So the trail is on fire...now what?

Back on the trail. And man it feels good. As of my last entry, Justin and I were stuck at the Reno airport, waiting for my brother Tim to come save us. We went back with him to his Tahoe house (3rd time this summer, I feel so seriously lucky to have a support system in the Sierra), spent a night, and tried to develop a plan. My college friend Tim Churchill had planned to join us for a week of hiking in Northern California, but the section he was supposed to join was now on fire. Daaaang. We went through literally about 8 different ideas for what to do with Timmy C. and what to do in the meantime, but were thwarted by forest fires, monsoon rain forecasts, no flights, and someone's "I grew up in Manhattan and I'm proud of it" lack of a drivers license. Finally, Justin and I decided on a mini road trip to Sonoma for a few days, then meeting up with Tim, then re-doing the section around Tahoe. We picked this section for three reasons: it is epically beautiful, it had a decent weather forecast, and, most importantly, it was logistically easiest.

Sonoma was both awesome and awful. We spent a night at Point Reyes, another in Mt. Tam state park, and a few nights in the town of Petaluma. We hiked, wine tasted, did yoga, and ate Cowgirl Creamery cheese! We went thrift store shopping so we had something to wear besides our hiking outfits! We biked through vineyards with Andrea! Basically, it was a perfect little vacation and we should have been thrilled. But where we really wanted to be was on the trail, putting in the miles and seeing the Sierras turn into the Sierra Buttes and eventually go volcanic on us. Mourning that was pretty hard. It took some real quality time at the Petaluma Outlets to cope. Ok that last sentence was sarcastic, though I did drop by and buy a business suit. Because what self-respecting thru hiker doesn't pack a suit?

But fortunately after a few days of moping in Sonoma, Timmy showed up!! We headed back to Tahoe to start in on a 100-mile section. The cab driver who drove us to the trailhead gave us a 50% discount on the (otherwise significant) fare, once he heard we were hikers. The return of trail magic!!

Tim is going to recap the hike itself in the next day or two. And Tim, from here forward, will be called by his trail name, Breakfast Sandwich. I eagerly await his recap, as I'm sure it will touch on many themes of our week, including copious cheese consumption, Dixie Chicks sing-alongs, and one very special night of camping in the parking lot of Donner Ski Ranch.

As for what's next: Justin and I are going to be off trail for a few days. We have a wedding to attend, and we need to reconfigure the plan. Since Northern California and Oregon are such a mess with forest fires, we've set our sights on a new destination to finish out our trip: WASHINGTON. Now just need to plan a resupply schedule!

Captions:
1. Waiting for my brother Tim at the Reno airport. He saved the day!
2. Wine and cheese for dinner at Steep Ravine.
3. Nothing like being at actual sea level to keep the altitude acclimatization up.
4. I think this picture perfectly encapsulates how it's possible to be so sad about spending a week in a beautiful place eating delicious food. Stupid fancy jam! You're way too heavy to carry in my pack.
5. But biking with Andrea was a huge highlight!
6. And then Timmy/Breakfast Sandwich arrived and we returned to the trail!!!