Looking Back On Backpacking Trips CJ and I Have Done: Tahoe Rim Trail Day 5

Consistent with my experience of exhausting myself to bring good sleep after a stressful event, CJ slept incredibly hard. We got hit by a lightning storm during the night.  At the crest of the Sierra where we were, there was no delay between the flash of lightning and the crash of thunder. It woke me like an earthquake. KaaBooom! Actually, it woke me like a Marine Corps drill instructor.

>WAKE UP.... WAKE UP..... WAKE UP RIGHT FREAKIN' NOW BOY!<

Just like when a Marine Corps Drill Instructor wakes an entire platoon, it felt like lightning was striking close enough to transmit through the ground into our bodies. There wasn't really anything to do except wait it out; there was certainly no where to run. We weren't under a tree so that was good. But we were a long way from the nearest tree so that was bad. I thought about what was happening, and pulled CJ onto his sleeping pad in an effort to ensure there was no part of him in contact with the ground. To this day, I don't think I ever told Erin about this. I was really scared for his safety. 

The storm passed. We lived. In the morning, CJ said he never noticed it. Said he slept straight through.  He seemed to be in noticeably better spirits. Clouds lingered from the storm.  Everything was wet and the resulting evaporation seemed to have a cooling effect.  We had to climb up and over Dick's Pass in Desolation Wilderness.  From our campsite to the top of the pass we gained 1600' in a couple miles.  That was a big deal to us but the cool temperature made the climb an easy experience.  We stopped periodically to enjoy the view but before we knew it, we were at the top. The lake in the notch on the far upper right is Aloha, where we slept.the night.

We took a break at the top to enjoy the view and then jammed down into the zone of highly inhabited lakes called The Velmas. They are highly inhabited because they are easily accessed from Lake Tahoe. They are beautiful so it's legitimate. I had a half a liter of water left in my bottle as we passed the northern most Velma lake. I thought it would be no problem because the map showed a creek about five or six miles farther on. I failed to notice it was an intermittent creek. When we got there, it was bone dry. Nothing. Not even a trickle. I'm better than average at finding water in dry places. I can sense humidity and find moist soil that is leaking water. Ask my hiking partners. But this creek was not giving me anything. So we hiked on. I figured we would find water. I always find water. After all, it's the Sierra!! But it wasn't happening.

Five or six miles farther on, we came to a small pond with water. Nasty water. The only water for many miles. There were small animals gathered around the pond, marmots, looking at me like they would fight me if I went for their water. No joke. It was nearly an hallucination. Like a summer version of Narnia. There were huge bear paw prints in the soil around the pond. The animals in this section of forest were desperate. As was I. But the water was completely scary so I didn't dare. At that point, I searched the map and saw nothing for many miles. CJ and I hiked on. He had water. We made an agreement to each drink one swig per hour from the water he had until it was gone and/or we came to a water source. The next water source appeared to be Richardson Lake. I think I did it on two liters.

Lake Richardson came out of the forest like an apparition. I thought we had at least three more miles to hike, maybe five, when I spotted it through the trees ahead of CJ. I was literally losing my coordination.

It was glorious. We swam. We soaked our bodies. We scrubbed dirt from our ankles and feet. We cooked. We filled and refilled our water bottles. And then we got in the tent and laid there and talked and looked at maps... It was one of the best father/son moments in the history of mankind as we came to conclusion we had probably hiked 20 miles. We weren't positive; we didn't believe we could have.

This was a day when a lot of things came together for us. Our rhythm started to gel. We needed to go long in order to get things into a pattern that didn't involve a lot of thought.

I'm sure CJ was thinking about his deceased kitten. I was thinking about how the political nature of parents in Boy Scouts didn't seem like it could be the primary pathway to the outdoors for CJ. We were both in a disappointed mindset but many miles of hiking brought in endorphins that helped a lot.

There are a lot of great memories in that tent. If you are easing your way into backpacking, it's an REI Half Dome 2 Plus. Awesome tent. Buy it on sale at one of their Memorial Day Sales.