The Wonderland Journal

Miles hiked: 22.4 Mile marker: 1297.3 Total ascent: 4,000 ft Total descent: 6,000 ft  The morning finds us in the dark. We leave at 5:30 am and walk up a hill into a beautiful morning landscape that is full of layer upon layer of blue mountains. The sun hasn’t yet…

Miles hiked: 23.6 Mile marker: 1274.9 Total ascent: 6000 ft Total descent: 2000 ft The day begins with a very long uphill hike. It goes on and on forever. The morning is sleepy with gray clouds that are overcasting the sun. I run into another hiker, Master Chef, a woman…

Miles hiked: 25.8 Mile marker: 1251.5 Total ascent: 3000 Total descent: 6,300 I’m so dead this morning that I’m mid-dream when my alarm goes off. Fortunately, I made my coffee drink last night, so it doesn’t take me too long to get ready.  The sky is again a beautiful sleepy…

Miles hiked: 25.8 Mile marker: 1225.5 Total ascent: 4,500 feet Total descent: 4,300 feet Rain patters gently on the tent. Lightening flashes, lighting up my little home for a split second. Thirty seconds pass. Thunder crashes in the distance.  The sky is cool blue and moody. The dark blue clouds…

Miles hiked: 16.9 Mile marker: 1199.9 It’s 4:00 AM. The night is still dark with only a sliver of a moon somewhere above the trees. We rush to get ready and it’s before 5:00! We need to get to the post office before it closes at 12:30.  We walk in…

Miles hiked: 28.5 Mile marker: 1183 We’re snails this morning as we drag ourselves out of our comfy beds and begin to get ready for the day. Fortunately, I was given a biscuits and gravy dehydrated meal for free. Since I don’t eat hot breakfasts on trail, I eat this.…

Miles hiked: 12.5 Mile marker: 1154.5 The day begins with a vibrant sunrise that shines yellow above the mountains and a fire like clouds sits above it. Gray clouds are scattered over a pale blue morning sky.  We get to walking and all pause about sixty seconds later. Everyone stops…

Miles hiked: 22.3 Mile marker: 1142 I misplaced by earplugs somewhere yesterday, so my night was filled with potential bats jumping on my tent. Or something like that.  Anyway, I didn’t sleep the best and I’m exhausted.  We get moving and it’s another perfect morning with weather that’s neither hot…

Miles hiked: 20 Mile marker: 1119.7 What comes after a rainy day is wetness and dirt.  I feel like I’m on an advanced scavenger hunt as I gather my things from three separate tents.  It’s a perfect morning that’s neither cool nor warm, and the mountains are lit up behind…

Sunday, day 72, I spend the majority of the day to do some chores. Laundry, shopping — which I got a ninja town outfit that matches Luxy’s town clothes perfectly — and some soaking in the hot tub. I FaceTime my niece and nephew, and learn my niece has been…

I slept so well. Must have been waking up at 11:00 pm the other night for Whitney.  We get moving and hit Forester Pass pretty early. They’re very long and easy switchbacks that have me quite out of breath.  Altitude.  We reach a rocky landscape with only dirt and rocks…

Sam is off work today! Yay! This means we get to pull out the bikes.  Fortunately, Dad is a cyclist. He’s good with fixing bikes, so he patches them up and we’re off! There is a nice bike path in Tahoe that we ride on. It’s a smooth path with…