7/1/18 - Albany, NY to Fresno, CA

The day has finally come to start this third and hopefully final large section hike on the Pacific Crest Trail.  The last few days I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything done that I needed to do before I left.  The good thing is with this being my fourth total long distance hike now, I pretty much have the process down to a science of what I have to do months, weeks, and days in advance.  Still, the older I get the more I worry about what I may have forgotten.  I was up till almost midnight last night checking and double checking everything, then I was up at 4AM this morning just to make sure I was out the door in time to get to the airport by 5:30AM.  

Albany airport is not that big, so the good thing is the check in lines are never that long (as compared to other larger airports at least).  My first flight was Albany to Chicago, which took just under 2 hours.  Then after about a 3 hour layover the second flight was from Chicago to Sacramento.  Overall the whole process wound up being about 9 hours to get across the country.  I don’t mind layovers especially heading west because it breaks up the flight instead of sitting in the same seat for 5-6 hours.  Also because of the change in time zones, you really gain three extra hours back from however long it actually takes.  On the other hand, when I fly from west to east, I usually try to get a red eye late at night without any layovers, that way I can sleep on the plane and it doesn’t really feel like I am losing the extra 3 hours coming back east.

I was able to get some rest on the second flight but as we approached Sacramento I was reminded before this hike even starts how fragile my whole plan could possibly be.  As we came within view of Lake Tahoe I was able to catch a picture of one of the many forest fires currently burning in Northern California.

This fire will not affect me this year, but it is a reminder that I will be at natures whim for the next few months.  Within minutes, I was out of view of the fire and was able to snap this picture of Lake Tahoe in all its glory:

Landing on time I was able to proceed to Enterprise and pick up my mode of transportation for the next week.  I will be putting a lot of miles on this car, so I went economy to save on gas and I was given a Nissan Sentra.  Never drove one before, but I like it for now.  There is only one fear I have and that is the road I will be driving tomorrow up and into the very heart of the Sierras.  This road is supposed to be very steep and winding, and in some places only 1 lane.  My worry is that the road will be in bad disrepair, and full of potholes, or uneven sections where the rental could bottom out.  I contemplated getting an SUV but that would have almost doubled the cost, so I figure I will just get up early and take my time.  

After picking up the rental I drove almost 200 miles south to Fresno.  I’ve never been to Fresno before, and after checking into a Days Inn, I drove to the local REI and to get some fast food - Jack in the Box Baby!!!!  Fresno definitely has its good sections of town and its run down sections as well.  My hotel tonight is pretty much on the border of those two I think.  

At REI I picked up the last pieces of gear I wanted to get including new trekking poles and the stuff I couldn’t carry on the plane such as canister fuel for my stove and deet.  Tomorrow it is into the Sierras and to my first “clean up” section from 2016, then hopefully I can get back out and as far north as South Lake Tahoe to meet up with an old friend.

Be forewarned, If I am legitimately going to keep up with this blog this time around, most of the posts are not going to be this long or in depth.  I just figured I had some time tonight in the hotel to start things out properly...

But here I am, back at it again.  Thanks for all the support, I really appreciate it...

Keep on keeping on,

- Patch