With a wood burning stove inside, we stayed warm in the Sierra Club Hut and still managed to head out around 6:30 am. The trail has been well graded and easy on the feet which was good as Ros has a sore swollen ankle from the previous recent rocky path. Ibuprofen settled the soreness and it didn’t affect our progress today.In the afternoon we noticed an increase in the air temperature and welcomed the warm afternoon. As we have in the last few days, we had more hiking along ridges with views either side.We managed just under 24 miles and were able to set up camp while it was still light and not too cold. We have less than 200 miles to go! Tomorrow we plan to get to Sierra City for lunch and a night off trail.

After another very cold night, we woke to a frozen tent and sleeping bags damp ftom the condensate. It was hard to get going in the cold air but at least it wasn’t raining or snowing. The ground was frozen and the rocks had a nice frosting and were slippery in parts. We particularly enjoyed walking along some Ridge tops.

Despite the cold, the sky was clear for most of the day. We had a steep climb to Tinkers Knob and then on for some miles until we reached Donner Pass where the PCT crosses the highway. A ski resort is also located here and there is a restaurant that we found to be open. As we are running low on food we enjoyed burgers and milkshakes and made use of the verandah to air out our tent and sleeping bags.

We crossed under Interstate 80 via a culvert. Little did we know when we drove over it some years ago while on holiday that the PTC went underneath.

The afternoon was a short hike up another pass and then on to a ski hut where we decided to stay for the night as it is predicted to be very cold again.

Another couple of hikers are here with a dog as well. The hut has a wood stove and an upstairs loft. Although I gave it a sweep out it remains very dusty. We are sleeping on our mats in the loft and hope that the stove pipe beside us will keep us a little warmer than we were the last few nights. The forecast is for a temperature of 25F/-7C so we are hoping the hut will be warmer than the tent.

We went 20.1 miles today.

Much of the trail for the last 3 days has coincided with the Tahoe scenic Rim trail and today we had some views of Lake Tahoe and we are camped near a ski resort so could text home with just a little phone reception.

Drying our gear in a brief sunny spot

This morning we were up early and dressed in our wet clothes. The sky was heavy with clouds but we experienced no rain in the morning. The temperature remained cold all day with the sun peeking through at noon to give us a break for lunch. Most of the afternoon we experienced snow falling and our shoes and socks are still wet.

After a lovely hot dinner we are in our tent trying to warm up. Although it is no longer snowing the sky remains covered with cloud and there are patches of snow all around. We are still hoping for that warm dry change in the weather! We managed 25.6 km today and have completed 91% of the PCT.

Today’s hike took us through the Desolation Wilderness area. The weather was appropriate – we had rain, wind and sleet. The trail, which was very stoney, took us past many lakes.

We occasionally briefly saw the sun but by mid afternoon we were thoroughly soaked and pitched camp early so we could warm up in our sleeping bags.

The forecast is for fine weather tomorrow. We hope so.

After brekkie: oatmeal, toast, fruit, coffee and OJ – Roger kindly gave us a ride back to Carson Pass and we were off again around 8:30.

The air was cold and everything was covered with a dusting of snow. We crunched on frozen dirt and snow and passed a small lake with ice at the borders, grasses frozen in swirls near the surface.

After some hours the path was alternately soft snow and a muddy stream. Our shoes and socks were wet through and every so often we copped a fall of snow from the tree branches.

The sun warmed us up in the afternoon and we hurried on with a plan to buy a meal at a store near Echo Lake which we pass along the way. We made good time but, unfortunately for us, the store had closed for the season. There were groups of hikers coming in to the parking lot who had finished their hikes and were heading home so we were able to buy a couple of freeze dried meals and we also were donated a fuel cylinder that had not been used up so, disappointing but not a disaster!

The last 4 miles was a rocky path around Echo Lake to another smaller lake beside which we are camped. All up we hiked 19.4 miles today.

Although the wind roared in the tops of the trees where we camped, it was calm at tent level and not too cold, so we got a good night’s sleep.Our goal today was Carson Pass, only 16 miles away. The trail was not too steep and quite dramatic above treeline amongst the rocky scree slopes. We encountered strong wind gusts and at times Ros was hanging on to my backpack.We arrived at the highway at Carson Pass (named after the famous wild west legend Kit Carson) at 2pm and shortly after met Roger (family connection with OG’s wife) who took us back to his place about 40 miles away. He and his wife Linda are very kindly hosting us at their home.Originally we we were planning just to stay just one night but the forecast for tomorrow for the mountains is snow, showers and very cold weather. So they have invited us to stay another night. We plan to return to the trail on Tuesday.

We had a quiet restful night and woke to another fine day, significantly warmer than we had been experiencing before our last town stop. The ground today was dry and dusty for the most part. The flowers are mostly dying as it is moving into autumn. Since we are at this elevation we are amongst evergreens and will not be seeing the beautiful fall colours, at least not until the path drops lower.We have passed some interesting rock formations and a number of volcanic mountainsides.Despite a number of quite steep climbs with a relatively good path we have managed 25.1 miles and have found a large campsite near a creek. A few other hikers have joined us along with a boy who is out for a few days of fishing with his dog.

OG cooked us a hearty breakfast – bacon, eggs, hash browns and pancakes washed down with OJ and tea. Another hiker we knew, Mary, had shared our cabin since the bunk room was full. We had met Mary in Oregon and now we crossed paths again as she is hiking south to Mexico.

After that we cleaned the cabin, packed up and waited for our shuttle to the trail. There was some delay on the way due to roadworks but after goodbyes to our friends heading in the other direction, we set off up a steep slope – me and Rob, OG and another hiker, Batman who has joined us for this section.

As we climbed and the path became steeper and rockier it became apparent that we were not on the PCT at all. Nevertheless we pushed on to the top of the hill where we joined the right path at a much more gentle incline. Around the corner we met a father and daughter who we recognised as being from the Bennett family who we met in northern Oregon – parents and 4 children thru hiking (the Bennet family).

Further down the trail we saw the rest of the family and were able to congratulate them on their near completion of the thru hike. They plan to ascend Whitney and finish at Lone Pine.

On we hiked, stopping for lunch, water filtering and drinks. We are on the eastern drier side of the mountains but enjoying the more frequent shade of the conifer forests. In the late afternoon the trail went onto grazing land and we are camped on dusty ground near a small stream after hiking just over 18 miles.

We have had a good restful day here. Our cabin is great and of course there is the good food available at the store and the restaurant.

The map above is of the PCT on a table in the lobby.

I have finally caught up on these blog posts for now. Thanks again for all your comments. We are glad to have got rid of our bear canisters and just have to organise a lift back to the trailhead at Sonora Pass for tomorrow morning.