PCT, Day 66 / 67

I talked to Maddie this morning, one of the women in the dorm. She struggles a lot with the hike. Actually all the women in the dorm.
Maddie had tendinitis and altitude sickness in the Sierras. She is thinking about renting a car for a month to drive around some national parks. I have been hiking since November, with some breaks, and I feel like I need to take a break for a while. I want to get good food and enjoy nature without a heavy backpack. She is interested in sharing a car with me, but she just met someone who will take her rock climbing, and she plans to do that for a couple of days first.

I have been looking for easier hikes but couldn’t find anything suitable. So, I decided to skip the Sierras and continue in Northern California. It’s still mountainous but at a lower elevation, between 2,000 and 3,000 meters high.

I will take some buses on Friday, June 21, to South Lake Tahoe and try to find a ride to the nearby trailhead. I plan to walk no more than about 20 km per day and should reach the next “exit” after 5 days.

I will then see if Maddie still wants to get a car, and if not, I will decide if I am ready to keep on walking or not.

 View from the main road in Lone Pine into a side road and the Sierras:

Every traffic light in Lone Pine has on every side of the traffic light a detailed manual on how to use it:

This is a Pistachio ice cream milkshake. It is probably the best thing I have eaten / drunk here. The shop uses real milk and the ice cream is the first ice cream that tastes good and is not extraordinary sweet. It might be "real" too. I had 3 of those while in Lone Pine. That shake might be the only eatable thing I will miss.

After that two large McDonald's fries for more calorie intake...

Below Mt. Whitney Portal Hostel and Lone Pine main road:

My bed in the hostel. On the left, below the water is the bear canister.