Day 85: Mile 1127.5 – 1153.4

July 1st, 2022 by Jon

We woke up in our little clearing after a good night’s sleep. The morning was cool but not cold, and we had 25.9 miles to Donner Ski Lodge. If we could do it, there was hot food, a free 40oz malt liquor, and potentially a bed in their bunkhouse to sleep in. We set out around 6:30 and began hiking up a smallish hill. The trees blocked any view, but the trail was nicely graded, and it felt like walking through a quiet, peaceful forest this morning. We switchbacked back and forth up a mountain still covered in the shadow of trees before finally getting to the top. There was a small patch of ice to climb over and then it was down into a canyon for the next few miles. We hiked down through a thick forest, crossed a small stream, and then walked at the bottom of a valley for a while, with great views along the way, before climbing back up onto a ridge and beginning ridge walking for the next few miles.

Today was the day we hiked past several ski areas. We ended up hiking over the top of the ridge where the ski lifts would let you off. After reaching the ridge here, we walked along it for a while, admiring the backcountry area off to our left, the formal ski area to our right, and Lake Tahoe far off to our right. We followed the ridge for a while before choosing a spot to take a break. We enjoyed the views of the valley below and got a few random internet chores done because we had service up there. We enjoyed the view so much that it became incredibly difficult to leave.

Eventually, though, we had to keep going, and so we set out for more hiking. We dropped down into another steep canyon with yet another creek at the bottom. Singsong didn’t really stop and began climbing to reach the Squaw Valley Ski Area. The trail was very steep but totally lush with water everywhere. The last few days, there have been a ton of these green cabbage plants with miniature-looking sunflowers growing all over the place, and on this particular climb up, the sides of the trail were thick with them. The trail wound itself through these miniature, lush forests and across small creeks before we finally came to the headwaters of the American River. The “river” was only 3 feet wide up here, and we found Biscuit waiting for us there. Apparently, she had only been there for about 10 minutes, so we weren’t very far behind at all.

We filtered water there, then climbed the last bit of the peak to get up and over a ridge, with signs everywhere indicating the edge of the ski boundary. We hiked down a small way and had lunch in the shade of a massive pine tree. We saw a few day hikers go by. We are pretty close to the gondola, which runs during the summer and provides an easy connection for day hikers to the parking lot below.

After lunch, we hiked along a ridge for a while and began our descent into a valley before we would have to climb out of it to get up and around Tinker’s Knob. The trail going down was absolutely spectacular. We hiked out on this rocky precipice, and before we left it, we had 300-degree views of the valley. NorCal has been incredible so far, and we have really enjoyed it. People give it a bad rep, I think, because they are tired of still being in California, but it’s been gorgeous so far, so Singsong and I think they are crazy. Biscuit even says that the last few days have been some of the best on trail.

We did indeed get all the way down into the valley, crossed a stream, and then began climbing up an extremely steep mountain towards Tinker’s Knob, a medium-sized rocky outcropping at the top. When I say steep, I mean the trail went basically straight up the mountain with very few switchbacks. When we got to the top, we hiked around the entire Knob before gently descending down a thin ridge. This, folks, was the best part of the day. Incredible views in every direction, lakes in many small basins to the east and west, and it felt like we were walking on the spine of the mountain itself.

We hiked up there for a long time. Slowly, we made our way down into a small trough, lower than everything else, and we took a break there before cruising the last 4 miles up and over another ridge with a ski lift at the top of it, and then climbed all the way down to the bottom. We had great views of scenic Highway 40 and Interstate 80. When we got to the bottom, we walked along a road for a little while before reaching Donner Pass Ski Lodge and the restaurant that was open in the summer. We ordered food. Singsong and I both ordered the burger, and we each got our free 40oz King Cobra malt liquor. It actually wasn’t too bad, and it was absolutely massive. They give it out to anyone with a PCT thru-hiker permit. The food was good, and we secured a bunk in the bunkhouse. They had showers there, and laundry too, but we just did laundry, so we skipped that.

We took a nice, long, hot shower before crashing quickly in bed. We got to bed kind of late, around 10:30, so we plan to sleep an extra hour before heading out tomorrow.