Miles 702.2 to 716.5

We woke up around 8... and the calling of a hot breakfast was too hard to pass up ... so Hound and I got a ride back to Grumpy’s for some eggs and sausage.... and then a ride back to trail... it was after 11:30, when we started hiking... after a few miles a we came to Kennedy Meadows Campground and the fanciest of trail registers we have seen yet... Hound was feeling the effects of having eaten too much and the two bloody Mary’s he regretted downing and wanted to take a long break... he is faster on climbs than me... and we had a big one ahead... so I left with a flippant comment about him passing me soon, but if not, intended camp for the night was 716.5.

I set off to tackle the climb... the hiking was beautiful... the scenery was constantly changing from desert to rocky vistas... and then it totally changed... trees!!! Oh, how I have missed trees... shade... ever growing rock formations... and my first bear sighting - about a quarter of a mile ahead of me... a cub darted across the trail toward the river... debating on following it to get close enough for a picture and knowing momma bear had to be near by... i skipped the photo op and picked up my pace to put some distance between myself and them....A view of Whitney every so often growing closer.... I was either so distracted by the beauty around me and amazed by the subtle changes... or a hearty breakfast had fueled me better than my usual trail breakfast of a kind bar... but before I knew it, I was over the climb and headed downhill to camp... and it was way early.... about 4:30... Hound hadn’t caught me I thought giddily... I was going to rub it in at camp tonight for sure.

I set up camp on the banks of the Kern River.... and enjoyed the peacefulness of getting to camp with hours of daylight.... 5:00 came... no hound... 6:00... no hound... at 6:30, I made dinner and decided he had probably stopped early... still regretting those bloody Mary’s and would catch me in the morning...

As the sun set... I got in my tent with my fly rolled back and just listened to the river... I reflected on good today felt... the past few climbs from Tehachapi had been hard for me and had me doubting the strength I was feeling prior... today had been easy... I was feeling more confident about the giants that laid ahead of me... and that is when I heard the birds... a flock of swallows had come out as if they were waiting for the sun to set... and for an hour they put on the most amazing show for me - swooping this way and that... chirping away.... I watched as if it were a movie playing in front of me... (tried to get some video... but it doesn’t do it justice)....

I fell asleep under a vast blanket of stars... just me, the river, the swallows sleeping nearby in their nests... I woke up startled by a rustle around my food bag (kept right outside my tent)... assuming it was a mouse or kangaroo rat... I shined my headlamp in the area and shooed whatever it was away... usually they just scurry at the sound... nothing moved... I sat up for a better look - still on a small alert from the cub I had seen earlier... and noticed it was a frog... nestled up between my food bag and tent... I poked at him and he kind of eyed me sleepily refusing to hop away.... I picked him up and set him a foot away towards the river... he came right back to his spot... as if to say this was his home for the night... still half asleep... I decided sleeping with the frogs was better than sleeping with the fishes...;)