PCT 60 – Granite Chief Wilderness

Daily miles : 21
Total miles : 1130

Great night of sleep for both of us in perfect temps.   Got rolling around 7am in blue clear skies.

All of our hike today was on trail that was coincident with the Tahoe Rim Trail.   In the latter part of the day,  we finally got some views of the lake.   The views were from quite a distance,  but it was still nice to see the deep blue of Lake Tahoe.  We saw a lot of backpackers who are probably out for the weekend or doing the Tahoe Rim Trail.. At any rate lots of people. We left the Desolation Wilderness,  so there should be fewer people now… And even less tomorrow as we move further from the lake.

The day was pretty chilly.   We are in a bit of a cold front and temps probably didn’t get over 70 degrees all day.   We had our wind shirts on for much of the day.   After 3pm, the wind kicked up significant when we were in exposed areas without trees,  it was quite strong.   SweetPea even had her visor and bandana fly off at one point.

The walking was quite nice today.  It was generally light rolling terrain u til the end of the day when we had a decent uphill.   On paper,  the elevation change looked quick and steep,  but the trail was so well grade that the climb was smooth,  steady and pretty easy.  I  the last few miles,  we came across trees which had lichen growing in circular rings…very strange.

Tonight we are camped fairly high at what appears to be the only flattish area for the next several miles.   The wind is whipping pretty strong above us,  but we are sheltered fairly well.   For the first time in a couple weeks,  we have Grey clouds above so we put up our tarps.   Since it is cool,  the tarps will also give us a but of a windblock and some extra warmth.