Central
California Donner
Pass to Walker
Pass 505 miles
Beldon
to Echo Lake Wednesday
9th September As it was raining we had an early breakfast with
Eric and Gordon in Truckee near Lake Tahoe. We then drove up Highway
80 to Donner Pass where we left the hire car and the four of us set
out south on the PCT towards our next stop at Echo Lake.
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It seemed strange
to be hiking with friends from home again. Martina and I had
got into some sort of rhythm over the past few months and
had probably developed a fearsome level of fitness, so we
tried to restrain ourselves to walking a bit slower for the
next few days. Our route took us along a viewful volcanic
ridge to an alpine hut where we stopped for some lunch. The
weather was a touch colder that day and some rain turned to
hailstones as we ascended up to Five Lakes area to camp, half
a mile off the trail. At 20.5 miles hiking it was a long day
for the PCT newcomers!
That night
the temperature dipped dramatically and we woke to a lining
of ice on the inside of the tent outer. So it was a slow start
that morning as we all thawed out before zigzagging back onto
the trail. Gordon was suffering from a tendon
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L-R Gordon, Eric, Martina, Brian
at Donner Pass
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At the Sierra Club Hut
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injury
and, when we crossed a small road about midday,
made
a decision to take a lift out from a fellow hiker we met on the trail.
The remaining three of us carried on up to Richardson Lake and stopped
after 17.5 miles at a pleasant spot by the lake.
Eric
surprised us by going for a pre breakfast dip in the cold lake before
we set off to cross into the splendidly named Desolation Wilderness.
The scenery improved here to one of crystal clear lakes etched out
into a bare granite mountain-scape. Dick's Pass at 9,400ft gave great
views north and south across the region and our descent into a lake
filled valley provided marvellous hiking.
Next
day we had 8 miles to walk in more lovely lake filled country before
we reached Echo Lake resort and our next resupply. Gordon met us there
after he had managed to pick up the hire car and we all travelled
down to the town of South Lake Tahoe for some lunch and food shopping.
Eric and Gordon headed off to visit Yosemite with an arrangement to
meet us in seven days after we have hiked 150 miles to our next stop
at Tuolumne Meadows.
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Desolation
Wilderness
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Lake Reflection
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Eric
and Martina Dick's Pass
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Lakeside
trails
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Next
into the Sierra mountains with the 150 miles from Echo Lake to Tuolumne
Meadows....
