July 9th, 2016
Miles Hiked: 10
Start Location: Mile 1143
End Location: Mile 1153
End Location GPS: 39.31796, -120.35110
We woke up in the dark and were hiking by 5 AM as the sun was just starting to crawl over the horizon. The sky was dim purple and blue and the mountains were outlined in shadows. Early morning hiking is the best time to be on the trail. The birds sing and the woods are quiet like a library that just opened, devoid of people and their shuffling and coughing and sniffling.
We passed Reno Dave who was handing out beers and sodas, and I sipped on a PBR as we walked into Donner Pass, a large parking area just off of hghway 40. Swarms of people were hiking to Donner Summit and the parking lot was ripe with cars. There was a cooler that had beers and sodas so we stopped and had free beers again.
We decided to go to the Clair Tappan Lodge, which is 1.5 miles off the PCT. We got a private room instead of bunks since they were the same price. This is the smallest room I’ve ever been in. It feels like a prison cell or more aptly a broom closet, but smaller, something a janitor would use to store orange traffic cones or salt for ice in the winter time. It’s so small you can’t open the door all the way because it hits the bed. There are hooks everywhere which we’ve utilized to store our gear. It’s so small we both had to agree that farting is off limits while occupying the space.
We resupplied for 2 days at the general store and got some pretty decent food at the summit bar and grille in town. We are heading back out tommorrow towards Sierra City. The wind has rolled back and it howls and hisses outside, while clouds run through the dark and grey sky and the train screeches and moans as it passes by going north, heading to somewhere that I don’t know, a long line of cars shambling through the dark and moonless night.
Trips like these are transient and fleeting like the train. We go from one place to another never belonging anywhere. Our wheels turn around and around in anticipation of our final destination- home- only to realize we’ve been there all along once we’ve arrived at the station.
