Day 38

We hit Kennedy meadows today FINALLY! So so excited to be leaving the desert, and even more excited to be back in the Sierras after 6 years away!

I can’t believe my body took me 640 miles, through beautiful, desolate, hot, dry, mountainous, and unforgiving terrain. It feels surreal to be 25% done; to feel that this is really possible.

We walked into Kennedy Meadows to cheers and hooplas (as is tradition), cracked a cold one and reflected with many faces we’ve seen before on where we’ve been. Though some parts have been really difficult, overall we are all so grateful for the ways our bodies have supported us, and proud to be continuing on to the next challenge.

Over dinner at Grumpy Bears Resort, we got our packages (1 resupply box, 2 new pairs of shoes to try out), and I chose to trial a trail name: Mr. Clean. Today I took a quick dunk in the river and showed up to dinner looking like I’d showered. I’m typically the dirtiest of the bunch, my face in particular, making the name stick amongst the group for its irony.

I’ll see if it catches on. I can appreciate a good gender-bender name when I hear one.