Days 80 - 2nd zero day in South Lake Tahoe

The letters we got from a Helen's class.

Today I failed to replace my crappy smartphone battery.
I took the bus over to Tech Tahoe. I should have called earlier, but we left our room before they were supposed to open, so I figured I'll just get there and hope for the best. Big mistake. At first, I got off at the wrong station, and had to walk another mile. No biggy. Then, the store was closed. There was a number to reach them, on the door. I called and got to a voice mail. Then my battery died (I Told you it was crappy), and I waited there for another hour before giving up.
I went over to the Radio Shack, but they didn't know anything about replacing Nexus 4 batteries. I did buy a decent new pair of earphones, and a new charging cable for my phone. So that's good.
When I went back on the bus to the motel, I met Curry. She was heading to the same motel, so we got here together. I had some time to relax in the room, so I read all the nice letters I got from Helen's class. They are very touching. I will have them with me when I finish the trail, and send them a photo with the letters from wherever it will be (hopefully - Canada).
After Curry settled down and had a shower we went out for lunch, calling Idan and asking him if he is getting back soon. He was at the outfitter and post office since the morning, getting his packages from his parents, and the used puffy jacket he just bought from someone online.
Until Idan got back we had some fries at Big Daddy's Burgers, and drank a beer. Then we all went over to a Mexican place and had a very good burrito. At least the day was not all wasted.
I also finally got hold of Tech Tahoe on the phone, and the guy said they don't currently have a suitable battery for me, and that I should try calling Alpine Computers. I called them, and they didn't have a battery as well. Maybe I will be able to replace it in Ashland. Maybe not.
Back at the room we made two packages, and took the bus again to "the Y", to send them over with UPS from the Staples store. That took a while.
After getting back we just had our leftover pizza from last night, together with a nice coconut milk yogurt Curry bought, and my traditional Campbell Creamy Tomato Soup. We also had a lot of delicious cherries (thanks again - Curry!)
Idan bought over a can of Permethrin he found in the hiker box, so I'm going to spray out over my clothes now (not while wearing them). It's supposed to repel mosquitoes. I hope it works well.
We still have some packages to send tomorrow morning from the post office. So I guess we will leave town not too early. Next stop would be Truckee, in about 4 hiking days.

Days 79 - zero day in South Lake Tahoe

Barbra's home made cookies

Idan found a good deal for a different hotel room for tonight, using booking.com. so we checked out of our room, and headed out to the nearby Lake of the Stars outfitters.
They have a very nice room for hikers, with snacks and coffee, and they give you sodas, and a lot of information about the town, and a list of local trail angels.

My birthday cake

We got all out packages there. I had a package from my wife's aunt, who lives in Florida, and was very glad to find a chocolate krantz cake and candles, for my upcoming birthday - thank you very much, Hanna!. I lit the candles, and other hikers sang "happy birthday" to me, before I blew them out. Everyone were very impressed by the cake, and each new hiker that came into the store got a piece.
We also got a care package from Barbra, who took us a ride just after Wrightwood. It had a lot of very good home made cookies. We also shared them with the hikers in the store, and got some with us to the room. Thanks, Barbra.
We met Big Boots over there, and he got a room at a different hotel with Aqua Man and Pound Cake. We talked about going to some buffet for lunch and/or dinner, but at the end we didn't meet up.
Idan and bought supplies for the next section, and for three packages we intend to send to Sierra City, Old Station and Seiad Valley. It was a logistical nightmare, to get everything organized.
I got takeaway lunch from an Indian restaurant across the street. Met Rocket Llama inside, which seemed very content by their lunch buffet, and generally by Tahoe. She took 5 zeroes in here, and will probably only leave tomorrow.
We also met Medicine Man, who stayed in town for 9 days now. I don't know why.
For dinner, we got domino's. I managed to fumble with their app, and got a pizza with no cheese. What an idiot... I will buy dike cheese tomorrow, and put it in the microwave...

Day 78 - Campsite near Blue Lakes Road to South Lake Tahoe

The day was a bit longer than our usual day. But it was mostly easy short ups and downs.
We started by going over to Carson Pass, which was 10 miles away. After the last climb before reaching it, we meet a million day hikers coming up from them pass. Some of them were quite impressed that we came all the way from Mexico.
Down at visitor center we got some great trail magic. The volunteers who run the center maintain cookers with fresh food and loads of snacks for hikers. We had pasta salad, fruit salad, sodas and home made cookies. We stayed there for a while, to get all the food down before we head out, and meet other hikers we haven't seen before. We meet Ninja Tortoise, who is hiking his 3rd thru hike, and Brad, and some others I don't recall their names. Most if them are not getting into Tahoe today, but will just camp close by.

Enjoying our fruit salad

We headed out at about noon, and crossed the road to the 2nd parking area, where there was a finish line for a big bike race (200 miles and 5 mountain passes, or something like that). The race was almost over, so they offered us fresh fruit and treats they had for the racers. We were too full to try anything. But it all seemed very tempting.
The trail went on easily as before, with some minor climbs. We saw some weekend hikers, maybe some of them doing the longer Tahoe Rim Trail. There was a spot by Shower Lake which had a lot of tents. I guess it's a popular camping spot.

View from the trail

The last 4 miles had a very steep descent towards the highway, and then a long 1.5 mile right along the it, when all we wanted to do was to finally get to the road and hitch a ride. The PCT does that a lot.
Getting a ride from the road crossing was harder than we expected. We made a sign from Idan's foam mattress, but cars were zooming by too fast to stop. At the end a couple of musicians pulled over.
The driver was in a band with his farther and uncle, and they were playing in town tonight. His friend was playing with them occasionally, but today he just came along. He is also a snow boarder, and hiked the AT about the same time I did.
They stopped at a market and ate some pork chops while we waited, but eventually got us to "the Y" - a place in South Lake Tahoe where we wanted to find a place to sleep.
First, we had some Subway. Their vegetarian option is not bad, with plenty of fresh vegetables.
The motel we saw from the road had no vacancy, and the nearby campground was $50 for a tent site, because the 4th of July week has started. We then went to another motel, High County Lodge, and managed to get a room for $65. The owner also let us use the laundry, which was very comfortable. The room itself smelled of smoking and wasn't very clean. But it will do for the night.