Day 93: Mile 1087.3 - 1092.3
So today was just a short day--about 5 miles--from our campsite on what was effectively a wide ledge during the steep descent down to Highway 50, to the Echo Lake Chalet. And I must say that, the short mileage is not an issue, because, honestly?
I'm exhausted.
Yesterday night, we sat down for dinner, and I sat down next to Outlast and just didn't move for a while. Just didn't have the energy to. And I admit I've never felt quite that tired before. Sure I've wanted to skip dinner, usually because the weather conditions were bad--too too windy, or possibly because it was raining--but never out of sheer exhaustion. But that was what I felt last night. And it was so hard just to make dinner--just to boil water!--and then to eat it was tiring too, and when I finished I was pretty much done, all the supposed energy gained from eating it notwithstanding.
It's, well, not a "bone" sort of tired, but a throughout-my-core sort of tired. As in it's not that anything hurts--there's no pain or soreness besides the normal ones you'd expect--there's just no energy left. The current tank is empty, and the reserves are spent. This morning we walked from the campsite down to Highway 50, then up the last 1.5 miles or so to Echo Lake, and this is my wheelhouse, this is where I come for a weekend every summer to day-hike, and I just wasn't feeling it. It was tough getting up the hill, and I just didn't have the energy to be elated about seeing those familiar lakes, that familiar boat launch, even that familiar perpetually-filled-so-there's-never-any-parking-available parking lot, again. It's like coming across and old friend, and then not having enough wherewithal to even say a proper hello.
The plan is to do a zero day in South Lake Tahoe, at an AirBNB that Matt and Uno (Matt is Uno's boyfriend) found with reasonable rates. And I must say that, for me, that's a good idea, and I would go so far as to say, it's a necessary idea. The stuff that Cheez-It was talking about, about the body being truly exhausted even as it brings up the adrenaline to hike? That's true for me at this point. If you put me on the trail I'll move--probably slowly but I'll move--and if I move long enough I'll even feel energized and ready to go. But in reality? I'm tired and don't even know it.
And the increasing development of this cold isn't helping things either. And now I'm waking up with that itch in the tonsils that tells me that, no, my immune system wasn't able to fend it off, this isn't going to be a minor annoyance that comes and goes, but it's here and I'll have to go through the full cycle of it. Which just saps even more energy that I don't have. So the zero will be good. I had hoped to be able to get all my chores done today and then maybe spend all of tomorrow--the zero--just sleeping, but that didn't happen, all the chores didn't get done, and that's partially because, yeah, I just don't have the energy to push through and get them done.
There's more that happened today, since we got into town about noon and so had the whole afternoon to get things done, but I'll save that for tomorrow's entry. For now, looking at the trail, yeah, I'm exhausted.
But I will mention this (since I'm not a complete narcissist): we got picked up from the Echo Lake Chalet by Matt in a Jeep Wrangler (I think?: I don't know anything about cars), and who was in the car with him but Uno and Dylan. Both looking much cleaner and in pretty good shape. And when I had a moment I asked Uno how she felt and what the doctor had said. And she said she felt better--still had a bit of a headache--and the doctors had said that, yes, she had had a concussion. They had done some scans, though, and everything looked fine, so mostly it was just being aware of any complicating symptoms that might arise, but otherwise waiting for it to get better. Actually, she said, she had also asked the doctor to look at her feet, and upon seeing them the doctor said, forget your head, look at your feet! Uno's been dealing with blisters for a while--even the morning we hiked out of Carson Pass, I remember going to their tent and she and Dylan were treating blisters (the usual thread-and-drain) for a good 10-15 minutes. So she's more worried about her feet than her head! But it was good to see her walking around and looking positive and happy--I'd never have thought she'd fallen just a few days before!
-- Campsite > Highway 50 > Echo Lake Chalet > South Lake Tahoe
-- Today I learned, through the Instagram, that Candy Corn had gotten off trail, seemingly at South Lake Tahoe (which is where she lives, so is a natural point for it, I guess). And I admit, I found this a bit shocking: from my brief time hiking with her, I had gotten the impression of Candy Corn as one of those people when her mind turns to something, it snaps like a steel trap and she goes in a straight line towards that thing and Gets It Done. So I was surprised. I didn't inquire into why she got off trail--I don't know how to communicate via Instagram, and that's the only way I know to reach her. But given her personality, I'm sure it's a good reason: I don't think she'd make such a decision lightly.
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