September 11, 2016 

Echo Lake Trailhead (mile 1092.3) to Lake Aloha (mile 1098.3)

Miles: 6

Our total miles: 2454.6

Laurie tossed and turned last night resulting in little sleep. Needless to say she woke up tired. Andy though, slept well. 

Before leaving our room in the morning we uploaded a few blog posts, checked our bank accounts and credit card statements.

Then we got hungry, so we went in search of breakfast. 

Crissy and Eric had brought a lot of veggies, which we used to make scrambled eggs. 

Andy made bacon as well. 

Oh how we love fresh food. Many people who hike a long trail experience deep gratitude for certain things we take for granted – such as running water at our fingertips. 

What we miss most and will never take for granted is fresh food. Oh how we love cooking and eating fresh, crunchy food!

Andy hadn’t finished cooking all the bacon when Laurie started on her second breakfast – leftover Thai food.

As we finished eating Eric returned from his run with Barrett (who owns the house we were staying in) and told us of the mother bear and 2 cubs they saw.

Andy excitedly listened to them recounting their sighting and couldn’t help but laugh that they saw more bears on their morning run than we have our entire hike. 

Around 10am we (along with Crissy, Eric and Adara (their 1 and a half year old daughter)) piled into their car and drove to the Bayview Trailhead.

We went on short hike until Kelly – Laurie’s former roommate and good friend – arrived around 10:45. The parking lot was full and the plan was for Kelly to take our spot but someone else left just before us, allowing her to snag a spot.

We drove back to the house, sorted our resupplies for the next leg, packed our packs, ate more leftovers and piled into the car once more. 

Crissy and Eric graciously drove us to the Echo Lake trailhead, where we would resume our hike with Kelly.

We can’t thank Crissy and Eric enough for their generosity and help! 

We hit the trail around 1:30pm, making our way slowly up the trail past Lower Echo Lake.

It was Sunday and there were TONS of people on the trail, many of them heading back to Echo Lake.

Many hikers inquired about what Andy was carrying in his right hand. Andy excitedly informed them it was curry from our favorite Thai restaurant in San Francisco. 

We can’t get enough Thai food these days. Thank you Kelly for bringing us more delicious curry!

We walked past many beautiful cabins thinking “we could live here, we just need to work remotely.”

South and North Echo Lakes are almost as beautiful as the cabins surrounding them are charming.

The trail was mainly flat until we passed North Echo Lake. Then we climbed about 600 feet to Lake Aloha.

It’s great to have Kelly with us to enjoy the views.

Laurie and Kelly went swimming in Lake Aloha before dinner. We snacked, then set up our tents in a sheltered spot. 

We considered setting up closer to the water but elected not to do so as the wind picked up once the sun set. 

We enjoyed good conversation and delicious red and green curry while watching the sunset. 

The moon is bright but there are still many stars out. 

Tonight we sleep without the fly on, enjoying the warm mountain air, sheltered from the wind. 

And the solitude is worth more than gold. We only walked 6 miles from a busy place like Lake Tahoe and feel so far from civilization. 

There are only 2 other people here that we know of. We feel like we have the wilderness to ourselves. It’s very relaxing and enjoyable.

Yesterday and this morning were very busy but as always, it was very worth it.

We got to see genuinely great people and share our journey with them. 

Tonight we ate grateful for amazing friends and more delicious Thai food.