Before I start, a couple of things. We have very limited technology available at this time. So excuse the possible spellcheck from my voice translation into this document. And since we have no computers, I have no way of downloading the pictures from my camera so those will have to wait. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Now back to our journey.  Last time I was on the trail on my birthday we were at Forrester Pass, the high point of the trail. This time was not as eventful being at Silver Creek Campground north of Tahoe. We woke up at 6 AM very comfy in our tent.  It was a brisk 29° outside but our sleeping bags kept us warm. The cold weather however did not entice us to get up for an early start. We stayed in our toasty bags and finally got  packed up and moving by 9 o’clock. A few miles up the road we stopped at the Goose Flats Campground for a snack and water from their spigot. It is nice to have a picnic table to snack on and relax during our break.  We repeated this process about 3 miles later at the Granite Flat Campground, then again as we stopped at McDonald’s when we reached interstate 80. Not wanting McDonald’s to be my birthday meal we continued on into Truckee.

Happy Birthday Meal

Happy Birthday Meal

We found a nice Mexican restaurant called Fiesta Jalisco, that had homemade salsa and chips, and we feasted on a Carnitas burrito and Carne Asada tacos. It was really good.  When we left the restaurant it looked like it was going to rain as we walked towards the Donner Lake State Park. With a little less than a mile to go a truck pulled over and asked if we wanted a ride. The guy had hiked the PCT in 2006, trail name Trauma. Since it look like it might rain heavily, we accepted the short ride  to the campground which was our destination. We paid the price of admission to camp and walked another half-mile to our campsite. The campground and park was full on this Father’s Day weekend. Our site was not the best we’ve ever had. We were surrounded by folks car camping, grilling, and showing off with their 5 room tents. However, we were close to real restrooms with running water and I got to take a $.50 shower. Woo hoo !  The day was uneventful with mostly road and town walking. I did develop a second blister on my left foot. It did not rain on us while we were setting up the tent so that was good. We also called the Clair Tappan Lodge and changed our reservation to tomorrow night  as we are on pace to get there a night early. They were very accommodating in making the change.  The stats for the day are 11 miles walked which does not include the slightly less than 1 mile hitch. We again moved at 3 mph, a blistering pace apparently, according to my feet. It is almost time for bed so I hope the neighbors aren’t too noisy. see you tomorrow.