It was about four hours into the hike when I started to scratch the surface of why I wanted to do it.
Jalisa got me into backpacking about six months after we met. I had always been interested in backpacking, but I was never able to explore it due to various circumstances. We hiked Mt Wrightstown, outside of Tucson, with the dogs, and camped in Baldy Saddle. I used a duck canvas backpack from the 70s or 80s, Jalisa used a nylon blend one from the 80s or 90s. The gear we had was heavy, the tent was unreliable, but the trip was amazing.
After that, she introduced me to the idea of thru-hiking, trekking from one point to another. It was an idea I was immediately enamored with. Up until that trip hiking was always a day hike. Something you drive to and back from, a single event to be conquered in a short period of time. I enjoyed being in nature, but day hiking was too rough on my brain. Driving out somewhere would inevitably trigger my vision problems, and then I’d be useless when getting back in town. Plus, so much can be done in the time you have to take to go there and back, and then clean up after.
Yes, I enjoy hiking, but day hikes often felt more like a burden than a joy.
Backpacking was just the answer. Having the opportunity to get out and sleep out there would reset my vision, take me away from the painful and exhausting triggers that slow me down, and let me get truly immersed in the experience. I wouldn’t be sucked away into the stress of screwing up my face or my eyes just to try and focus on something. I wouldn’t have the all-too-familiar moment of sitting in the car and feeling my eyes stop working properly in tandem.
Day 0
We went up to Tahoe City the day before so we could do some water drops in areas where we wouldn’t have streams to refill from. We also did a little exploring, but nothing extraordinary.
The day ended in the city of South Lake Tahoe at a Motel 6 (dog friendly!). Shannon, Travis, Jalisa, and I went to get pizza, beer, and wine at a local spot.
Day 1
We met around 8 am at Kingsbury South Trailhead in Nevada, just outside of Heavenly Nevada, a well known ski lodge. We got started around 8:45 or so, and headed off to Armstrong pass. Star Lake would be our first little stop, and we took off with the zeal only new thru-hikers on their first inexperienced day could have.
A few hours into the hike is when I had my first moment on how magical this would be for me.
Since getting him, Rye has never been able to be an off-leash dog. His prey drive is far too high and he gets into the chasing tunnel too easily to be recalled. But this…this was different. After a few hours on trail I was able to let him off. He would run ahead to a shaded area and wait for us, then run ahead to the next one. When I needed to break, he would come back and check on me and wait with me.
We ran into a troupe of girl scouts who were going to go camping at Star Lake. Rye greeted them, gave all of them doggie love, and then followed us along. He also gave me the distinct pleasure of demonstrating how to property bury dog poop, in front of them, but that’s just how it goes.
For the first time in two years, Rye was a proper trail dog, and we might be able to move to a tent style that doesn’t require poles.
We got to Star Lake and it was gorgeous. Truly resplendent. I’ve never seen anything like it. Granted, much of it is probably due to the context of a warm hike and the euphoria of watching my dog evolve into a critter I can actually trust.
Rye at Star Lake
We took about a half hour break there: cooled off our feet, refilled our water, and let the dogs rest and play. After that we were off again.
Somewhere along the way, Jalisa and I stopped to rest and Travis and Shannon continued on. We wouldn’t see them until later that evening, when we made camp.
We went along, chatting, enjoying the day, and started losing daylight after crossing the Freel Peak trailhead. This put us in the shadow of the mountain, and we hadn’t seen Travis or Shannon for a few hours.
Sometime just before the golden hour, we ran into three women who thru-hike together. They did the John Muir Trail (JMT) the year prior, and had set out to do the TRT when we did. We were all on day 1. They advised us that the stream we met them at was the last one for a while, and if we were going to refill, to do it there.
That ended up being solid advice. We took 10 minutes to refill, since worrying compounds exponentially. It was enough to worry about finding our friends before dark, setting up camp, and hopefully not hiking in the dark; throwing water on top of that possible predicament was just unnecessary.
Armstrong Pass was just a mile or two ahead. Our friends were faithfully waiting for us, though they were starting to fret a little on when we’d show up.
We scouted around to find the least buggy area, set up camp, and had our first dinners on the trail.
The dogs were tired, our legs were invigorated, we were set. Day 1 was complete. And I was hooked.
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