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Saturday June 28 began with the dramatic discovery of a rattlesnake in the yard of the Christmas Tree Lodge. Not a problem for Joe - he fetched a spade an decapitated the snake.
Although the Western States Endurance Race had been cancelled (due to smoke from Forest fires), we decided to go to Last Chance. We decided to walk. We drove on the fire roads to Devil's Thumb and walked to Last Chance and back. This was about 9 difficult miles with around 4000 feet of descent (and climbing).
Jamie's not the greatest walker. He's always had problems with his knees on endurance walks. He's also broken his left leg twice in the last 3 years playing soccer. So by the time we finished, he was tired and his legs, and ankles were very sore. However he did the walk and felt good about achieving this. For sure, he was incredibly impressed that the Elite runners can traverse the trail from Last Chance to Devil's Thumb in 1 hour. It took us 2hr 45min.
After getting showered and changed we went to Foresthill to eat at the Ore Cart Restaurant. We made the mistake of ordering 'The Mother Lode' 10 oz hamburger and fries. Gosh, one between us would have been sufficient. It was huge.
Anyway, it was a very nice day out. The smoke in the Sierras had considerably cleared today. We were very surprised not to see anybody on the trail. Nobody at all. No runners, walkers, back packers. Nobody. It certainly makes you realise that the safety patrol on the WSER have a real job to do. An injured person might go days without another person coming along the trail!
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