Day 69

I woke today warm and cozy in my tent. I boiled water last night to put in a Nalgene and in my sleeping bag to keep me warm. Everything I had was soaked outside the tent. It was cold out too so putting any of that back on would be miserable. We packed up and left camp but around 7. The trail was mostly downhill with mild climbs. I stopped for a water break about 5 miles in only to find out it was the last water for 10 miles and we had a large climb ahead.

I pushed up the climb and put on some music. I’ve been on a Beach Boys kick and for some reason Kokomo really pushed me up the climb. I listened to it twice back to back. The climb was beautiful. I could see peaks in every direction. Soon I saw a lake with turquoise water. I met someone new on the climb named Right on Time. He and I hiked and chatted for an hour or so. I enjoyed his company and hope we hike together again. In the distance I kept seeing the dark clouds get darker and closer so I sped up. The trail was exposed and on a ridge for about 5 or so miles. Finally we came over the pass and could see the road below. I pushed and made it there by 2pm. I put out my thumb and in under 2 minutes we had a ride down to Kennedy Meadows North. This place was very nice but it had no cell service or working WiFi so I was not able to contact family.

I did laundry, showered, ate, got my box, did some resupply, ate again, and am now in bed. I’m sharing a room with Arugula, Hot Spring, Works Hard, and Obi-wan.