Day 86

South Lake Tahoe to middle Velma lake campsite - 17.6 miles

Total - 1111.0 miles

Very excited to get back on trail as I spent WAY TOO MUCH MONEY. No regrets tho. Woke up early and immediately packed up despite us not planning on leaving until 10. Don’t care though as I am always going to be way too early to everything. Slowly people started to emerge and start packing up. I had rock that body by the black eye peas stuck in my head so I made everyone listen to that while they packed up. They truly appreciated it, I just know it. Rocklicker left with gourmet, trip, and Kylie to go back to Carson pass to do the 15 miles into Tahoe again. I sent everyone the plan so everyone knew where everyone would be and they can either do it or not. But like usual, most people are doing it. Rocklicker will attempt to catch up by tomorrow night or at least in truckee. We are in a newer group. Since Ben had to leave and Marc got off trail to meet his girlfriend, we are now composed of Ben from Boston, Louisa, Caleb and I. We are day ones so he’s not going anywhere or I will throw a fit. We headed to a bagel shop and easily had one of the best breakfasts on trail. Ultimate breakfast sandwich on jalapeño cheddar bagel. Literally mouth watering. Only issue is I have hiker hunger so I needed probably two bagel sandwiches instead of one. We charged our shit for a lil before going to the bus stop to donate stuff to goodwill and grab a hitch. Bus came within a minute of us getting there so that was a win and made my day. As we were walking to goodwill after the bus ride, I spotted a guy in a parking lot and jokingly put up my thumb and immediately got the head nod of yes. Caleb and Ben from Boston went to go donate and the girls headed to trail. The guy was very quiet and his car was disgusting. He said it was going to the dump on Tuesday. It was a very loud ride but we eventually got there in one piece. The guys were right behind us and actually bet us to the trailhead but waited until we found them on trail. Then the hike began and I felt great. Passing people left and right like nobodies business. Sometimes it’s hard on trail to see how much you have improved stamina wise. Compared to the muggles, we are flying uphill even with packs on. A dayhiker tried to stay with us for a little which he did but I started getting a lil annoyed with him following right behind us so I picked up the pace and quickly lost him and all his questions (which I didn’t mind but need to mention) behind. i have never seen so many people on trail though. I passed so many people and even a group of them were carrying ski gear down the trail which was crazy to think about. Anyways, I was sweating though. Dripping even! But I was rewarded with aloha lake which was this expansive lake with barely any vegetation bc it was so rocky. It was glorious and it was calling my name for a quick dip. I knew Caleb was probably right behind me so I texted him on garmin to meet me for a lil break. Sure enough the man showed up 10 minutes later and we got to scouting a spot to swim. Picked this one spot that was rocky and deep and immediately jumped in. Just cold enough that it was a lil uncomfy but not too cold. I did get out quickly despite that description. Dried off in no time because the sun was blazing and ate some snacky lunch. Eventually, Ben from Boston and Louisa caught up. Ben from Boston decided to ride a log in the water which got me some great content. After about an hour break, I got to movin. I trudged uphill but it truly wasn’t bad. Passing more people even when I thought we had left them behind. The climb showed us lake after lake. One of my favs was dick lake. I finally pushed passed the top and was rewarded with a very steep downhill which I immediately lost the trail and had to find it. Wasn’t too bad of a loss tho. Finally after the long downhill, I made it to the campsite. Caleb was not too far behind me so we set up next to mosquito heaven (didn’t initially swarm so we were happy at first) and then went for a swim. You know how girlies are, we gossiped a lil and swapped tea for tea. I was HUNGRY so after we made dinner as Ben from Boston showed up. The mosquitos got bad so it was a quick time outside the tent before retreating, letting the fuckers win. I still gotta pre though and brush my teeth. Louisa showed up, stating her ankle was sore so she might not do the big day tomorrow. I’m secretly hoping that it feels better as it’s a cruisey day so hopefully it helps the ankle. She won’t fall too far behind though. Today was a good day.