Vacation Day

Another long distance hiker camped next to me at Mt Rose, I asked him what could I have missed. He loaded up on water for the dry stretch ahead.  His reply didn't come in the form of stuff but, in the mental game. Find the motivation with in, the next view, or a favorite jam on the tunes.
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I drove around to Echo Lake where I sit now.  Thinking, I could be done with this beautiful area.  I found a trail marker with both the PCT and TRT symbols.  The mental game.  How did it hit me?  Icy, fatiguing snow on day 2 coupled with three days of dry stretches, and the chaffing. The up hills wore me down too.  I loaded my phone with music but, one item I forgot, ear buds.  I think I'll throw a set into my food bag (I have plenty at home and none with me) so I won't forget them again.  I knew about the suck.  I even talked about the suck.  I didn't realize how the suck would actually come.  How can one be fully mentally prepared?
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I think back on my AT experience.  I can see how or why people drop out.  Their mental game wasn't there.  How then does one prepare for the mental game?  How was I ready for it then? I'll look for an answer another day.
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I'm chillin Lake side for now.  No day hike gear with me.  At this point, if I had it, I may go too big for the day.  I see snow only way up there, the passes I fretted about now may be clear, than again maybe not.
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I pass on.  I play the tourist thing for a while.  Stopping at Emerald Bay View.  The road from there north is packed with cars in No Parking zones for an easy mile. I look at the beauty from the road at 35 mph.
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Just inside the next town area, I see a backpacker, poles strapped to the rucksack with his thumb out.  Viewing the gear from a distance I can tell the difference between homeless and hiker.  I pull over. Through idle chit chat he tells me two days ago he got lost going over Dick's Pass.  He stated he knew the area and kept going when he should have turned around.  The snow still covered the upper reaches of the region. I dropped him off at the transit center in Tahoe City.
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My doubts of bailing still play on me.  The route I would have taken would put me on a treeless path up and over then sideways down a mountain.  I can read a map and the terrain. I can put them together. I'm not sure how well over a long distance of what's required for Dick's  Pass. With the trail being under the snow still, though it's been done by couples and with folks with GPS units, solo and without technology, I'm still glad I didn't carry on.
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I turned up Brockway Summit and found some random narrow paved road.  At the top is an old fire lookout on Martis Peak. Inside some drew the ridges coresponding to the matching view.  Truckee airport to my south west, Twin Peaks to the south, Mt Rose not visible. Freel Peak to the east, snow covered.  1/2 mile below is where the TRT tags this road and then turns.
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This hike is 4, 3 day weekend hikes strung together. Looking at my drive I can see points of better resupply and another layer or two of research into long distance hiking the need to find bus routes or Uber fares, the quality of grocery stores, etc. What surprises me is how different one area is from the next there is little uniformity. Would carrying 5 days supply be better than 3 and 2 respectively? Hum, how do each of the communities help hikers or other visitors? How did they set themselves up originally and how did they change when the times required them to? That's not a question for me to explore yet, gives inside to how different these communities are.
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This campground is one of the few not overflowing.  It's a gem 20 minutes away from the lake. The view for the walk in sites are worth while. As I write, now closer to dark, my area is filling up.  I'll have the hum of traffic to lul me to sleep. It will be strange to put on cotton in the morning for the drive home.  Clean clothes after a week of wearing the same.  Did I tell you about my socks wanting to hike out on their own?
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I haven't spent much time on the Internet.  I see a thick layer of haze over Elko.  Are there fires burning in California?  When I get home I'll catch up on the news, for now I'll enjoy another cloudless sky with a bit of breeze.
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Hike On!
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