That soft dry bed was amazing. I wanted to save some money and decided to forgoe another night in cushy luxury, and head to a hostel in South Lake Tahoe. I needed a day of rest for my swollen leg. I waited until the last minute of check out time at the hotel, soaking myself in epson salts and icing the injury one more time. Finally I donned my pack and walked down the street to Heavenly Village. I had decided to see a movie, and was one of three folks in the theater for mother!

And while I heard the guy behind me say it was the worst movie he had ever seen, I don’t agree, and it will definitely give me food for thought in the upcoming days. Why not go see a movie you don’t totally understand and have to mull over? I’d rather spend $10 and walk away with something to think about, rather than just another violent action movie that means nothing.

So after that I walked over to Tahoe Sports and got myself a different pair of shoes. I love love love my Oboz, but due to the weird circumstances of my feet on this hike, needed to try something that put less pressure on my Achilles tendons. I found a pair that seemed ok, but really I won’t know until I put them through the paces on the trail.

Not much happened after, I sat down for some nachos and a beer while I puzzled over my map and crunched some numbers to see what I could potentially hike before I have to go the conference that I came down here for. I was invited to attend a 5 day workshop next week in Tahoe for environmental activists…Patagonia puts on this training every two years, and I was thrilled to be offered the opportunity to chew over the big issues facing our organizations, landscapes, country, and planet. Regardless of what I decided to do with the rest of my hike, I had a place to be next week, and would most likely not finish the whole trail now due to my injury. So, my plan is to find a reasonable spot to jump back on, and continue to hike back to my car in time to make the training.

At check in time I walked over to the Mellow Mountain Hostel and got my bunk spot (top bunk, bummer), but it’s only $25! And wouldn’t you know it, the place is full of PCT thru-hikers also recovering from the massive rain/snow storm. In fact, it’s still snowing. This morning a few inches of snow covered everything in town, who knows how much was in the higher elevations. I met some of the hikers who I had seen on that dark and rainy afternoon a few days ago, and found out everyone was ok. I was surrounded by hikers, awesome!

I spent the rest of the evening resupplying at the near by grocery store, and chatting with some of the other hostel goers. I hope to hitch back to the trail tomorrow, but will let my leg decide in the morning.