To Be a Local

Tahoe locals seem to be able to identify each other with a single glance. This has been one of my favorite experiences about living in Lake Tahoe for the short time I have so far.

I stop at 7-11 to acquire caffeine for a moonlight hike at 1am. Another pollen painted car pulls up in the same moment as me and sees me wearing shorts, tights, and a sun hoody in the middle of the night. The only words spoken between us are complementing each-other on the amount of pollen covering our cars, somewhat of a secret handshake between locals.

That moment lives in my head every single day since, because only in a mountain town in the middle of the night could that interaction take place. We part ways and I never even got his name, but I’ll remember him forever.

I arrive at the trailhead 5 minutes before my friends and realize Ive forgotten to pack my Solomon Ultra Glides in the car, big yikes. I've spent the entire afternoon going over my checklist and barely slept out of excitement but managed to forget the most important piece of gear. The answer was simple, to hike in sandals or go home. Luckily my friends instilled all the confidence in the world for me to go for it anyway.

All of the sudden, a brand new challenge was introduced and I impressed not only myself but everyone we passed on the way up thinking to themselves, “is that guy running in fucking sandals?” My self-presented challenge became even more exciting when a hiking partner asked if we wanted to try turning our headlamps off to let our eyes adjust to the moonlight. Holy pile of rocks, what a surreal experience that was.

We reached the peak and discovered another party had gotten there about an hour before us, and none of them were wearing any bit of “hiking attire.” It appeared they had just come from some banquet dinner and made last minute drunk plans to climb a mountain. I’ve found my people.

Throughout the hike, I felt frustrated with myself that I did not have proper footwear to hike, only to make new friends on the summit who seemingly went out of their way to be less prepared.

I now felt intense gratitude for the challenge I presented myself with on accident, and I promised myself I would plan some type of adventure every time the full moon comes around again. For some reason I was happy it worked out the way it did, and I discovered new things about myself during this adventure.

I am falling in love with this place one day at a time, and I will continue to become the Tahoe Local I’ve fantasized about my entire life.