Day 80
Start: The Nipple
Finish: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Daily Mileage: 20.3
PCT Mile: 1091.2
The descent was uneventful and I was soon onto the next climb, up to Carson Pass. It was nicely snow free, but then towards the top there were some moderate snowfields to cross with good boot track. No big deal, though I did throw on my microspikes since I had them. I’ve barely touched them in the last couple days, and want to send them home soon.
Down from the pass, the trail was much more well trodden, and I soon arrived at a visitors center at the road over Carson Pass. It was before 8, and one of the workers offered me a beer. Why not?
Heading on with good speed to get to town, there was some easy but pretty plain trail over a minor pass and across some meadows. I stopped briefly to take off my shoes for a dry crossing of the Truckee River, and was swarmed by mosquitoes on the other side. I’ve seen a few here and there, but this was the first time that there was a swarm attacking me. I knew the time was coming, and it was nice to enjoy 1,100 miles of trail without them.
It took about 10 minutes to get a hitch. There was a road closure on the way to town, and our ride dumped us to turn around and negotiate traffic through the closure to walk it out to Tahoe Valley Campground where they offer free camping to thru-hikers.
There were a number of other hikers here, and we relaxed and grabbed dinner at a Mexican place. Needed more food, so stopped by fast food, went to a brewery and was still hungry, so back to the fast food on the way back. Not much else besides a chill night.