One Step at a Time: August 2015

Newsflash - the planar fasciitis won. My plan had been to hike the Tahoe Rim Trail as a series of weekends. I had it all planned out. The reasons seemed good - a series of weekends would mean fewer days off from work, more time to recuperate between segments, and an "out" if my foot started to bother me. Well, I didn't expect the last reason to pop up so soon but it did - 6 hours into my first day on the trail.

Back in late June, I started the first segment of my trip - Kingsbury Trailhead to Echo Summit (clockwise around Lake Tahoe). It's about 50 miles, which I figured I could do in a leisurely 2.5 days. Jeff dropped me off at the trailhead at about 9:30 and I was off. The trail south from Kingsbury gets a lot of flack for being in an urban environment. I started among condos and for the first few miles, the trail crosses ski runs and passes under ski lifts. I've read trail journals of this section and most people complain that this is hardly a wilderness experience. Well, if that's what you're looking for, than the detractors are probably right. On the other hand, I liked this section. I thought it was pretty cool to walk under ski lifts abandoned for the season. As the trail progresses it eventually clings to the east side of the Sierras and offers amazing views of the Carson Valley below.

The section between Kingsbury and Monument Pass climbs and climbs. I've heard this section referred to as "moderately grueling," I have to agree. The climb itself isn't really that bad. It does climb more-or-less continually for the first 6 miles but it's not terribly steep. The real problem is that there is hardly any shade during this section. This, combined with the fact that I started during a heat wave, contributed to my eventual abandonment of this section.

At first, I was fine. The climb wasn't too bad but as I neared Monument Pass, I started to feel really woozy and light headed. At one point, I started to get a little tunnel vision. I immediately stopped and found a little bit of shade and drank a bunch of water and had a couple of handfuls of trail mix. I sat there for a bit and looked at my map. I could see that I was very close to the top of the pass and that the trail would level out after that. So I decided to soldier on to the pass with the intention of reassessing once I got there. So, up, up, up I went. When I got to the pass, there was a trail sign with mileage. It said that Star Lake was another 5 miles. What?! According to my map, Star Lake should have been 3 miles from the pass. I had only brought enough water to make it 9 miles comfortably, but according to the sign, the segment was more like 11. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal but I was still pretty light headed and a strong headache was coming on. I started to feel really anxious about what I was doing. Being by myself, I was worried that I might pass out and there would be no one to help me. I sat there and mulled my options over and decided to bail. I was feeling really light headed and sick to my stomach and I couldn't be sure if I was suffering from heat exhaustion or altitude sickness. Either way, I felt the best course of action was to get down the mountain. I managed to send a text to Jeff who said he'd meet me back at the trailhead.

Heading back the way I came, I felt better and better the lower in elevation I got, leading me to believe that I was suffering from altitude sickness (it's close to 10,000 ft. at Monument Pass). Unfortunately, heading downhill was murder on my plantar fasciitis. It took me about 2.5 hours to get back to the trailhead and my foot was aching terribly by the time I got there. On the ride home, I had painful spasms in my arch that continued for several hours.

All-in-all I'm pretty disappointed. Because of the plantar fasciitis, I haven't been able to train for backpacking much this year. I have been riding my bike, so my cardio and leg muscles are relatively strong but perhaps not quite strong enough. I also completely misjudged how limiting the plantar fasciitis really is. Walking long distances with a heavy backpack is not a good idea right now - not if I want to finally get over this injury and resume the activities I love best. So, while I am disappointed, I think I needed this trip to fully accept my current physical state and to get serious about getting in better shape and allowing my foot to heal completely.

So this is likely my last backpacking trip for a while. I'm going to spend the next year losing weight, getting in shape, and attending to my injury. Then it's back to Oregon to hike the PCT.

At the trailhead.

View of Kingsbury Grade.

Trail and trailmarker.

Ski lift in summer.

Big rock over trail.

View of Carson Valley. Smoky from a fire near Markleeville.

This was a HUGE tree. Hard to tell in the photo but it was ginormous.

Cool looking tree root.

I had big backpacking plans for this summer. I was going to thru hike the Tahoe Rim Trail and try to get onto any trail as much as possible. Sadly, I misjudged just how bad my plantar fasciitis is. So far, I've gone on exactly one backpacking trip and that was back in June. I tried to go on one other trip but was defeated a mere 4 hours into the trip. More on that later.

My one successful trip was on the Tahoe Rim Trail. I started at the Spooner Summit trailhead and hiked into Marlette Campground. A very fun trip. I've day hiked the first part of this section of the Tahoe Rim Trail a few times and thought it was OK. Kind of blah scenery wise but OK. I, like so many other day hikers, have always stopped at the North Canyon Campground trail intersection. It's about 4 miles to that point, making for an 8 mile round trip. But just 1.5 miles past the intersection, the views really open up and can be quite spectacular.

View of Star Peak.

A typical view in the first 5 miles. Carson Valley in the distance. The road cuts visible on the hillside are Highway 50.

The first 5 or so miles of this section are a steady climb - although by no means grueling. On a scale of 5 where 1 is easy and flat and 5 is an uphill death march, I'd give this a 3, maybe a 3.5. After about mile 5, the views to the west open up and there's a great view of Lake Tahoe and Marlette Lake below. In June there were tons of pretty little purple wild flowers. But what surprised me the most were the pieces of petrified wood I saw along this section.

Hillside walk about 5 miles in. Marlette Lake is just barely visible in the center left of the photo.

Expansive view of Lake Tahoe.

Sagey open walking.

After about mile 6, the trail flattens out and there is a nice walk through a high meadow that eventually leads to some stunning views of Eagle Valley (Carson City), Reno, and Mt. Rose and Slide Mountains. As a nearly life-long resident of Northern Nevada and having grown up in Reno, it was a thrill to see Mt. Rose and Slide "at their level."

Big piece of petrified wood.

Looking north toward Mr. Rose and Slide Mountain. Marlette Lake below.

My one complaint about this section is that both of my maps - the Tahoe Rim Trail Association's official map and the National Geographic Recreation map for the Tahoe Basin - gave incorrect mileage. Both said it was about an 8 to 8.5 mile hike to the campground. In truth, it's about 10 miles. Not a huge deal but I was mentally prepared for 8 miles and had only packed enough water for that distance. In the end, it was OK and I made it to the campground with plenty of water to spare but I do wish the maps were a bit more accurate.

Oh - I should mention that my dog, Dexter, accompanied me. He carried his own water and food in his doggie backpack. He did VERY well! I was very proud of him for being so stoic. He was very obedient and walked behind me the entire trip. He even slept in the tent with me and didn't bark or cause problems, even though he was highly curious about the other campers - especially the hammocks they were sleeping in. Am I inspired to do more backpacking with him? Maybe but 1 or 2 day trips only. His backpack was a nearly constant annoyance to me, having to be adjusted every few minutes. Even the slightest imbalance in the load would result in it slipping to one side. At one point, I turned around to find that it had slipped completely under his belly. I spent A LOT of time adjusting and re-adjusting it and fiddling with his water bottles to make sure his water was evenly distributed. But more than anything, I'm a little unsure that he had a good time. He was glued to me for the trip and seemed a little scared occasionally. It was very windy toward midday and he seemed scared and unsure about it. He never ran away but he might have run off had he been more scared. I really don't like the idea of losing my dog in the middle of a backpacking trip. Maybe more trips will help his confidence.

Anyway, I'd heard not so great things about the Marlette Campground, so I was a little leery about and unsure about what I would find. I'd heard it described as "creepy" and "weird." I don't know why others complain about it, I found it to be very nice. What a luxury to sit at a picnic table to have dinner and to have a well that pumps icy cold potable water! Not to mention a nice pit toilet and bear boxes. I guess some people prefer more of a wilderness experience. I did find a spot where some backpackers had scraped a shallow hole to dispose of their trash. Gross. I packed it out for them. Double gross.

My campsite with my Easton Rimrock1 tent. It's maiden voyage. I like it very much!

Trash left by other backpackers in a shallow hole. Gross.

The next day, I hiked back the way I'd come. I met up with a yellow bellied marmot on the ridge above Marlette Lake. He was not inclined to be photographed as he scampered away when I got too close to the rocks he calls home. I took a nice break at that spot and tried to sneak up on him for another photo but he sensed my plan and scuttled away before I could get the camera ready.

I did kind of bad thing on the way out. With the trail mostly downhill on the return trip, I basically walked the entire 10 miles with only one break. I tend to do this on downhill sections. I'm not tired so I forget to get off my feet every few miles. By the time I made it back to the truck, my plantar fasciitis was flaring up so badly, I could barely put weight on my foot. I also was not good about giving water to Dexter. He had hardly drank any water the day before, so I assumed he didn't need much. But on our one break at the marmot's rock, I gave him some water and he ended up drinking over a liter in one go, which is a lot for a 50 pound dog. I felt terrible about that!

After our hike, I took Dexter to In 'N' Out Burger in Carson City and ordered a cheeseburger and fries for myself and a plain meat patty for Dexter. He thought that was a great treat! All-in-all I really enjoyed my little trip and would highly recommend this section. And for you day hikers - push on past the North Canyon Campground trail and you will be treated to some beautiful views.

Here are some photos from our return trip: