Tuesday, September 8th, 2020
First thing in the morning as we were packing up, we met a small group of thru hikers. They were the ones camped out by the lake and had recently started their hike. We complimented one of the guys since he had a Florida Trail patch on his pack. Most long distance hikers avoid that trail like the plague. A lot of things can kill you in Florida and your feet are almost never dry! I forgot to note their trail names, but I remember one of the girls was named Old Bag. I don’t think she was too much older than I was. I would guess she was Frisbee’s age at the oldest, so I’m hoping she didn’t get her name due to her age! Old Bag could move too! We passed one of the girls, but we would bump into Old Bag and the two guys several times throughout the day. We first ran back into them after walking through the field to Baker Pass, and would see them time and time again.
It was a windy, chilly morning walk along the west side of the mountains. As the sun rose up in the sky, it got warmer. It was mostly ridge walking throughout the day. On the way up towards Granite Chief Wilderness, I split my knee open when I tried to step over a fallen tree limb. The final farewell I suppose.
It was a bittersweet day. I was excited to be finished, but I also was sad that this was the end of our 2020 hiking season. When I reached the top, Dr. Thunder was right behind me. I pointed out to him the large plume of smoke in the distance from the wildfires. It was pretty close! I wouldn’t see Thunder for a while after that, but Frisbee was just behind me and I walked with him the rest of the way down.
We were back in civilization, but not quite to the finish line! We had to navigate ourselves through a re-route and then around a very well-off neighborhood. I enjoyed seeing all the beautiful houses. I would never be able to afford one, but it’s still nice to admire the ones that are well kept. When we passed a mountain biker, Frisbee told me to chase after him and make him my sugar daddy. I think my current state of body odor would’ve quickly terminated any chances of that panning out.
We reached a bike path and it led right into Tahoe City. We stopped at the gas station for refreshments before we made the short climb up the street to where it all began. We had to finish the loop!
The Tahoe Rim Trail was complete! We were done! We had a celebration meal at “Rosie’s Cafe.” After eating processed food for days on end, I was craving a salad! Then, we walked a few miles up the road to get to Dan’s mom’s place. His mom insisted we stay to eat dinner, get showers, clean our clothes and stay the night. She didn’t have to twist my arm! We had a really nice evening with her, her brother and her dog. She had a tiny poodle which we all passed around like a trophy. He was adorable! I was actually concerned Dr. Thunder might kidnap the little guy!
The next day we found out that we finished the TRT just in time! A few hikers were wandering around town and told us that they were forced off trail by law enforcement. The wildfires were getting too close and it was too dangerous. We got really lucky!
22.8 miles (36.7 km)
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Stubbs Rambles On 