Okay this was not the day for transit or, you know, general success.

The bus from Reno was three hours late. Three hours late. It left Reno after it was supposed to arrive in Truckee. Why is Greyhound so freaking terrible? Just…why? Of the three times I’ve booked their buses, two actually made it to the destination and none were on time. That’s a seriously losing proposition. And they have absolutely no competition. What a scam.

At least the ride, when it got there, was nice. It was a line going all the way to San Francisco, through Sacramento. There were two Greyhound stops in the Reno area, one in downtown Reno and one just North in Sparks, a small city that’s kind of barnacled into the Reno area. The Sparks location is where I got on, and then it went downtown.

The downtown location was cool. And Journeyman and Mantis boarded there! They weren’t headed to Truckee, though; they were Sacramento bound. It was just great to see them and catch up for a few minutes.

The ride wasn’t bad. Though the weather was horrible. Rain. Hail. More rain. When the bus got to Truckee, the weather was furiously hailing. I got my stuff, took cover in the visitor center, and talked with the staff there. They had Randy working the front and he was training Pia, from Chile. They were both super nice and gave me a recommendation of where to eat since I hadn’t been able to eat because of the bus delay.

I got in touch with a young woman, Claire, on Facebook who wants to start at the same spot, and we’re coordinating meeting via Facebook Messenger. The individual PCT town groups are really great for things like that.

I went to a restaurant, Jack’s Cafe, which was right on the train tracks. I ordered a burger and sweet potato fries, which wasn’t anything special. After that, I caught the free bus, which was a whole experience. Holy moly.

Randy, at the visitor center, told me to ask the driver if the bus was going to Donner Lake, where I wanted to start. He didn’t specify that I should ask when he was going to Donner Lake.

The driver ran through two entire loops of “local routes” before going there. A whole hour of delay. He could’ve easily said “no wait for the next one” but…no. And he started the ride playing some fundamentalist Christian creationist anti-science radio station. What. The. Actual. F?

Ugh.

I just wanted to start my hike.

Finally. After driving in what seems like forever, appropriately approximating an infinity symbol, we get to Donner Lake. I have a three mile road walk up a closed road to get to the PCT intersection. And the delay saw my decent weather window close. That’s a theme of the Sierra for me — missing weather windows. I’m sure it’ll improve as the weather gets better. It’s just hard not to be morose when I’ve hit delay after delay for weeks upon weeks and then hour after hour when all I want to do is get to the trail.

So I’m doing this road walk, past vehicular barricades, and it’s raining off and on.

And when it’s on, it is on. There’s thunder in the clouds, thankfully with no lightning to the ground. I pass an immense rock slide on the road.

I got to this beautiful historic bridge. After about two miles. I really liked the bridge and wanted sunrise photos, so I called it a day while there was a lull in the rain to set up my tent.

This bridge was built to bypass some dangerous winding roads through the Donner Pass area. It’s a really interesting history in this area, and I love informational signs.

There was a stunning view of Donner Lake at a parking lot across the road from where I set up my tent.

And I could see a waterfall through the arch of the bridge behind where I set up.

Ahead, the road wasn’t closed. It was only closed on the side I went up. The signs indicating the road was closed behind me, ahead for the others, were apparently easy to miss. I kept watching cars go ahead, then turn around.

I met a really sweet couple and their adult son in the parking lot overlook. The parents were really interested in the hike, and it was fun to talk with them about the trail.

There were also a few people on the overlook above where I was camping in vans, enjoying the views and the sunset.

Claire decided it wasn’t the day for her to start because of the weather and we’d meet up tomorrow, which works great for me. I’m really enjoying my alone time and vibing. I just really want someone to hike with for the snowy portion. I hate snow and I hate going on potentially steep snow alone.

It felt nice to finally be back in my tent. Even if I’m not yet on trail, at least I’m out of the city. At least I’m getting close. And the sunset was exactly what I needed.