Dirty and smelly=free beer?

After a wonderful couple days off with Emily's parents, it was time to get back on trail. The trail family was reunited and it was time to start hiking! We waited for the Oklahomies to get the packages at Echo Lake, and  then we headed out. As usual the boys jumped ahead and Emily and I were just trying to keep up. We entered Desolation Wilderness and it was beautiful. We also got to see a helicopter come down and get water for a fire. 

It was a pretty cool scene. 

We chased the boys, but as it got later we couldn't seem to find them. We settled on sleeping early and trying to catch them in the morning. We flew in the morning, trying to find them, but to no avail. Then another hiker informed us they were behind us! It turns out we were the ones being chased, but as usual the boys caught up, and we were determined to actually camp together! And we did at a beautiful site. 

At this point of the trail we join up with the Tahoe Rim Trail. So we had beautiful views of Lake Tahoe and met some ultra marathoners who were doing crazy miles every day. We were lucky enough to run into them when they were getting food. They kindly shared their goodies with us.

We enjoyed the view of Tahoe and continued on to Truckee, a town on the north side of Tahoe. A friend, Section F, was having a birthday party in Truckee and so we hustled in and celebrated in typical hiker fashion; campground, fires, and beer.

The next day we hiked two miles to a microbrewery and Thai food! Worth it. A lovely group of people bought us beer at the brewery. Who knew looking smelly and dirty could get us free things?!

That evening we found a wonderful spot to stay. It is called the Clair Tappaan Lodge. It is a Sierra Club lodge and is set up like a hostel. Included was an old school hot tub, and the history that lay within the walls. The lodge reminded me of a giant family cabin or the best summer camp cabin. Needless to say, I really enjoyed it. 

 Back to the trail.... Or so we thought. As we were walking the 1.5 miles to the trail, Emily rolled her ankle pretty badly. Our friend Loverboy helped her to a nearby lodge. I was already on the trail, but luckily I had left my phone on. I headed off trail, and met up with Emily. Unfortunately, this roll was bad enough Emily couldn't walk on it. The Oklahomies went ahead, and we decided to rest for one more day and meet them in Sierra City. 

I guess I will take this moment to explain how crushing it is to get an injury on trail. We spend everyday straining our bodies, and we are used to pain. But the moment the pain goes too far, it is scary. One moment of not paying attention can cost the whole trip. If you don't pay attention to your body, an injury can sneak up on you and ruin your trip. So instead of risking it, we usually take the safe route. Though it is sad to miss part of the trail, we find it more important to be healthy. Since we started so late it is hard to take days off without missing miles. It is an odd predicament to be in but we decided to stay with our trail family and miss a couple miles. 

We hitched ahead with the help of a business man and two mountain bikers. We found out Sierra City is not a city, instead a tiny village with one general store. It had a sign for "high speed internet" and cell service was dismal. The church let us stay on their yard, and the general store let us hangout there all day. 

Though the towns are small, they are very welcoming. 

The Oklahomies came and left, Emily's ankle had not healed yet, and I was waiting for my sister and brother in-law to visit. So we hungout at the general store for another day until.... FAMILY! 

It was amazing to see familiar faces. We all went out for dinner and celebrated my birthday early. It was very kind of these two to drive out to see us for such a short time! They also drove us up to the next town: Belden. It is less of a town and more of a bar/grocery store/restaurant/hotel in one building. 

We waited for one more day. The ankle was finally ready to roll! The Oklahomies came into town and we were going to have food and go, but one round of beer later and free rafts in the river, we were stuck. 

Soon the whole town was at the bar, and everyone was buying us beer and who can deny free drinks?! So we stayed and danced. 

Some night you can't resist the calling of a town and a good time with friends.