Longstride

Today was a fairly laid-back zero day in South Lake Tahoe, as CareFree and I rest-up and prepare for the second half of our Tahoe Rim Trail thru-hike.

Since zeroes are supposed to be lazy days, here’s a bullet-point list:

• We got breakfast at IHOP, a short walk down the street from our motel. They charged us double the menu price for a small bowl of fruit, and service in general was poor and hectic. CareFree had to ask for a refill for her coffee; I never got the water I asked for. The waitress attempted to blame “old menus” for the price discrepancy, but they adjusted what they charged us.
• I took our extremely stinky hiker clothes to the laundromat. CareFree stayed behind at the motel room to do work. (Actual work! While on vacation! Boo!)
• After a poor experience using her Sawyer Squeeze filter at Watson Lake, CareFree ceremoniously dumped her filter and water bag into the trash. Instead, we’ll be using my filter for the rest of the hike.
• I got us lunch from McDonalds. They forgot to put bacon on my bacon quarter-pounder.
• The motel is pressure-washing the exterior of the building. It’s occasionally loud.
• I found a bus that will take us near a trailhead on the other side of the mountain behind South Lake Tahoe, giving us a much shorter route to trail (with some backtracking) than hiking all the way up the Van Sickle Trail.
• We got dinner takeout from Goodfella’s Pizza. It was excellent.
• We repacked the food we bought yesterday for the trail.

That’s basically it. Tomorrow, we’re back on the trail!