Day 79 - Planes, Trains, Automobiles.....People & the Weather

Mile 1137.6 to Mile 1164.4 - 26.8 miles

A busy day today. Planes - there was a lot of activity yesterday which made sense today when a local on the trail advised that there was an Air Show at nearby Truckee. You could see it from the top of a ridge mid morning. Trains - at Donner Pass we passed over a railway tunnel. I know this as the old route is visible as a walk including going through the snow sheds. Automobiles - passed under another busy highway with Highway 80 taking people to Sacramento only 90 minutes away. The noise travelled afar as I could hear it my tent at night 6 miles away. People - Donner Pass area is popular with lots of day hikers, trail runners & dog walkers as well as sightseers & rock climbers. Talked to a chap from Sacramento with his two older kids who was interesting. Also had a day hiker give us Starburst sweets which was nice. The Weather - it was windy today with the exposed ridge between Tinker Knob & Mt Lincoln having us hanging on to hats, packs, poles etc.
Trail wise we started with a 1300 foot climb to reach the edge of Squaw Valley ski area where there was a nice view if Lake Tahoe

We then traversed around to get sight of Tinker Knob which we traversed this side of - 1300 feet to the saddle

From the saddle & looking north we could see he ridge towards Mt Anderson & a skyine that was not so lumpy

At the historically significant Donner Pass  there was a lot if activity with the skifields, walking trails, mountain biking etc. We also had some well received trail magic waiting for us

And Donner Pass with one of its lakes

The bar down the road was offering a free drink with a burger for PCT hikers which sounded better than my sardines cheese & peanut butter.
I did catch up with Tiptoe & Mowgli who were just leaving the pass as I hiked in. I also hiked late am with Maniac from Atlanta, Georgia - gotta love that accent!!!
I originally planned to stay at a hut on trail but when I got there I realised that the standard was not up to NZ back country hut expectations. It wasn't helped by the close proximity of a fresh smelling long drop so yeah.....nah. So I pushed on for another 3.5 miles to make it a busy day....Weta