Day 113

11 (+11) Miles (Rim Trail Alternate)

The hikers that got to camp late also turned out to be the ones who talk loudly in the morning. There were a surprising amount of people still at camp when we left around 8. We climbed up to the PCT and then up the alternate trail to the Rim Village where we could get food, coffee, and spotty wifi. The information signs at these parks are always fun to read and learn about the things we’re seeing. We filled water for the whole day, but assumed we could get water at camp, which was a cache alongside a dirt road. It made for heavy packs, but we’ve carried this much before. Being a filthy, stinky hiker among the many tourists always feels weird, they smell so nice. We ate second breakfast from the cafe: chicken fingers, fries, and coffee. The rim trail is not the official PCT, but you’d have to be crazy to skip it since it just walks you along the west side of the lake. It’s simple a trail that connects all of the lookouts and parking lots along the drive through the park, but you almost never lose sight of the lake down below. The actual PCT is longer, goes through miles of more burn area, and never views the lake. A strange route, but when considering all the camping restrictions in the park, it’s likely to keep the hiker trash away from the tourists. Fair enough, but everyone takes the alternate anyway. We had a great day viewing the lake from many vantage points and cruising through the last miles to camp. We got water at the cache (run by the same guy that maintains two crucial caches in the desert near Bird Spring Pass, a trail angel for sure), saw Scout, Bear, Bucket, and Sage camping there too. Finally in camp we got to devour the leftover pizza. So good.