Twig Adventures

Day 72: September in the Sierra

September 15th, 2018 HWY 50 mm 1091 to Lost Lakes mm 1070 Distance: 21 miles, 1000 – 1730 I about had a mental breakdown early in the morning, trying to fit everything into my backpack. I finally settled on strapping my tent to the outside of my pack and putting the bear canister at the bottom. After having everything exactly so for thousands of miles (this is my first major gear shake-up since before I started the TA), it was stressful to have to find a new place for everything. To ease my anxiety, Doug made us all zucchini waffles with real whipped cream and blackberries on top. They were delicious. I also ate a few slices of leftover pizza.[…]

Read more

Day 71: Gearing up in South Lake Tahoe

September 14th, 2018 Zero day Distance: 8 or so walking and riding around town I won’t bore everyone with all the details of my ‘day-off’, which was spent running around all day. I had to make several visits to the PO and buy enough food for 12 days (300 miles worth of travel through the Sierra). I decided to ship a food box to Tuolumne Meadows. New shoes! Speaking of food, I was able to weigh myself and disturbed to find that I was down to 122 lbs. That is probably the lightest I’ve been since high school. Not good. On the other hand, all the weight I’m adding to my pack (bear canister=2 lbs, plus extra quilt weight and[…]

Read more

Day 70: Desolation Wilderness

September 13th, 2018Middle Velma Lake mm 1110 to HWY 50 mm 1091, then hitch to South Lake TahoeDistance: 19 miles, plus another 8 or so walking and riding around town0600 – way too late It didn’t get down to freezing and the wind did subside quite a bit overnight. But it was still cold, with the occasional gust of biting air. I had to put my puffy on by midnight. I am really a wimp when it comes to the cold and I’m afraid I’m in for a rough September. I was on the trail early, just in time to catch some alpenglow glow at Lake Fontanillis. It was a gorgeous morning and all the wind, rock and sky made[…]

Read more

Day 69: More Wind

September 12th, 2018 Five Lakes Creek mm 1136 to Middle Velma Lake mm 1110 Distance: 26 miles 0630-1700 It was much warmer overnight than I anticipated. The wind continued to blow all night but I was snug as a bug. It was still hard to get up and go. For the first time in the hike, I started out wearing my puffy, in addition to my other 3 layers. I quickly got too hot and had to shed it. Then I got up on the ridgeline and was blasted by the chill wind. The trailed followed the ridge for 6 miles. All that time, I was working hard to stay upright and to keep warm. I had to put my[…]

Read more

Day 68: Nearly Blown Away

September 11th, 2018 White Rock Creek mm 1167 to Five Lakes Creek mm 1136 Distance: 31 miles 0645-1830 I am really scratching by on this leg. As mentioned before, I have just enough food…or maybe not. I’m also carrying 2 nearly-empty fuel canisters. The one has lasted me since Etna (16 days) and the other News Feed gave me. My last pair of socks are starting to get holes and my shoes are done after more than 800 miles. Then last night, I noted that my headlamp batteries were dying…they made it more than halfway! Then again, I barely used my headlamp for the first month, because of the long days. My quilt is also just barely cutting it. It[…]

Read more

Day 67: Getting Higher

September 10th, 2018 HWY 49 mm 1195.5 to White Rock Creek mm 1167 Distance: 28.5 miles plus 1.5 miles walk from town. 0800-1800 I woke up and packed early, as usual. I slept really well, despite all the company and interesting surroundings. I went back down to the picnic table at the store to make coffee and breakfast, plus use the wifi and electricity. It took me awhile to get a blog posted, as I was having technical errors. By then, the coffee shop had opened, and I couldn’t help but indulge in a real coffee. I was very cold from sitting around all morning. There were no cars on the road so I walked the 1.5 miles back to[…]

Read more

Day 66: Sierra City

September 9th, 2018Mm 1216 to HWY 49 mm 1195.5, then hitch to Sierra City.Distance: 20.5 miles0630-1400 As I figured I might, I woke up cold around 1 am. My quilt has vertical baffles, which allows the down to shift to the footbox. I don’t like the design and can’t wait to get my warmer quilt. I put my puffy on and cinched my layers tight. I was able to sleep the rest of the night but it was hard getting on the trail early. I had anticipated an easy 18 miles into Sierra City, this according to my Halfmile app (A great, FREE app). What I didn’t know was that in between my location and town, a reroute had taken[…]

Read more

Day 65: Around Peaks

September 8th, 2018 Middle Fork Feather River mm 1250 to mm 1216 Distance: 34 miles 0615-1900 Twist and I got a jump on all the guys by getting started early, as usual. We had to climb a lot today. In fact, I think I set a personal best in total elevation gained in one day: 9500′! That is a massive amount and I still did 34 miles before dark. In the morning, I caught up to 3 more SOBOs: Later Gator, Oh Well, and Bella. We played hopscotch the rest of the day. The trail wound around a lot of peaks and there were many good views. The sky has been so clear, with amazing cirrus cloud displays for days[…]

Read more

Day 64: Back in a Bubble

September 7th, 2018 Buck Lakes Rd mm 1268 to Middle Fork Feather River mm 1250 Distance: 18 miles 1100-1800 I lollygagged around all morning. The hotel had a pretty good continental breakfast. Plus, I was waiting until 10 am for the Sierra City post office to open. I would be getting in on a Sunday and didn’t want to wait around until Monday for a package I had sent there. I called to see if they could forward it ahead to South Lake Tahoe, and it was no problem. Mission accomplished. Flowers had decided to take a zero to rest his hurt foot, so I set out alone to get a ride back to the trail. I only waited about[…]

Read more

Day 63: Quincy

September 6th, 2018 Belden mm 1286.5 to Buck Lakes Rd mm 1268, then a hitch to Quincy Distance: 18.5 miles 0620-1300 I didn’t have far to go today but it was a huge climb of about 5000′ to kick things off. Even though we all camped separately, Dorothy and Flowers are early risers like me and we all wound up at the trailhead together in the early morning. I took the lead and used it as a motivator to get up the hill the fastest. I have a great music playlist that helps with this. I felt strong and pretty light on my feet, since I was carrying little food. We entered an area above the timber line and I[…]

Read more