After a successful and busy zero in "heavenly" South Lake Tahoe we again found ourselves on the side of the road trying to hitch a ride out of town.
It's funny when people drive by.
They look in the mirror, dig for some forgotten important object or crank their neck to look at some amazing unknown thing in the sky. Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
They all of a sudden become a lot more interested in anything other than your sign.
Some apologize, some people ignore us completely.
Dancing and waving got us many facial expressions and funny stares, but all it takes is one.
Eventually our guy pulls up and packs us all in his van, and it's like we already know him. He used to work at Yosemite, and now he's on the way there to climb "Big Walls."
Once back at the Echo Summit, we hit the trail. I marveled at the weight of my pack as I lumbered along, just top heavy enough to worry about tipping over.
We passed Echo Lake, and saw the store all locked and boarded up for the winter. It was very much the opposite of how it was last summer, teeming with people with ice cream cones and blackberry milkshakes, soaking in the warmth of the sun.
The blue waters of Echo Lake reflected the clouds above as we hiked on into the Desolation Wilderness.
It's nice now that were a little lower. Tonight's the first night we've had above 25. I think it's about 35.
Dan and I are cowboy camping.
Liane says Hi.
Niko would like his name trademarked.
Dans thermometer says 34. I'm getting pretty good!
-Tom Sawyer
