Soylant Green is People!

Well I made it to Donner Pass (made my famous by the people-eating Donner Party) just north of Lake Tahoe. The 3 1/2 days from echo lakes was a gorgeous section minus the hoards of weekenders and day hikers. This section has the highest volume of non-thru hikers on the whole trail, due to the proximity of Lake Tahoe. The mosquitoes have been horrendous at times, but the views from the ridges have made it all worth it. I've been hiking still with Mule and a guy named Sunseeker, a good ol' boy from the the boonies outside of Pittsburgh. Hes been on a trail since last October, hiking south on the AT and then doing the 13oo miles Florida Trail before hoping over to the PCT. Another highlight of the past few days was meeting the most famous PCT hiker, Billygoat. Hes around 80 years old and has an awesome Rip Van Winkle look going on as well a resume that has boast over 50,000 trail miles all over the world under his belt.

Mule has jumped north to hike Oregon, so right now its just Sunseeker and I. We're staying with a trail angel in Trukee named Triple H, a thru-hiker from last year who has a little house on Donner Lake that reminds me much of the Bluth House, where I lived my two last glorious years in college. He shares the house with three other roommates who're all ski bums in the winter time. Tomorrow I can pick up my bounce box and a couple of packages at the post office, resupply at the grocery store and hopefully be back on the trail by noon.

I received a voice-mail from Nick and Chris, our two British hiking friends yesterday and they're unfortunately about two weeks behind me at this point so unless I slow down considerably or they speed up, it looks like i probably wont see them again on the trail.

I want to thank my Mom, Sister and Grandparents who all sent me mail at Echo Lakes. Its always a morale boost receiving mail of any sort, so I really appreciate it. Brandon should be starting his job tomorrow and if everything goes according to plan, hopefully will return to the trail by this time next month. I should be hitting the Oregon border around that time.

My Next two mail drop locations are Belden , CA and Old Station, CA. I should be getting into Belden by next Monday or Tuesday (26th, 27th) and then Old Station by the following Monday (August 2nd). Like I said, mail drops are always appreciated and anything high in calories and fat is good trail food. The only thing to keep in mind is total weight of the package. My parents sent me a great box, but the food weighed 7 lbs, which is a little hard to add the weight to my pack. Until next time, thanks for reading.

General Delivery
Hold for PCT Hiker James Church
Belden, CA 95915
or
Old Station, CA 96071