A tête-à-tête with the PCT

There is not much that can be said about this adventure, but that it was beautiful and brutal.

Backpacking can be easy. You can spend a fortune on ultra-lightweight gear — and while ours was by no means cheap, its price came with our sacrifice! Our packs held it all - water, cans of spagettios, freeze-dried pad thai, tents, and sleeping packs. Teddy brought the bear box and the gas cans so that we could cook. Where our adventure took us this time was into the raw wilderness — no campfires permissible and no designated tent spots or picnic tables.

That, of course, was the thrilling part! And the reason behind the desire to carry “heavy” packs for 6 miles. The hike itself was stunning. We left our car outside Echo lake, just south of Lake Tahoe, and jumped onto the Pacific Coastal Trail (PCT). From there we passed residential homes that were only accessible by boats, and climbed the rocky terrain over ridge lines. We reached altitudes where we climbed over piles of snow left over from winter, and passed a network of picturesque lakes with clear, unadulterated waters. It was Desolation Wilderness - a Sierra Utopia of dogs without leases, lakes worthy of Excalibur, and open patches of summer sun with shadowed nooks of lasting winter. My back ached — but the beauty of it kept my mouth shut.

We hiked in and camped for one night. We found our campsite on a slab of rock that lined Lake Aloha, and once set up, we quickly took off our drenched, sweaty clothing and jumped into the cold water of the lake. Sun was setting, and the rocks still held onto its warmth against our skin. That was the carefree moment. We had done it. Cooking was ahead of us — and it was a feast! Macaronni and cheese, Pad Thai, Ramen, and Spagettios. Classic. The stars succeeded it by falling from their spot in the sky every 30 minutes, and we tucked ourselves into our tents with the fatigue of the day. The following morning held the same routine — lake bathing and cooking truffle oil-eggs and toast. We packed up and walked the 6 miles back to our car, this time downhill.

The pictures, I trust, will take the story from here.