I woke up at 8, took a quick shower, loaded my car and hit the road at about 8:40. I drove to Manny's house, a friend of mine who would hike the first 70 miles of the Tahoe Rim trail, then return, leaving me to finish the trail by myself. We would be joined by another friend, Gilbert and his 21-year-old son Jacob, who were driving separately to Lake Tahoe. They also would do only the first 70 miles.

I picked up Manny and we hit I80. We would drive for twelve hours then sleep overnight and continue the following day. It is a twenty-nine-hour drive from Chicago to the Brockway Summit trailhead at Lake Tahoe, where we would meet Gilbert and Jacob. The three of them would end their hike at this trail head, so the plan was to leave their car there and use my car to drive down to our starting point, Echo Lake.

We drove through three terrific thunderstorms in Wyoming, with nearly white out rain conditions. We got to Cheyenne around 11 PM and tried to find a hotel, but nearly everything was booked because of the Frontier festival. We did find a couple of rooms but they were $250. So, we decided to continue to Laramie.

On the way to Laramie, we called ahead for hotel rooms but everything was very expensive. About half way to Laramie we reached Medicine Bow National Forest and I suggested we camp in the forest. Manny agreed and we drove into the forest and camped at a developed campground. It is a very beautiful area.

July 31

The next morning, we hit the road about 8:30 AM and drove to Reno, where we booked a room at Motel 6, for $160. That's right, a Motel 6.

August 1

We woke up at 8:30 AM, had breakfast, then waited for about 30 minutes until REI opened (at 10 AM). We had to go there and get a tent which Manny had rented, as the one he brought with him was too small.

After picking up the tent we drove to Brockway Summit trailhead, only 40 minutes from Reno, and waited for Gilbert and Jacob to arrive. They made it around noon. We loaded up my Forester with all of our gear and then went to Kings Beach (that's a city) and to a beach there and swam in Lake Tahoe. The water was warm and the beach was crowded.

Our plan was to start the hike on the morning of August 2, but we decided to start in the evening of August 1, and hike about three miles in.

We drove down to the Echo Lake trailhead, grabbing dinner in South Lake Tahoe along the way. We arrived at Echo Lake trailhead, parked the car and collected our gear. That is when I realized that I had forgotten my trekking poles at the Medicine Bow campground. I used the poles to pitch by ZPacks Duplex tent and had leaned them against a tree in the morning when I struck camp and forgot them there. Only Manny had brought poles with him, so I would have to use his poles to pitch my tent.

Those poles were by Rota Locura and each weighed only 3.75 ounces. I hoped that I would be able to find them where I left them upon return.

Jacob asked me if I had bear spray. I keep one in the car for defense against people (who are far more dangerous than bears). I gave it to him and instructed him on how to use it.

Manny and I were not carrying water, so I was going to filter a liter from the lake. Gilbert said that he and Jacob were carrying about six liters of water, so we divided that between us and hit the trail. This innocuous act of sharing the water was resented by Jacob, as I would learn later.

Our destination was the boat taxi dock 2.8 miles away, where there are a lot of nice places to camp, although it is a day use area only. It was a nice hike to the boat dock, but Manny stumbled and fell when his pole got caught in a crack in a rock, and both poles broke. It looked like I would be cowboy camping unless I could fix the poles or make some from tree branches.

We arrived at the dock around 8:15 and setup up camp. I duck taped the poles, using two of my tent stakes as splints for stability. It was flimsy but it held the tent up.

We had dinner in town so we did not eat anything and soon went to sleep. My tent was about five feet from Gilbert and Jacob's tent, and all night I heard Jacob bickering with his father and complaining.

August 2

I woke up at about 7:15 AM. The others were also awake. Jacob was fighting with his father and walked away to the dock. Gilbert asked me to have a word with him. I had struck my camp so I grabbed my backpack and walked to the dock to have breakfast there. The dock was about 200 feet away. As I approached, I saw Jacob walking toward me. I called to him but he did not respond or look at me and kept walking. As he walked past me, I called his name but he extended his left arm toward me, palm up, and kept walking without looking at me. I thought that was rude and disrespectful.

I got to the dock and started making breakfast, Mountain House biscuits and gravy, followed by coffee and Belvita breakfast biscuits. Manny arrived five minutes later, followed by Jacob and then Gilbert about ten minutes later, who had struck his camp without help from his son.

As I was eating, I heard chatter between Gilbert and his son, who were only about seven feet away from me. I was not listening to what they were saying as I was busy with breakfast. Suddenly I heard Jacob say "fuck you" to his father. I turned toward Jacob and told him I didn't like the way he was speaking to his father, nor would I tolerate it if he spoke in that manner to me or Manny. He got up and walked away right after I reprimanded him, and returned about five minutes later.

It was not a good beginning. Jacob was already not pulling his weight. His father was cooking the food, pitching the tent, striking the tent, filtering water and carrying more weight in his backpack then his son. While we were having breakfast at the dock, Jacob even had the audacity to ask his father to retrieve his sandals, which he had left at the camp.

We finished breakfast, washed up and donned our backpacks. Jacob asked me if I wanted to carry the bear spray, because he couldn't "figure out where to put it." I told him to put it in his pocket and walked away from him. That ticked me off.

We hit the trail just before 9 AM. We had a permit to camp in the Middle Velma Lake region, 15 miles ahead in the Desolation Wilderness. We would not make that.

The trail ahead would ascend 750 feet over 2.5 miles, then descend to Lake Aloha (a reservoir), then descend another 500 feet before the ascent to Dick's Pass, a 1500-foot climb over three miles.

This part of the TRT is shared with the Pacific Crest Trail, and is undoubtedly the prettiest segment of the TRT. The views in the Desolation Wilderness are majestic, the lakes are beautiful.

The hike towards Aloha Lake was very pretty and easy going, at least for me. But things were not going well for Jacob.

As we made our way toward Aloha Lake, Gilbert discussed his son with me. It was clear that Jacob was not cooperating with his father. Their gear was intermingled. I advised Gilbert to separate their gear -- down to splitting the weight of the few things they were sharing -- and let his son take responsibility for himself.

The skills needed for this kind of hiking are the distilled, bare bones skills needed to survive in life -- they are a microcosm of the skills needed to survive in our urban jungles: foresight, planning, hard work, delayed gratification, personal responsibility, humility, perseverance, team work, cooperation, communication.

We made our way to Aloha Lake. I was first, followed by Manny, Gilbert and Jacob, who was far behind. There were many people section hiking this part of the trail. Gilbert met two hikers along the way and one of them gave him his Walmart (Ozark Trails) trekking poles. That was a nice turn of events. Now I could pitch my tent with confidence.

Upon arriving at Aloha Lake, I snapped pictures and sat and waited for the others to arrive. Manny arrived about five minutes later, followed by Gilbert about five minutes after that. But there was no sign of Jacob. A few minutes later we went looking for him and found him swimming in the lake. He had stopped before reaching us and gone straight to the lake, not bothering to check in with us.

We spent about twenty minutes at the lake and then set off. Jacob was hiking without a shirt and he looked exhausted. I advised him to wear a shirt to prevent sunstroke. I told him there is a reason people who live in the desert are covered from head to toe. He put his shirt on.

We made the short descent from Aloha Lake and then began the climb to Dick's Pass. I was ahead but I would stop periodically and let others catch up, particularly at trail junctions. Jacob was already behind even before we started the climb, and when he caught up at a trail junction, he had removed his shirt.

It is at this point that I learned that he had brought a liter of whiskey with him, and had been drinking that as he hiked. We advised him not to do that, as it would dehydrate him. I also advised him to eat snacks to maintain his energy level. He said he wanted to lose weight on this hike. I told him that is not something to be done on a hiking trip.

The climb up to Gilmore Lake, on the way to Dick's Pass, was not so bad, and I waited for the others to follow, but after that the meat of the climb to Dick's Pass began and I just pushed on straight to the top. Waiting for the others to catch up was interrupting my rhythm and flow and was actually making me more tired. Once you set a pace it is best to maintain it, especially in climbs.

I made it to Dick's Pass, which is a very large and flat summit, a great place to camp, and set my backpack on the ground and used it as a pillow. I rested for about five minutes, then I got up and took pictures and videos. About fifteen minutes later Manny arrived, looking very tired. The poor soul had not slept a wink the night before.

Gilbert arrived about ten minutes after that, followed by Jacob a couple of minutes later.

I had walked into the Pass about five hundred feet, and that's where Manny had stopped when he arrived. When Jacob arrived, he stopped immediately upon entering the Pass and collapsed there. I walked back to where he was to talk to him. He said he was done and that he was camping here. I told him there is no water here, and our camping permit is for Middle Velma Lake, four miles further.

We walked back to where Manny was and chatted for a few minutes. I saw Jacob approaching us, he was limping, he looked exhausted. Without breaking stride, he walked between us and pointed ahead and asked if that is the way to go, I said yes and he continued walking. He had no idea where he was going, but he walked on like a mindless brute. He did not stop and ask what the plan is. He did not behave as a member of the group.

I let him walk for about thirty feet then I called out to him and asked him if he knew where he was going. He stopped. It was clear at this point that he would not be able to make it to Middle Velma Lake, four miles ahead. He was dehydrated, he was exhausted, he was sunburned and over-heated. I told Manny and Gilbert that we would camp at Dick's Lake, only 1.9 miles down.

We had about an hour of daylight left. Normally that would have been plenty of time to cover 1.9 miles, especially going downhill. The going was slow, even when going downhill, because Jacob had to stop just about every thirty seconds. Before the hike started this cocky 21-year-old had boasted about how we "old fogeys" might not be able to do it.

About half a mile down we stopped and assessed the situation. We asked Jacob if he could continue. He said yes. I doubted it. We continued. Only .2 miles later I found a flat spot right next to the trail and waited for them to catch up. I told Gilbert and Jacob to camp there for the night.

At that moment the hike changed into a rescue operation.

It was clear that Jacob could not continue and had to be extracted from the trail. He was dehydrated, he was sunburned, he was exhausted, he was limping. His life was in danger.

Manny and I gave them all of our water, which was about 1.5 liters total. This would be enough for them until next morning. I told them Manny and I would continue to Dick's Lake and camp there, and that they should meet us at Dicks Lake trail junction, only 1.2 miles down, at 9 AM. If they were not there by 10 AM, I would assume something is wrong.

I gave Jacob a couple of snacks to eat, as they had packed only beef jerky for snacks. Knowing they were novice hikers, weeks before the hike I had instructed them on the kind of food to bring for the hike. But they had not heeded my advice. I asked to inspect their packs before the hike started but they declined. I should have insisted, because I would have discovered that whiskey bottle and tossed it out, and balanced their food supply. That was my fault.

Manny and I set out for Dick's Lake and made it to the campsite as full darkness set in. There were four other campers there. Two were right next to where we pitched our tents, the others were about fifty yards away.

I had dinner and then spent time figuring out how to get Jacob off the trail. The option of going back to Echo Lake, which meant a 15-mile trek and going over Dick's Pass again, was the last resort. I seriously doubted he could do that. I checked for an exit point going forward. I needed a road to get us back into civilization. Eleven miles forward the trail went right by Richardson Lake, and this was car accessible. Checking the elevation profile, there were a couple of minor climbs in the first 5 miles and the rest was all down hill until the lake. This was ideal.

With the plan set, I hit the sack.

At about 4 AM all of us were awakened by the sounds of a terrific bear fight occurring withing a quarter mile or less of us. It was spine chilling. There was growling, screaming, clicking of teeth. This went on for about 5 minutes. I have seen a lot of YouTube videos of bear fighting and I recognized all of those sounds from such. The other campers thought a bear had entered the campsite of the people fifty yards from us and went to check on them, but that was not the case.

August 3

I slept for a couple of hours after the bear fight. I woke up around 7:30, struck my camp, filtered water from Dick's Lake and had breakfast. Manny did the same.

At about 8:50 I went to the trail junction and waited for Gilbert and Jacob. I waited until 9:15 but they did not show up. I went further up the trail and sat on a large, flat rock and waited. Some southbound hikers passed by, I told them I was waiting for the bus.

I waited until 9:45 and there was still no sign of them, then I saw Gilbert coming up the trail, from Dick's Lake. I asked him how I could have missed him. He told me they had come down at 4 AM and had camped only a 100 or so yards away from us.

We walked back to Dick's Lake and there was Jacob sitting next to Manny. Looking slightly better, even smiling, but showing no remorse or awareness of his predicament. He made a half-hearted "I am sorry" statement. I thought this was narcissistic behavior.

I told Gilbert and Jacob that I am glad they made it, but they changed the plan. We were supposed to meet at 9 AM. I said that we need to stick to the agreed upon plan, because that gives us a baseline to work from in case something goes wrong. After it was all over, I learned that Jacob had accidentally sprayed the bear spray into his face in the middle of the night, and that he had insisted on coming down after that at 4 AM and had started walking, leaving his father to strike camp and carry both backpacks. This reckless behavior by Jacob could have gotten him killed. He was hiking in the dark. Had he gotten lost or injured himself, he might not have been found for a long time.

This move made no sense. They struck camp and hiked down only to setup camp again -- they had only to wait for four more hours to stick to the original plan. Gilbert should have checked his son, who was in no position to make decisions.

I informed them about the exit plan. I told them I would hike ahead of them to Tahoe City and from there go to Brockway Summit and get the car. They would hike to Richardson Lake today, camp there tonight and wait for me to pick them up tomorrow. If they managed to hitch hike out from Richardson Lake, they should just text me and tell me where they are. If I did not receive any text message, I would assume they were still at Richardson Lake and come for them. They agreed.

I instructed Manny to lead Gilbert and Jacob to Richardson Lake. He was not confident he could do it. He had the Tahoe Rim Trail app on his phone, and the trail went directly to Richardson Lake. It was easy. Gilbert and Jacob did not download the app on their phone, even though I had asked them to do so.

We were within sight of the trail junction marker. I pointed to it and told Manny to go to that marker and make a left to go to Richardson Lake. Simple, right?

I got the car key from Gilbert and hit the trail, but before I Left Jacob asked me for a couple of more snacks, which I gave to him. This guy would have died on the trail were it not for his father and Manny and me. This 21-year-old is a child, not an adult, and quite incapable of surviving on his own in the real world.

I started walking and, to be perfectly honest, I was glad to be hiking alone.

The Russian couple who had camped at Dick's Lake was ahead of me. I caught up with them and we chatted for a while. A very nice couple. They asked me to help adjust their backpacks, as it was not comfortable, so I adjusted their packs. They were carrying them too low below the waist, so I raised the packs above their hips and adjusted the load lifters so the weight would not press on their shoulders. I said paka paka and continued on.

It was beautiful hiking. I was still in the Desolation Wilderness and would not exit until about 7 miles down the trail. I reached Middle Velma Lake around noon and decided to grab lunch there. It's a beautiful area and is where we were supposed to camp the previous night.

I made it to Richardson Lake at 5:15, crossing the dirt road that goes to town, and took a quick bath in the lake and washed my shirt also. I hung it to dry and then had dinner. There were a couple of hikers who were swimming in the lake but no cars were there.

I hit the trail again at 6:30 and hiked three miles until I came up to a nice camping spot, where there was already one tent setup. I asked if I could setup my tent and the couple said it was alright. I made myself a muscle recovery drink, which I had brought with me for each day of the hike. You are supposed to drink it within 30 minutes of when you stop hiking, then wait about an hour before having dinner. It helps in muscle recovery and the next day your muscles are better. There is solid scientific research that went into this. It did help, I experienced little aches and stiffness in my leg muscles.

I struck up a conversation with the other hikers and told them about my three friends. They told me they had run across them this morning when coming down from Dick's Pass. I was confused because they would not have been going that way to get to Richardson Lake. I asked if they meant they saw them yesterday, they said no, this morning, and this couple had told my friends they were going the wrong way for Richardson Lake. So, instead of making a left when leaving Dick's Lake, my friends made a right. I told Manny, go that junction marker and make a left. Simple, right? Manny confirmed later that they had indeed gone the wrong way.

August 4

I woke up at 6:30, struck camp, said goodbye to the couple and headed off to Barker Creek, which was flowing strongly. I filtered water from the creek, it was very cold and great tasting, and had breakfast. The couple I camped next to passed by while I was having breakfast and I never saw them again.

I made my way toward Barker Pass trailhead, heading for the Pacific Crest Trail-Tahoe Rim Trail junction, where the trails would split. At Barker Pass trailhead I found terrific views. From there to Barker Summit was about 3.4 miles of easy hiking, with terrific views. The Summit would have been a great place for cowboy camping.

I continued a little past the summit, where I met a group of four ladies, all over 60 years of age, who had hiked up to the summit from the other direction and had a good chat with them for about five minutes, then continued.

I was enjoying the views and the quietness of the trail so much that I walked past the PCT-TRT junction -- though I clearly remember seeing it -- and continued on the PCT for about a quarter of a mile. Then my sense of direction started telling me I was on the wrong trail, as it was veering to the west, away from Lake Tahoe. I checked my position on the map and verified that. I doubled back to the junction and got back on the TRT.

From there it was downhill almost all the way to Tahoe City. I stopped to filter water at Ward Creek. After that there was a road walk of about two miles, followed by a short climb to a beautiful meadow, then a final descent into Tahoe City.

I reached the Truckee River in Tahoe city at 6:20. I turned off airplane mode on my phone and checked for messages. I got both text and voice mail message from Manny informing me that they had hitched out from Richardson Lake that morning and were in Kings Beach. I sent them my GPS location, a Chevron gas station next to the trail, and asked them to come for me.

How they hitched out is a story unto itself. They arrived at Richardson Lake the previous day at about 7 PM. Immediately upon arrival, Jacob insisted that he would walk on the dirt road to "find civilization" and no amount of dissuasion stopped him. He recklessly, mindlessly and thoughtlessly, like a gorilla, decided to walk out though he had no idea where he was, how far civilization was or even which direction he should go. Gilbert and Manny told him that they needed to stick to the plan as agreed upon but he did not listen.

He grabbed one bottle of water, a knife and the car key and started walking, thinking he is Rambo or Bear Grylls. About 45 minutes later he returned, tail between legs, scared like a little girl because he had seen a rattle snake on the road. Had he gotten lost or injured, there was a very real possibility that he would have died, yet this never occurred to him. For the second time he recklessly put his life in danger.

They picked me up around 7 PM and we drove to the Tahoe Biltmore Hotel, in Crystal Bay, Nevada, just across the border from Kings Beach, California, where the room was only $123 per night. Why so cheap? Because it didn't have air conditioning. All other hotels were charging $325 or more per night and requiring a two-day minimum stay.

I thought it would be alright without AC, because outside it was cool and pleasant and I would just open a window, and we got a fan for the room. But the room I shared with Manny was on the third floor and was very stuffy. I put the fan next to the window and had it on high and it did not help at all.

I am a warm sleeper. I cannot sleep in a warm room. I could not sleep in this room. It was suffocating for me. I got a blanket and slept in the car in the parking lot. It was nice and cool there.

We checked out around 8:30 the next morning. Manny and I were standing next to the car, waiting for Gilbert and Jacob. We saw Jacob come to the car, get something from it, and return to the room. He did not acknowledge us, he did not look at us, he did not say good morning. No common courtesy. Manny told me on the previous day he gave him a snack bar, which he ate and then returned the wrapper back to Manny. No common sense or courtesy.

We drove to the Safeway in Kings Beach for breakfast. After that, feeling a little tired and frustrated by the experience, I told them to drive me to my car at Echo Lake. I did not want to continue the hike. We arrived at Echo Lake, I returned the Walmart Trekking poles to Gilbert and we said our goodbyes. They made for Chicago, I made for Tahoe City, where I would drive around to the other side of Lake Tahoe to catch US 50 East, the loneliest road in America. I had planned to return this way from the beginning.

I drove over the mountains to Carson City. When I reached the summit I started on the downhill portion all the way to Carson City, on 6% and 7% grade roads. I put the Forester in neutral (I drive a stick shift) and coasted all the way to Carson City.

My moment of frustration and decision to cancel the hike was fleeting, however, and when I arrived in Carson City, I resolved to continue the hike. I was only one day behind and I would not let the boneheaded actions of one person ruin my planned hike. I stopped into a sporting goods store and bought trekking poles, as I needed them to pitch my Duplex. These poles were only $35 and boy I could tell the difference. They are nothing like the Rota Locura poles I left at Medicine Bow campground.

I spent some time sightseeing in Carson City, then I drove north to Reno to catch route 431, which would bring me up to the Mt. Rose campground in Tahoe Meadows, elevation 8890 feet. It was around 11:30 PM as I drove up. At around 7500 feet elevation I encountered smoke and it had blanketed the entire mountain top.

I arrived at the campground and the smoke was everywhere. I found a spot and paid the campground host. I had my headlamp on as I pitched my tent and I could see ash floating in the air, and the smoke was visible and made breathing uncomfortable. I setup my sleeping pad and quilt and tried to go to sleep but I couldn't. Breathing was uncomfortable, my eyes were burning from the smoke, and I was beginning to be nauseated by it.

I spoke to the campground host, who was quite drunk, and he told me the smoke was coming from the Tamarack fire, which was southeast of Lake Tahoe. But this was not possible, as the wind was blowing from the opposite direction. I went back to my tent and tried to sleep but I just couldn't. I struck my tent and decided to drive down to Kings Beach, to sleep in my car in the Safeway parking lot. I tried to get my $25 back from the campground host but he would not answer the door of his RV when I knocked, so I left it.

I drove down to the Safeway supermarket in Kings Beach. There was no smoke there. I slept in my car. I woke up at 6:30, the plan being to go Tahoe City, park the car at the trailhead where I had finished, and continue the hike. But the smoke was now everywhere in Lake Tahoe, there was no escaping it. I struck up a conversation with a fireman who was getting food in the Safeway and asked him where this smoke was coming from. He said it is from a new fire west of Lake Tahoe, the Dixie fire and even the fire in Oregon.

The air quality was poor. It was uncomfortable and unpleasant to breath all that smoke. I gave it careful consideration and decided to cancel the hike. I was smoked out. The remainder of the hike contained major climbs and I did not want to do them breathing smoke and with burning eyes.

I said goodbye to Safeway, which had been a good base site for us in our week here, and head for the east side of Lake Tahoe on the Nevada side, to catch route 431 to Reno.

I drove on 431 east to the summit and began my descent into Reno. The entire city was under smoke as I observed from the summit and coming down the mountain. Once in Reno I got on I580 south to go to Carson City to catch US50, and as I approached Carson City I saw it was also under smoke. In fact, as I would learn as I drove east that day, the entire state of Nevada was under smoke.

Nearly all of US50 East is on BLM land, which means one can camp anywhere for free. The road traverses desert, mountains and national forests. It is very scenic. There are many side destinations along the route. I plan on doing this again, taking four or five days to explore this route. It is truly lonely, as its moniker claims.

I drove until about 8 PM and camped at Sacramento Pass. There were two other campers there.

August 5

I woke up around 7 AM, had breakfast and hit the road. The smoke was everywhere and did not let up until I got on I15 in Utah to head north to catch I80.

I drove to the campground in Medicine Bow National Forest where we stayed at the week before, in hopes of finding my trekking poles still leaning against the tree. Alas, they were not there.

I drove to Sidney, Nebraska and rented a hotel room. The next day I was back in Chicago.