Day 55: Zero Day 2 Kennedy Meadows

Today I had foot pain this morning when I woke up which was concerning me. It hurts to bend my toes. A big group of hikers left this morning, so it was more quite. By noon 50 new folks including Blue Crew got here.

I haven't seen them for a few days and was happy that they made it in.

It was super hot so I walked to the river with Speck and Spacejam. Jumped in and briefly froze my ass. It was nice to wash off in some ice water though. We got a hitch in a horse trailer back to KM which is a first for me...riding with a horse on a trailer

Walking to the river for a swim  

Back at camp, I did chores and charged all my electronics. Sorted out my 'food' for the next section. I use air quotes because we eat utter bullshit out on the trail.

Sparrows make cool little nests under the bridge  

Lots of marijuana is being smoked by hikers and locals alike. It's sort of funny how little people care about that sort of thing. I guess it shouldn't matter anymore considering we are hiking through 3 legal states. The small grill on the side of the general store makes amazing burgers. You have to order them an hour in advance. I ate a Justin burger again. After deliberation, I mailed my boots forward to Bishop. If I want them by the time I get there I will just use them, otherwise I'll send them home to my dad. Our crew had a second team meeting. There was some tension among group about size. Some folks splintered off. The core people I want to hike with are in tact. Our plan is to go 8-9days on this next stretch, which lowers our daily mileage. The whole stretch is 112 miles including the detour to Mt. Whitney and the hike out to get into Bishop. Tomorrow we will attempt 17 miles to acclimate.

The Blue Crew. Love these guys.  

I have no idea how big my pack will be. I fitted and adjusted my crampons. Helped Hitch with her IT band issues. Mailed a couple post cards. Texted and spoke with jessica today to confirm my plans. Ate pizza dinner and watched the NBA finals. Going to bed early. Leaving with Earwig, Righteous, and Big Daddy (heroin eyes) tomorrow.

Filthy people on their way to Tom's for the evening movie: Old School

Day 54: Zero Day 1 Kennedy Meadows

Went to grumpy and the bears for oversized pancakes in a pickup truck with 20 other hikers stuffed in the back. After that checked out Yogi's outfitter. She sells gear out of her living room. She's hiked over 20,000 miles. She told me to ditch my water proof hiking boots that I just had shipped. I milled over buying those damn things for two weeks and now I have to say I just don't like how they feel. I'm sticking with trail runners for this first stretch.

Extremely safe pickup truck ride  

Healthy food  

I had a lot of anxiety this morning about the next section. Sometimes I get too much in my own head. Hearing about fatalities from other recent hikers in the eastern Sierra makes me a little nervous. The snow melt is massive and rapid, and is creating extremely dangerous river flows in some of the main areas we have to eventually cross. A woman died trying to climb Mt. Whitney a couple weeks ago.

We gathered all of our hiking cohorts together this morning on the porch to discuss a safety and hiking plan. We're teaming up. Mowgly facilitated ground rules and we came to agreements on what we will do. The main objective: no one hikes alone and no one is left behind. It made me feel a million times better. We decided to stick with a 6/10 departure date, which gives me an extra day of rest and beer drinking.

Mowgly has been a great friend on the trail and the only woman of color out of everyone I have seen or met on the PCT. 

I spent the rest of the day doing chores: laundry, shower, sorting through my new gear. Mowgly had a family member pick her up and take her to Lone Pine so she called jessica for me to let her know what our plan is and when we will be getting to Independence. Getting a hold of her or any of my family has been impossible. I had a couple unsuccessful attempts getting through to my folks on the pay phone. I wasted $5 on quarters trying to do it.

Kennedy Meadows is loaded with hikers. New ones coming in every day. Hundreds of packages being delivered. Lots of beer and cigarettes being consumed. All while folks rest before entering the next section. It's sort of like purgatory here. It's weird, and also unique. I've met a lot of people, most of them super nice and a little crazy. One more day of rest and it'll be my turn to hit the road.

Left to right: Righteous (Jesse), Beastie Boy (me), Happy Hour (Drew), Prometheus (Cameron).  

Day 53: 683-702

The plan was to get up and slow hike for 15 miles and stay outside of an anticipated crowd at Kennedy Meadows. Most of the morning was a downhill descent from 8,000 to 6,000. When I got to my first rest stop I realized that all the downhill creates a new problem: my left foot, specifically my left toe and its tendon. It's incredibly sore and hurts to take a proper step. When I finally made it to the South Fork of the Kern River I jumped in and took a swim, and iced my foot and knee. The swim was refreshing, and it gave me a chance to get some of the gunk and filth off of my clothes.

Unfortunately, there was no where cool to camp along the river. So I kept going, scrapping my original plans and going all the way to KM. As I walked about a mile up the river, after taking a 2 hour swim and rest break, I saw some dope sites. But I killed too much time in the day and felt like I needed to just press on. So I did.

it wasn't 700 miles for me but it was still a struggle  

The landscape is decidedly alpine. Massive granite peaks are all around us, and the desert environment is slowly slipping away into the newness of the Sierra. Green conifers and pine are everywhere. Dumping into the valley that gives way to KM is a massive meadow of sage brush. It smells delicious. The sky is clear and blue, and the sun is baking. It was 95 degrees when I walked into the general store parking lot.

A PCT blaze inidicating the trail. KM is just a mile away! 

When I arrived I got a sudden rush of emotions. I can't believe I actually made it this far. I mean, I've only logged 300 miles so far, but I honestly didn't expect to make it to the Sierra Nevada. And now I'm here. And now I'm like "oh fuck, I'm entering dangerous territory with few life lines if something goes wrong." I wanted to cry from happiness and from concern about what's ahead.

When I walked up I could immediately see dozens of hikers crowding the general store deck, drinking and eating, and general in a relaxed party atmosphere. Everyone clapped and cheered my arrival. They do this for every hiker that comes in.

All I want to do is call home but I can't. Absolutely no cell service and the wifi connectivity is hopeless.

Mowgly ran up to me with a beer and instructed me to put my pack down and relax. I followed suit. After seeing everyone and settling in a bit I checked to see if my packages that my brother mailed me arrived. All but one got here. 8 days of food in a heavy bear can, plus ice axe and crampons, plus new heavy waterproof hiking boots that to quite fit properly. I'm nervous about the weight of my pack. 20 miles north of here we will be at 11,000+ elevation. 40 miles from here we will be at Forester Pass, 13,500 ft. Yeah, I'm scared. Are these worries normal? Am I in over my head? I don't know. But I'm going to see how the next 100 miles go. My main concern is still the pain in my left foot.

Righteous force feeding us a group prayer to the hiking Gods  

After the sun went down everyone walked a half mile down the road to a trail angel's house - Tom. He opens up his yard to hikers and hosts an outdoor movie theater. We watched School of Rock, which is super corny. Tomorrow I need to grab some gear from the outfitter and figure out my food plan. The group is lobbying to leave June 9th instead of the 10th as originally planned. I guess I have to go with the flow.

bonfire at tom's place