Mile 1150.6 to 1158.6 – 8 miles total hiked on PCT

So I had 4 miles to go until Donner Pass, and another 4 miles after that until I got to Donner Summit, which was the end of PCT California section K.

The day started off with some pretty good light from the sunrise.

The first challenge was to get up Mount Lincoln. Not much of a challenge. 😜

Then I crossed paths with the Emmigrant Trail where I learned that they had it a lot worse than PCT hikers.

Since switchbacks hadn’t been invented yet 😀 they had to pull their wagons almost straight up sides of cliffs like this one.

Then the only thing standing between me and Donner Pass was a whole bunch of rocky switchbacks. Maybe the emmigrants had the right idea. I hate switchbacks. 😜

At Donner Pass, I went down to Donner Ski Ranch to pick up a resupply package I had sent from South Lake Tahoe and have a real breakfast.

After that and a little rest, I went back to the trail to finish PCT California section K.

It was a pretty straightforward 4 miles with some very nice views along the way.

Including the old railroad tunnels that first managed to get trains across the Sierra Nevada even in the winter.

As I neared the end of California section K, the roar of the freeway greeted me and led me to the final crossing of the freeway lanes.

Fortunately, there were tunnels underneath the freeway, so I would not have to play Frogger with the traffic up on the freeway. 🐸

And after crossing underneath the westbound lanes of interstate 80, I celebrated reaching the end of section K!!! 1,158.2 miles from the Mexican border completed in one continuous hike (give or take 21 zero days).

I did have to hike another .4 mile on California section L to get to the interstate 80 westbound stop where I could get a ride into Truckee.

In Truckee, I would get a virtual doctor visit to see what I should do about my foot and then go to urgent care clinic the next day to get it x-rayed.

Turns out there was a very, very slight hairline fracture in my little pinky toe. As long as it wasn’t hurting, there shouldn’t be any problems with me continuing my hike. The swelling and the bruising was already going down.

Ideally, I’d take it easy, rest with my foot elevated, and not hike 12-26 miles a day.

But after 103 days on trail and 1158 miles, you can guess what my choice would be.

I was gonna go back to the trail. 😀

But due to the time to go to the urgent care clinic and get the diagnosis it seemed to be too late to go back to the trail the same day. So I’d take a zero day in Truckee and get back to the trail tomorrow.

But at least I would rest my foot and try to keep it elevated that evening.

Oh, and the FIFTH broken hot tub of my trek greeted me at the hotel I stayed at. The doctor recommended against using a hot tub anyway. 😛