Episode 61 - PCT Update #9
Tuolumne Meadows —> Carson Pass
Day #: 72
Total Miles Hiked: 1095
Miles remaining: 1555
Percentage done: 41.3%
We’ve arrived to Tahoe! Hooray! I grew up skiing here and absolutely love this place, and I can’t believe that I walked here from Mexico. I’m properly on NorCal now!
As always, please feel free to mail letters, postcards, mail, or care packages! I always get so excited heading to the post office, and the next one will be in Old Station. Thank you so much to everyone who’s sent me packages, post cards, and letters so far. Going to the post office is like Christmas, each and every time!
Address:
Dennis Gavrilenko (PCT)
General Delivery, USPS
Old Station, CA 96071
Let’s go!
If this is your first episode and you’re thinking “what in the world is happening right now”, start here!
Day 64, 7/13/2025:
Today we did 15 miles with a respectable 2000 feet in elevation gain. We’ve officially left the land of the John Muir hikers, and back in the long of only PCTers!
I was particularly excited to start hiking north from Tuolumne Meadows, since this is where 5 years ago, my dad and I backpacked to from Tahoe. I hadn’t been back to any portion of the trail since then, and have been looking forward to seeing it again ever since we started in Campo. It’s crazy how quick the time flies!
After a nice slow morning at the cabin and drinking some delicious coffee (Brooke’s dad and I were watching the Sinner v Alcaraz finale), it was time to return to reality; we packed our things in the car, and were off from Groveland and heading back into Yosemite. We arrived at the trailhead after a 2-hour scenic drive, grabbed our things from the trunk, and were off. Tahoe awaits!
I hadn’t been back to Tuolumne Meadows since my dad and I were here, so I decided to take my time and really enjoy the sights and sounds. Brooke, her dad, Flo, and Pablo zoomed on ahead, while I checked out the nearby Soda Springs and flipped through a photo book in the massive Parsons Lodge. After about a half hour there, I finally decided to get back on trail, and spent the next 6 miles walking alone in silence, catching up to the group. It was heavenly. I eventually arrived to the Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp, where the group was relaxing in the shade and eating lunch; Brooke and I took a dip in the Tuolumne River right nearby, Brooke’s dad said bye and headed back to the car (I showed him our gravity filtering contraption, and he was very impressed), tried some of the freeze dried astronaut mint ice cream sandwiches from Fred and Peggy’s care package (they tasted just like solid crunchy toothpaste, very strange), and then we all pretty much decided it was naptime and took an hourlong break right there on the beach. Just what the doctor ordered. I also used the interesting bathroom at the campground, which required you to push the flush button with your foot 5 times so that the waterless conveyor belt took your shit to the dump pile underneath. Quite an intriguing contraption!
After the nap, we packed up our few things and carried on for the rest of the lovely day. It was only 9 more miles to our campsite over rolling hills, and brooke and I spent the whole time chatting about life, post PCT plans, and our excitement to be in Yosemite again, exactly where we were with each of our dads years ago. We arrived to camp around 7:45, set up our tent in a beautiful clearing of pine trees, and then set up a campfire. There was already a fire ring nearby, so I spent a few minutes collecting firewood, clearing the area, and quickly starting a cute blaze. Pablo and Flo showed up around 20 minutes later (it was their first time at a campfire!), we all ate dinner around the fire together (my lasagna was delicious), and went to bed after an hour of sharing stories around the fire. What a wonderful first day back on trail!
An unexpected gross event happened today too, when I killed a mosquito that was crawling on my hand. Upon slapping it dead, its blood sac full of my blood exploded, and subsequently squirted onto my face. How lovely.
Day 65, 7/14:
22 miles with 5300 feet of climbing. The autocorrect just fixed my original spelling of “feet of climbing” to “feet of limping”, and that’s not too far off how the day went. Absolutely brutal!
It started off well enough; brooke and I packed up camp relatively quickly and seamlessly, and were on trail by 8:30 am. We had many extremely steep switchbacks up to Miller Lake, where we enjoyed eating our baby food pouches while admiring the epic view. I was remembering how I swam here 5 years ago with my dad! There were way too many mosquitoes to swim in there today, so brooke and I carried on to the pass.
Once at the bottom, we took a long break near a creek to prepare for the climb up Benson Pass; I even set up the tent to hide in from the mosquitoes! Merit eventually caught up to us (I had no idea he was hiking behind us, but he camped just before our campfire last night and revealed that he hiked down into Yosemite Valley and spent a day off there), then he and brooke headed on uphill. I continued taking a break doing nothing, eventually packed up everything, and headed uphill myself.
It was another pretty rough climb, but I was chugging along uphill and made it to the crest an hour later, where Merit and Brooke were waiting for me, having lunch. I was particularly excited to make it to Benson Pass because I’d hidden an earthcache here 5 years ago, and was excited to see the relevant boulder again. How quickly the time flies!
Merit, brooke, and I took a long lunch at the top, then focused up and carried on downhill once again. I was feeling like the grumpy tank engine from Thomas the Train today: not in the best mood per se, but putting my head down and chugging along the entire way. This thru-hiker thing is no joke!
We eventually made it to the bottom of the descent, where Merit and I encountered a junction to Benson Lake and decided to investigate it further; Brooke and her dad described the beach there as being amazing, and the FarOut comments described it as the “Riviera of the Sierra”. Now I just have to check that out! I left a trekking pole at the intersection for Brooke (having passed her on the downhill and taking an unplanned detour, I left her the pole on the ground so she knew where I went), made it to the lake with Merit, and was in absolute awe. Before us lay a sandy beach with a perfect lake and granite view with best of all, no mosquitoes! There was a slight breeze blowing from the lake, so we were mozzy-free and everything was perfect. The only difference from Cancun was that the beach trees were pines, not palms, but everything else was just like a Mexican beach. Merit and I took a long break there waiting for brooke, relaxing and eating a second lunch of delicious ramen, which was flavored with the shrimp packet to pay homage to the alpine lake.
Eventually, another hiker arrived at the beach and revealed that brooke had seen my pole but continued up the pass, shattering the hope that Merit and I had that we might convince brooke to camp at the beach. We waited for the sun to set over the cliffs, packed up our things, and continued climbing uphill to Seavey Pass.
This one was surprisingly doable despite its length, so I passed merit, crested the climb, and continued flying downhill to catch brooke. I eventually caught Flo and Pablo, who’d already set up camp and told me that brooke thought I was ahead of her and continuing on to the planned destination, so I carried on to catch her in the rapidly-fading light. I eventually saw her at the creek crossing before the next climb, was extremely relieved to see her (I was worried once I learned she still thought I was ahead of her), set up camp across the river in a nice grove of trees, had a quick dinner, and headed straight to bed. We’re planning for a marathon day tomorrow!
I must also add that the moths at the campsite were absolutely insane, and were flying around like demonic missles when we had our headlamps out. One flew into my shirt (terrifying), several killed themselves by flying into the boiling water in the JetBoil, and it was a scary event when one would fly into the tent and I’d have to hunt it down. Wild stuff and an exhausting day.
I also had pretty bad shin splints on my left leg today, which was not fun at all.
Day 66, 7/15:
24 miles today with 4000 feet of elevation. We’ve officially arrived at the 1000 mile mark! Hooray!
The morning started off surprisingly well; I wasn’t too exhausted from the day before, and brooke and I spent some time relaxing in the tent before getting ready to go. We had some delicious morning coffee before dunking my head into the nearby river, and then I was up! Merit came by a short while later after camping just before us last night, and Flo and Pablo came a while later from their campsite, too, so it was all around great camaraderie this morning. It’s always so fun chatting with Merit in the morning, he’s a real funny dude. Today we talked about Truth Social lol, how random.
Also, while taking my morning dump, I saw a group of ~20 ants carrying a dead moth to their anthill, which I then told brooke and merit about, which started a digression about how crazy the moths were last night. Insane stuff. Eventually, merit left to go on uphill, then brooke and I departed for the climbs as well. It’s two short but punchy ones this morning before a long gradual climb over to Dorothy Lake Pass to get out of Yosemite. We’re doing this thing!
The first two climbs were surprisingly not too bad, and we arrived at Wilmer Lake in no time. Merit was already there relaxing, I joined him, brooke arrived in short order, then Flo and Pablo, and we all had a relaxing lunch right there on the water. And just like last time, a light breeze was blowing off the lake so the mozzies weren’t too bad!
After a half hour break, we departed off for a very slow and gradual advent of Dorothy Lake Pass (the northern boundary of Yosemite). I quickly encountered a friendly Yosemite ranger who asked to check my permit (finally!), then continued cruising on uphill for another 8 miles.
Eventually, in very short succession, two momentous events occurred: we officially exited Yosemite National Park, and we reached the 1000 mile marker! I can’t believe it! 1000 miles on trail! I remember seeing this sign with my dad 5 years ago and thinking how crazy it was that someone would walk 1000 miles, and yet here I am all these years later. Wild. We spent a few minutes there celebrating by eating Brooke’s no-bake cheesecake (it tasted just like Oreo sludge), and then carried on to camp. It was another 5 miles of downhill/flat, which brooke, merit, and I quickly flew down just before dark. We quickly set up the tent, filtered water, ate dinner, and were off to bed. We’re climbing up to Leavitt Ridge tomorrow, and having lunch with Brooke’s family at Sonora Pass!
Day 67, 7/16:
13 miles today with 3000 feet of elevation. We’ve arrived at Sonora Pass, and with it, civilization once again! (Kind of)
Today was the day of the long-anticipated family picnic at Sonora Pass, so Brooke and I got up nice and early and were out of camp by 7:15 am. There was one big climb in the morning onto Leavitt Ridge, where we would stay for a few miles before descending into the pass. I was particularly excited to make it up there, since my dad and I had hiked on that very same ridge years ago and I was excited to see the trail sign that I’d repaired on that hike.
And I must say, the climb up was my favorite one on the entire PCT so far. Leavitt Ridge is the first major mountain we climb onto that’s more volcanic than granitic, and this changed geology creates a hiking trail that’s a lot different than the ones we’ve been hiking on in Yosemite. I absolutely loved it! Brooke and I flew up the climb, saw the old trail sign that I fixed years ago, and took a lovely break at the trail intersection that led down to Leavitt Lake (years ago, my dad and I descended down to the lake during a crazy lightning storm on the ridge). The goal was to leave the break spot at 10, but after spending a few minutes longer than brooke resting, Merit arrived, and I ended up spending an extra half hour talking to him. lol. There go the plans to make it to the pass by 1 pm!
Eventually, Merit and I finished our break, and continued on along the ridge toward the descent. The scenery continued to be stunning (especially a really cool pass right through a crack in the volcanic ridge), and I took another lovely break to chat with a southbound group of hikers who all wanted to sign my shirt. One shortcut downhill and a gloss adding adventure later, I arrived at Sonora Pass, where I excitedly signed the trail register and walked into the campsite. Waiting for us there was Brooke’s entire family with sandwich materials and cold drinks!! Hooray!!
We spent about 3 hours there relaxing, during which Merit arrived, we saw some famous actor (?), found a geocache with my signed log from 5 years ago, and ate lots of fresh plums. Flo and Pablo eventually arrived, got their food and carried on, while Brooke et al and I headed back to the family cabin in Long Barn for a restful night there. We had a delicious dinner on the patio, played some cards, and headed to bed after a delightfully warm shower. What a day!
Day 68, 7/17:
25 miles today with 4600 feet of climbing. We’re on the way to Tahoe, woohoo!
The day started off nice and early; brooke and I woke up at 7, and were on the road with Brooke’s dad by 7:30 am after a delicious morning coffee and bagel. We arrived to Sonora Pass again about an hour later, and right away found our lovely group of hiker friends: Rabbit, Merit, and Quinn, who’d each stayed at Kennedy Meadows or the further general store at Strawberry. I finally delivered Hamburger Helper’s letter to Quinn (hooray!), and then we were off!
We made it to the top of Sonora Crag about an hour later, which featured tons of great volcanic views and beautiful blooming wildflowers. I spent most of the way up chatting with Brooke’s dad and Rabbit (who did an 87-day PCT thru-hike last year!), and took a nice long break at the saddle before the long descent. Brooke’s dad said bye to us and headed back to the car, while brooke and I went on an adventure to go find a nearby geocache. One “found” log later, we were back on trail, and began the long downhill into Boulder Creek. I called Papa while there was still service on the high ridge and heard all about Troop 153’s recent Philmont expedition (everyone got belt buckles), then the service cut out, I popped on the Standard Oil Acquired episode, and I was off.
A few hours and one very long break later (the book The Midnight Library is just too good to put down, so if I start reading it during a break it’s going to be a very long break), I caught up to Brooke, had a delicious ramen lunch with her, took another long break, and carried on. My sleep deprivation is 100% starting to catch up to me and I’m definitely feeling it, but fortunately I have Enya and other assorted artists to keep me company and in high spirits; I have 2600 likes songs on Spotify, so shuffling them is always bound to be a fun experience. Plus, there are tons of rustling aspen trees here, which might just be my favorite sound on Earth.
I continued hiking through the late afternoon, taking another long reading break to finish The Midnight Library, and chatted with McKayla many as times as we passed each on the climbs and my breaks. We had some really nice conversations, especially about companionship on trail and how nice it is to have someone around but not necessarily having to talk to them. Companionship, without the obligation of conversation.
I eventually finished the book, and continued one long push to get to camp before it got dark; there were a ton of really cool cinder cone volcanoes around and EDM music to keep me pumped, and I was in a tremendous mood. I arrived at camp at 8:30, just as it was getting dark, where Brooke, Pablo, Flo, Quinn, Merit, and Rabbit were already set up and getting ready for dinner. I quickly built a fire ring for us, we moved some logs over, and enjoyed the rest of the evening eating together and enjoying the cozy flames in the woods. What an amazing end to the day :)
And in a magnificent stroke of luck, there wasn’t a SINGLE mosquito on trail today, which does tremendous things toward improving my mood. HALLELUJAH!
Day 69, 7/18:
26 miles today with 4500 feet of climbing. We are making it to Tahoe tomorrow, I’m so excited!! It’s one of my favorite places on Earth.
Today was an absolutely massive day of hiking, with several mountain passes, tons of switchbacks, and beautiful scenery for hours. Volcanic geology was on display all day.
I spent the entire day cruising on the chill climbs (though they were long, they weren’t steep and altogether quite pleasant) in familiar terrain, and hiked the last 3 miles in darkness with Brooke. It was an exhausting day by the end, but we caught up to Flo and Pablo at the campsite and planned for an early start the next morning. It’s Brooke’s birthday, and we’re hoping to spend it at the lake!
Day 70, 7/19:
11 miles with 2000 feet of climbing today. One of the BEST days on trail today!
The day started off at midnight, when I woke up brooke, lit a tiny candle, and sang Happy Birthday to my confused girlfriend (she had just been woken up lol). We went straight back to bed, and properly woke up around 6:30, had a lovely slow morning, and were off on the trail at 8.
The hiking started off with an early ascent of The Nipple, a prominent mountain named so because it’s shaped just like, you guessed it, a nipple. Amazing stuff. Brooke and I quickly traversed along its side boob along the trail, and then she and I parted ways for the next few miles; I descended off the high ridge to find a geocache near Lost Lakes, while she continued on north to Carson Pass. I quickly arrived at the lake, found the geocache, and then cut across the lakes’ isthmus to connect back to the PCT.
And who did I find along the lake? 5 dudes camping with their trucks, already fishing by 9 am. We chatted for a bit, and then they offered me a breakfast burrito and cookies for the trail! They were such a great group of lads, though unfortunately I had to leave earlier than I wanted to catch back up with Brooke.
It’s quite an interesting part of thru-hiking: we’re not backpacking in places, but through them, and so we often have to fly through places I’d love to spend much longer at. We’ve seen so much beautiful wilderness already, but we can never stay for long without falling even more behind on the trail. It’s been especially rough in the High Sierra, where I wanted to camp and swim through every lake, yet we had to continue on and push the mileage to get to Canada. Thru-hiking is no joke!
After the burrito adventure, I made it back to the trail, found another ammo can geocache (I dropped my bag on the trail, ran to the GZ, found the cache, grabbed myself a “Don’t Panic” keychain, run back to my bag, trail-blazed back to the PCT, and began the short but steep climb up Carson Pass). I ended up setting the fastest time up the climb on Strava (!), caught up to Brooke at the summit (where we devoured the breakfast burrito), and flew down to the Carson Pass trailhead, encountering dozens of day hikers heading to Winnemuca Lake along the way.
And Carson Pass was a true delight! There’s a cute ranger station there, where the friendly rangers offered free drinks and snacks to PCT hikers and wonderful company while we sat and relaxed. After a half hour there, Brooke and I caught a hitch to South Lake Tahoe from a couple from Sacramento with their cute Australian Shepherd dogs, which rested right on Brooke’s lap into town.
The rest of the day was spent doing some town chores, catching an Uber to Rubicon Bay (where we were staying), and celebrating Brooke’s birthday with family. :)
Day 71, 7/20:
0 miles today! Yay! A full zero!
Today was a very relaxing day: we spent the day finishing up town chores, got some ice cream at Camp Richardson Ice Cream Parlor (there “scoops” are literally the size of a softball), and relaxing at the Rubicon Bay beach. The NorCal part of the PCT is very remote, so we shopped food for the next few weeks and mailed it ahead; we did this shopping at Grocery Outlet (our east coast friend, Quinn, calls it “gross out”), which had such cheap prices that I felt like we were stealing. I love cheap prices!
Day 72, 7/21:
Today was another zero, quite unexpectedly! Long story short, the South Lake Tahoe post offices don’t have their shit together, and send packages all over the place except to the correct destination. We drove to one post office, then another, then the original one again, yet none of them had the package since it was “in transit” between them, and since this package has my new shoes in them (my current ones are destroyed), there’s nothing for me to do but wait until they arrive. But hey, it could be worse, right? I get an extra day off in Tahoe, and can enjoy it in the lovely coffee shop that I’m sitting in now.
So please, send good vibes my way… hopefully they’ll arrive in time 🙃
(I’m feeling so cooked here in Tahoe, please help jk)
(Also the McDonald’s WiFi is lightning fast I love it)
Beautiful pictures!!
My favorite birthday confusion ever!