Small detour: Mile 1155

Well ever since we left South Lake Tahoe we've had some incredible hiking. We've been getting great weather and the trail has been meandering over small hills and exposed ridges.

Last night we camped up on the hillside and caught this amazing sunset:

Apparently there's a forest fire 40 miles west of where we are so it's making the sunsets very colorful.

We were hustling to get down to Donnor Pass Ski Ranch this morning and bumped into trail angle, Reno Dave! He said, "you guys look like thru-hikers. Want a cold beverage?" Reno Dave proceed to take off his backpack and pull out a bear can full of ice and PBR!!!! He gave each of us an ice cold beer and we chatted for several minutes. Apparently he tries to do this day hike as often as he can during the summer and just spreads joy to the PCT hikers. Thanks Reno Dave for spreading trail magic!

We also hit our 500th PCT mile this morning!!! This was a pretty monumental occasion because we're exactly 1/3 of the way to the Oregon/Washington border. I was so excited I almost jumped out of the frame :-P

Once we got down to the Donnor Pass restaurant we sat down and we were immediately handed a free bud light! The folks at the resort are super hiker friendly since the trail crosses the road only 0.2 miles east of the resort. We ate burgers, fries, onion rings, and ice cream. We were in happy hiker bliss but our luck and good times took a turn. As I was eating my ice cream, my bottom permanent retainer on my teeth decided to leave it's resting position of 12 years. The retainer bent down toward the bottom of my mouth and is now stuck in a painful position. At first it didn't hurt too bad, but slowly the pain took over my entire bottom jaw. It feels like I just got my braces tightened but 10 times worse because it's yanking my teeth into an anatomically incorrect orientation.

Our first solution to this problem was to hitch a ride into Truckee and find some tools at the ACE hardware store. I thought I might be able to either push the wire back into place or just remove it completely. Sure enough, ACE had a full set of dental picks! 

We hitched a ride back to the Donnor Ski Resort so I could attempt some quick self-surgery. By now, the Donnor restaurant was packed with 10 other PCTers and everyone was drinking beers and having a great time. Unfortunately, I wasn't in a super friendly mood so I rushed to the bathroom to start scrapping away the adhesive attaching the retainer to my teeth. No matter how hard I tried, I could only cause myself more pain instead of alleviating the tension from the wire. After about 30 minutes, I decided to leave my fate in the hands of a professional. We made the decision to stay the night in Truckee so I can go see a dentist first thing in the morning.

Although we didn't really plan on coming into Truckee at all, we still had such a great day. We get to split a hotel room with another couple, Vibes and Sunshine. We got to eat at a sushi buffet! All in all, we've had a great day. I really hope I can get this retainer fixed quickly and cheaply tomorrow morning so we can get back on the trail and head to Sierra City.