Bebop, a nice young guy who through hiked last year but missed this section, he needs to average twenty-five miles per day to make his flight!  Snow pretty much stops ten miles from the hut, this is so much better, I hate snow so badly now, don't want to walk on it or even see it.  Bare trail, plus motivation from Bebop gets me to around twenty-four miles done, not bad at all, just twelve miles to Sierra City, I make it for 12:45 the next day so time for lunch, and the post office is still open.

Of course, my new poles are not here, apparently the delivery company didn't say why, just 'undeliverable', grr.  It will be because I put the post office as the address, they would have gone to the store OK I am sure.  At least my food box is here.  Again, I succumb to lure of a real bed and shower, sixty dollars this time, so good to be clean but this is eating into my budget - I will camp at next rest stop.

Downtown Sierra City.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.