Trek Dirty to Me
Sunday, June 22nd the longest hike of the challenge. I arrived at the Donner Pass Trailhead right around 0530. There was only one other car there at that time. I stepped off at about 0540. Big miles today but not a lot of total elevation gain. The first two miles climb a combined 781 feet in elevation to the ridgeline. Then its pretty much a stroll for the next five miles. The final 1.15 miles to the summit gains 596 feet in elevation making it the biggest in elevation gain.
There were two spots during my ascent where I felt I needed to put on microspikes. Mostly because it was early and the snow was very icy. The first one, just below Mount Linclon and right around mile 3, was a large patch that required a steep ascent followed by a short traverse. The second one was right around 6.35 miles. There were several long patches of icy snow with some exposure.
I didn’t see a lot of hikers on my ascent. Just one SOBO PCTer I passed at about mile 3. We actually played leap frog for a while. As I neared Tinker’s Knob, I began to see a few NOBO PCTers. And, once I made it up to Tinker’s Knob (my summit) I was joined by Mario a PCTer from Germany. We chatted for a few minutes and then headed out in the same direction. He and his partner were much faster hikers than I.
On my ascent I also took the time to visit the Benson Hut, which is just a little side trail at mile 6.35. This was pretty cool. It was built by the Sierra Club as a memorial to a WWII Veteran John Benson, who was also a Sierra Club Member. 1st Lieutenant Benson was killed in action near the end of the war in Italy. The hut is open to everyone and is useable. All they ask is that you leave it cleaner than you found it.
Hike #3 of the Tahoe Six Pack of Peaks Challenge was a great success although I did aggravate my hamstring injury a little. I recorded 15.9 miles and 3,157 feet in elevation gain.
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