PCT Day 87 & 88 – Zero in South Lake Tahoe to PCT Mile 1108.5

June 30 & July 1, 2026

Total PCT miles: 15.1

Non PCT miles: 0.0

Total: 15.1 miles / 24.3 km

Total elevation gain: 3412 ft

Total elevation loss: 2372 ft

Steps: 37490

Zero Day in Tahoe

I would say I had a very successful zero day in Tahoe. I completed all my town chores and resupply before noon and had the rest of the day to relax. I purchased a replacement CNOC bag which I use to collect water for filtering as my previous one has developed a small hole. I also got a CNOC water bottle because you can’t buy a one liter smart water bottle in Tahoe. There are sections of Northern California that are drier so I wanted a little more water carrying capacity.

I spend the afternoon in and out of the hot tub at my hotel, finding a ride from a trail angle back to trail tomorrow and eating. I even ate an entire bag of fried chicken. It was delicious but man my stomach was not happy with me. It was nice to be in my own space for the two days especially because I don’t think I’ll have many zero days moving forward.

July 1st – Back on Trail

It’s weird not to be working today. I think I have worked every Canada Day since becoming a paramedic 16 years ago. I find myself missing work lately and wondering what I will return to when my sabbatical year is over. There was a crazy storm that hit Ottawa today that cancelled a lot of the celebrations. I’m sure it caused some chaos.

I was picked up from my hotel at 10:30 by Sonja a wonderful amazing trail angle that spends her summers up in South Lake Tahoe. It took about 30 mins to reach Echo Lake where I would start back on trail. I really enjoyed the conversation on the way and am very grateful for the lift!

I was back on Trail at 11:15 after a quick prepackaged sandwich from the Echo Lake Chalet. The first few miles around Echo lake was very busy with day hikers. There was also a kids summer camp walking along the trail. One of the kids asked if I was hiking the PCT and when I responded that I was they all started cheering for me.

After waking around Echo Lake I entered Desolation Wilderness. After a short climb and a couple of miles I came to Aloha Lake. This is certainly the most beautiful lake I’m seen thus far on trail. Literally from here and all the way up Dicks Lake Pass was mind blowing beautiful. I tried to find a flat spot for my tent along the ridge leading up to the pass that had the best view but there were none to be found. Dicks Lake Pass is at 9400 ft and is the last time I will be above 9000 ft on the trail.

I also passed the 1100 mile marker

on the PCT – only 1550 to go… ugh

I think my only complaint from the day is that almost the entire trail today was hiking on rocks of various shapes and sizes and that really slowed me down. I finished a bit later than usual today. Normally I like to be at camp around 1800 but I ended at 1930 tonight and finished dinner just as the sun set.