Day 77
Mile 1089 to mile 1094 (Echo lake resort), 5 miles
Cost: Budget Inn, South Lake Tahoe, $22 pp/pn 

A short day to get to South Lake Tahoe, our next resupply location where we were planning to spend 2 nights. 

A shark eating a tree?

     Teflon’s boyfriend Russ had flown down to meet her and we arrived just before he did at the rendezvous point outside the Echo Lake resort. We tried to scrub up by washing our feet and legs in Echo lake and changed our shirts so we wouldn’t smell so bad! Russ came with an icebox full of Guinness and donuts – you rock Russ! 

Russ and Teflon and lots of goodies!

Russ’s parents also came out to see Teflon and together we all drove straight to Harrah’s casino to an all you can eat champagne brunch buffet!

Plate number 1

A view of the lake from Harrah’s

We pre-warned Charlie and AJ (Russ’s parents) that they were going to witness some hiker hunger in full gear. After 3 plates of food and 3 mimosas, I was fit to burst. I think we all were!

We checked into the Budget Inn after lunch then Russ drove us all to the Lake of The Sky Outfitter where we bought new gear and I picked up my resupply box – they were super friendly and helpful. After the outfitter we came back to the hotel and I started to organise my food bag with my resupply box, washed my stove, backflushed my filter, did our laundry and tried to let my lunch settle – I also vowed never to go back to a buffet!

It’s been hard to keep the blog updated because of the lack of phone service on the trail so I usually spend most of my time in trail towns holed up in the motel room glued to my phone!

At about 9pm, Mr & Mrs Smith and I walked to the Safeway to buy some snacks for dinner and extra food for the next stretch. We got back about 10:30pm then had a dinner of cheeses, meats, crackers, bread, dip and wine while listening to songs that we grew up with. Usually we would be passed out asleep in our tents by hiker midnight (9pm) but we were up into the early hours of the morning.