TRT Day 5, Twin Peaks and the PCT

September 8, 2016
82.8 to 97.9 for 15.1 trail miles. Plus resupply and doctor, .4 miles to get on trail, and .5 miles for Twin Peaks.

During the night, I decided to go to urgent care to make sure my arm isn't infected from the sting. I noticed after showering that it was red and hot from my armpit to my elbow.

Urgent care opened at nine and the post office opened at eight so I went and got my resupply first and got it organized, then went to urgent care. The prognosis was that there is no infection just a reaction to the sting. So I went across the street to CVS and bought some Claritin to help. I also went back to the post office to get my tent pegs. They arrived earlier but hadn't been sorted yet.

I was a bit late checking out of the room but that wasn't a problem. It was about 11:30 when I left Tahoe City.

Most of the day's hike was in the forest, so there wasn't much scenery. Three TRTers were heading into town for food. They said a fourth was farther back having gone on his own nursing foot issues. I saw him a bit before the Ward Creek bridge. He said water wasn't reliable so when I reached Ward Creek, I filled up. That was a mistake.

Ward Creek

When I was done getting water, a large group of older hikers passed by. One said a tour bus dropped them off up the hill. One man gave me a smile and winked at me. What was that about? It was kind of creepy.

There was a 1600' climb from there to Twin Peaks and I had all that water. Ugh. Finally the trail would break out of the forest and there were some great views.

When I reached the junction to Twin Peaks, I dropped my pack and headed up. The last bit was a steep scramble to the top. There was a geocache and a benchmark up there too so that was a bonus. The views from the top were amazing, I could see forever in every direction. I could see where I was heading into the Desolation Wilderness.

A bit past Twin Peaks, the TRT joins the PCT for 50 miles. I more or less lost it when I reached the junction. I dream of hiking all of the PCT one day and actually stepping on it overwhelmed me. As far as I know, I've never been on it before. Perhaps when I was a scout in the seventies, when in Washington it was known as the Cascade Crest Trail.

It's the PCT!

Looking Back at Twin Peaks

I was going to camp near there but it was early enough to hike farther, to get some miles on the PCT! The trail plunged down and I came across a few grouse. I passed a few streams and finally found a nice place to camp.