Day 115: Carson Pass Resupply!

7/9/20; mile: 1,082; elevation: 8,698 ft.

This morning’s sunrise rivaled last night’s sunset, though I wasn’t in too much of a mood to enjoy it. I’m on a schedule this morning. Resupply at Carson Pass!

Vader and I were up and rolling early this morning so that we can meet my next personal trail resupply who also promised to provide trail magic to my hiker friends. Nothing motiviates a hiker like the promise of trail magic, regardless of the trail conditions. And this morning we had to earn it with steep exposed climbs in the presence of wind again. But we really didn’t notice as we got closer to Carson Pass and early southbound day hikers informing us of our pending party.

I “met” Gary on the motorcycle forum www.advrider.com where we’re both members, though we’ve never met face-to-face. He had found this blog and pieced together some clues and sent me a private message offering assistance for my hike. He is planning a future thru-hike himself, so what better way to get the ins-and-outs of thru hiking than to go meet them at the trail. So, I had Sarah ship him a resupply box to deliver to me at Carson Pass. But that wasn’t good enough for Gary. He also packed a ton of snacks, beer, gatorade, water and chairs for whomever arrived.

The next surprise of the morning was my good friend Eric and his son stopping by the parking lot where we were lounging in the mountain sun. They’re avid skiers, hitting the slopes every month of the year, no matter how far and high they have to go. But they were too late to meet me at camp, By the time they followed the gps to get to my camp this morning, I was already gone.

After I sorted my food and left a box of leftovers for hikers to scrounge, Vader and Tapeworm jumped in Gary’s truck while I followed in Eric’s truck to follow them down the hill to Kirkwood ski resorty. There, Gary opened up his cabin to us, giving us more food and beer, allowing the guys to go through his collection of freeze dried food and even letting them take showers. Not only did he fry up some potatoes and grill some hot dogs, he then pulled out a tri-tip and served that up for us. It was a couple hours of heaven.

We reluctantly loaded up despite Gary’s offer to let us stay the night. As enticing as that sounded, we are thru hikers after all, so miles still need to be made. Back at Carson Pass, Tapeworm’s Mom is waiting to take him down to South Lake Tahoe for a little time off. I chat with her for a little bit, absorbing her smile and warmth. She certainly looked like a proud mom.

My post-resupply melancholy is tempered by the beer and food lodged in my stomach. Hiking is hard after indulging like this. Vader and I continue to talk as we walk, though we do get interuppted more now that the trail is getting more crowded due to the proximity to highways and Lake Tahoe.

Our campsite for the night is above Showers Lake, and it’s crowded with campers, including a group of Boy Scouts. Not obnoxious or anything, just busy. We’re not used to it.