September 22

Distance: 26.2 miles | Ascent: 4880′ | Descent: 4780′

Mile marker: 1601.4

Lunch: J&A – rice and beans with summer sausage (A-, B+)

Dinner: J – rice and beans with summer sausage (B-), A – poptart (A)

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It was freaking cold when we woke up! And we have to hike in this?!?!?

Maybe it’s the combination of our new higher altitude and the onset of fall, but it’s starting to get cold. Today was probably the coldest morning yet.

The meadow was pretty, though! Our next mountain range loomed on the horizon.

We descended towards a highway and were amazed to find a “permanent” trail magic station. Volunteers at the education center at Carson Pass were more than happy to let us rest, grab a drink, charge our phone, use the wifi, and they even offered us a slice of cheesecake! Cheesecake! At 8 am! As the volunteer set it out on the table, she apologetically said we might not want it because 8 am could be too early for cheesecake. It’s never too early for cheesecake. We thoroughly enjoyed our slices.

Then we climbed towards those mountains that were so distant just hours ago.

There was a lake at the top with a beach!

And, more mountain views. I’m too sleepy to come up with new or exciting adjectives to describe the views.

We ate lunch overlooking over one of the big lakes. The wind kept us cool even though we were totally exposed.

We dropped into the trees and found a message on the way written with rocks. Presumably, it was written by a past hiker. We have no proof, however. It could’ve been written years ago. Or minutes. It could’ve been written by any being. There were a lot of cows out and about near this area…

Because we’re so close to the equinox, Alex thinks the rocky message is “Happy birthday, Sun.” Jason doesn’t know what it could mean. If you can solve it, let us know. Maybe we’ll offer a prize.

We ran into a woman with a pack of three well-behaved dogs. One wanted pets, one wanted to keep hiking, and the last wanted to eat a stick on the ground.

We had spent about an hour at the educational center at Carson Pass in the morning, so we hustled our little toushies along but got to camp well after dark. We crossed 1600 miles just in the waning daylight.