Bullfrog Lake Trail.. to Kearsage Pass Trail to Onion Valley Trailhead… miles 8ish? I woke up early today… of course.. when all I have to do is 8 miles… I was out of camp by 7. Well the fact that I woke up early, to winter inside my tent complete with frost and wet everything…. May have contributed to my early exit… As much as I dislike the idea of side trails and extra mountain passes to get resupply… I have to say Kearsage Pass was one of the most beautiful sections thus far and I am glad I did it. The climb was steep - but again seemed easier than my first high altitude days… the switchbacks going down were skipworthy ;) with no snow and mostly smooth dirt… oh how I love regularly used day hiking trails. Still unsure of exactly how I was getting home… I was thrilled to receive a cell signal halfway down… I was able to book a rental car from Bishop to pick up later in the afternoon… hopefully getting a ride wouldn’t be too hard. On my way down, I passed a bunch of hiker friends headed back up… Jedi..Summer… Deep Dive… stopping and talking to each one was really nice. They are all still so supportive of my old legs and really uplift my self doubt. At the very bottom though was Scout and WingIt… they were headed back up too… but I got to spend a few minutes with one of my original tramily members and that is always priceless. A campervan was pulling around the parking lot and Scout said I should jump Out for the ride… so I did… and a very nice lady from the Joshua Tree area agreed to bring me to Independence…. She dropped me off at a gas station… and I hopped out of the car a little too quickly… realizing after she pulled away that I left my trekking poles in the van… oh well… I went into the gas station to get a soda and asked the clerk where would be the best place to stand on road and hitch to Bishop…. He said right out front… so, I did… for the first time on the trail… I stood on the side of a major hwy.. thumb out and left it to chance… Within 20 minutes an older man in a pickup hauling a horse trailer pulled over and offered me a ride… I felt bad because he immediately rolled down the truck windows as I got in… it had to be close to 100 degrees outside…so that decision meant the smell coming off Amy was real… we talked the entire 42 miles to Bishop… turns out he was the former superintendent of Inyo County Schools… and I really enjoyed learning about his life as I apologized for the stench over and over again… He dropped me off right at Enterprise… it’s weird on trail you don’t think about the dirt and smell and how you look… but entering a business in a town and back in the real world you immediately begin to feel self conscious … I did my best to keep my distance as the clerk went over the car details and took my payment… before heading out I grabbed some grub… and then drove in 4.5 hours basically the route that had taken me a month to walk! Arriving home… I realized I did not have any keys to my house… and apparently unlike me Charlie likes to lock the doors when heading out of town… luckily our friend Toni had been checking our mail and had a key… once inside and showered, I realized Charlie also doesn’t believe in grocery shopping when I am away… so I texted Toni and we went out for cocktails and yummy food. Looking forward to having a few days at home and spending time with Charlie when he returns… because of reaction to first vaccine shot… I will probably spend the next week at home just to make sure it doesn’t happen again, will let you all know when I head back out.
Miles 775.8 to 788.5 Plus a few miles on the side trail exit I got started around 7:30 am this morning… having given up on ever getting up in the wee hours like the other hikers… I was proud of leaving before 8:30! I knew today was a big climb… I would be passing over the highest point on the PCT - Forester Pass… I was a little in my head about it being difficult and struggling again with the climbing at the altitude… however, my body must of finally acclimated because, while I was huffing at the top… the climb seemed easier than everything the past week… and the snow approaching the ascent was minimal… I have been carrying around this ice axe and spikes for a week now and still haven’t taken them out of my bag (although I probably should of used spikes for the last 10 steps over a snow cornice at the top). Even the infamous “ice chute” was mostly melted and snow free… mental note to text my friend Wes, who is doing the JMT in August that he will have some big water carries. Looking at the photos above - you can see me pointing from where I was to where the pass was with my trekking pole… it seemed so high and far away when I started out… but it really seemed to take no time before I was standing at the top and looking down at miles of snowfields on the descent. The snow was slow going… follow footsteps… then find the actual PCT… step… step… sink to my hip… step step sink to my hip… going down, usually my 4 mile an hour part of the day… took longer than climbing back up… below 11,000 the snow fields started to get smaller but then it was walking in a trail covered with streams of snowmelt and if it happened to be dry… rocks, rocks, rocks… I thought of Hound everytime I stumbled trying to walk and look at the views… he would always say “damn ants always trying to trip us up”. I finally reached the bottom of the canyon and looked up at the next climb up Glenn Pass… the trail to Kearsage was about halfway up the pass… i was mentally tired from the long descent… but it was early… talk about a climb… it made the Forester switchbacks seem like a flat plateau… mental note.. tell Wes I hope he is going southbound :). I reached the Bullfrog Lake Trail junction leading to Kearsage early afternoon … legs spent and lungs going overtime… my decision was made … I texted Jeff… I was going home for a few days… I also realized I was not getting over another pass today and making it to the road before dark… and I was not going to look for a ride in the dark… the area around the lake was closed to camping … but there was a tentsite above the lake and the views were spectacular… I decided to stop and have a great last night camping… I fell asleep before 6pm… to the sound of a chorus of croaking bullfrogs (one even had quite the solo) and F16s flying overhead… (this entire section has been filled with F16s … you can hear them… but by the time you spot them they are long gone… some of the flyovers have been really cool, some just interrupt the peacefulness of the trail.)
A mile or so back to PCT Miles 767.0 to 775.8 I had set my alarm for 4:30am, with the plan to get over Forester in the morning… while Whitney had been snow free - the north side of Forester had been reported as “posthole hell” in the afternoon… I woke up from a deep sleep groggy at 10am… whoops… my body obviously needed to reset because I can’t remember the last time I slept that late. I decided right away to make it an easy day and save Forester for the next day… I looked again and again at the map trying to figure out how to work things out with Jeff… not having a cell signal made it hard…looking at the miles and guessing on days made it hard… my insecurities of being slow in this section began to drown out the joy of having someone join me… the idea of two side trails and two extra mountain passes annoyed me… I marveled at all the negative thoughts my inner voice was laying on me… and it hit me… I needed a reset… the plan became clear.. I would have to cancel on Jeff… I would make it to Kearsage and head down and head home. Immediately, pressure off on making it to Bishop Pass… and if not having to push big miles… I felt relieved. I also felt relieved at the idea of not having my second vaccine shot hanging over my head… I started thinking of surprising Charlie when he returned from Connor’s graduation from Emory… and the answer seemed clear… my spirits were immediately lifted, but I still let the decision and logistics muddle around in my head for the entire day. Leaving at 11 and not being able to just hike into the night because of the terrain that was ahead of me… I set off knowing it would be a low mileage day. It was another gorgeous day of hiking and another day of what seemed like endless ascending and little descending…. I was able to really soak in the views and take breaks… which was nice because some of the creek crossings and rock hopping left my shoes soaking wet… I reached the last noted campsite on the approach to Forester fairly early and set up camp in one of the most beautiful campsites yet - questioning how I could be so lucky to have this entire place to myself. I pondered again on options and decided before falling asleep that if I made it to Kearsage the next day I would go home… if I struggled and didn’t make it there… I would wait it out and hike a few days with Jeff and then go home… a win win for me.
No PCT Miles… 16ish side trail miles… Most of the time… in a normal year…especially in midMay.. a sunrise summit of Whitney is the go to - mainly because the snow is easier to walk on before it starts to melt. This wasn’t a normal year… the reports from the summiters at camp that had gone the day before were as follows: Jedi/Summer/Deep Dive, ET al… had left camp at 12:30am… they were miserable… it was cold… their water filters froze along the way… don’t do it! And there is no snow! Scout/WingIt had left camp a little after 5am… it was amazing… beautiful… Puppy and his crew were at camp and summiting the same day as me… but I knew they were faster and to be honest I was starting to get a little self conscious again about how freaking slow and hard these high altitude climbs were for me… I had set my alarm to leave with them around 5… but the snooze button prevailed as an answer to hide my insecurities. (Sidenote: Mt Whitney is technically not on the PCT, we are allowed to hike to the summit as a side trip with camping restrictions - we can’t camp any closer than Crabtree and we can only spend two nights at Crabtree total… this has us entering from the west and merging with the Whitney Portal day hikers with only About two miles left to the summit… we do not have to climb the Infamous “99 switchbacks” up… our trip is only about 7.6 miles and we started at around 10,500 in elevation from camp… ) I set out around 7 instead…. the hike was beautiful and the ability to leave most of my stuff at camp greatly reducing the weight of my pack down to about 4 lbs tot (since I had to come back this way after summiting to get back to PCT) definitely made the climbing somewhat easier… alpine lake after alpine lake were passed … marmot after marmot scurried around me in the early morning… the sun cast an amazing glow over the high peaks around me… it seriously could not have been more perfect. Still struggling slightly with the climbing… I was feeling 100% better than the two days before… I guess there is something to acclimating… I took 5 minute breaks every 500 ft in gain starting at 12,500… which I think helped too. My mind was still circling around wanting to share this with someone… and as if the trail knew what I needed… a simple, song shuffled onto my playlist just as I started the biggest part of the climb…. not even one of my favorite songs… but one that let me know someone was with me. The song was “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten… in all the hours I have hiked the PCT with this one playlist… I don’t recall hearing it once… but here in this moment of self doubt… of feeling all alone in an amazing experience… it was poignant… it let me know I was not alone at all… and that a dear friend lost a few years ago was still cheering me on courtside per say… her memory drove me up that hill… her memory also dug up thoughts of others that had moved on from this world… I thought of my grandfather and what he must be thinking watching me in this moment from above… And then for the rest of the climb… I thought long and hard about my late brother… lost in a combination of daydream memories… conversations with spirits from my past… i reached the summit without even realizing it… and a mixture of tears of joy, tears of amazement, and tears of comfort were falling down my face. I spent hours at the summit… soaking it in.. the views were amazing… but the feeling inside of me from the emotional hike and accomplishment were more than anything I could feast my eyes on. I had a signal for the first time in days and called Charlie and my cousin, Ashley, and of course Hound (still recovering from his back)… I sent some texts…but mostly just sat at the highest point of the continental US thinking about the people, living and not, that had influenced my life. I struggle with accepting the love of others greatly or feeling worthy of support… and somewhere on the top of that mountain, I was able to recognize how so many different people do indeed care for me and the ways that they show it. I started to walk down writing mental notes to myself hoping to remember what I had learned today, when I returned to the real world. Right as I passed the shelter at the top… my phone dinged one last time… my old mixed captain and a friend from Marin…Jeff, the Sierra expert, that he wanted to come hike with me in this section. Still unsure of my plan… I wobbled on committing… but then feeling like it was an answer to the loneliness that had been plaguing me… I hastily agreed. The best view of the day was of The aptly named Guitar Lake on the way down… When I got to camp… everyone else had packed up to get a few more miles in before attempting Forester Pass the next day. I was tired and drained from the day… and decided I could draw out Forester into two days… since Jeff was meeting me at Kearsage on Friday… pressure off - I began looking at the map to figure out the logistics of Jeff himing with me as I fell asleep.
Miles 759.2 to 767.0 Plus.. 1.1 side trail to Crabtree Ranger Station The say started immediately with a creek crossing, followed by a steep incline (at least by PCT) standards…I had slept in since I only had about 8 miles I could go today and I took my time… catching my breath every couple of yards…trying to wake my legs up… again, they were protesting the climb and the altitude… I grew frustrated with them at every step… how was I going to make it up Whitney and the other passes, when I had to stop what seems like every 40 yards… I was mad at myself for feeling weak… I struggled up the hill… and again immediately felt accomplished (albeit slow and old) and motivated… slow and steady I told myself… it’s not a race… I repeated the words of a friend trying to qualm the natural competitor inside of me… The day continued with some heavy climbing… and little descent… about 4 miles in… I saw my first hiker on this stretch… he was huffing and puffing up the hill behind me… maybe not as slow as me, but for some reason it made me feel better, probably because he looked to be in his early 20s, by the way he walked i could tell this wasn’t his first rodeo…happy to rest under the guise of moving out of his way… I introduced myself as he got in earshot… his name: Puppy the Dragon Slayer… yes he had hiked the AT and he was from just north of Birmingham, Alabama… and he came out with the truth right away… “this is hard”… relieved that it wasn’t just me… I followed him up the hill… each of us taking breaks to catch our breath as we needed it… when the trail began to level out… his speed gave him a big lead… but I was joyous in the fact that it was hard even for a youngin’. I reached Crabtree Meadows… and there was Scout and Wingit, just finishing their Whitney Summit and soaking their feet. They stayed for dinner at camp before getting in a couple of extra miles to set themselves up better for the next day. We talked plans… they were getting off at Kearsage in two days… I was still unsure… I considered skipping Whitney so I could just stick with them… it was so nice to laugh and joke with the two of them… my ego protested loudly… “skip Whitney? What is wrong with you? no way!” it resounded, burying the thought. They left shortly after eating.. and as the sun was headed down… I finally placed the feeling that had been following me since leaving Lone Pine… I was lonely and to be honest with myself… for the first time in my life I was a little homesick. It wasn’t homesick in that I wanted to be home… it was homesick and that I wanted someone to share this part of the experience with… anyone would do I pondered, but in reality I wanted to share this with someone named Charlie… it had been almost a month since I had seen him… different ideas started formulating in my head about my “Sierra” plan.
Extra Miles: 9 (gate at horseshoe meadows back to PCT) Miles: 750.2 to 759.2 This morning started out with a little kerfuffle… the amazing staff at Elevation gear shop in Lone Pine had got me in touch with a shuttle driver, who was already bringing up an older couple staying at my hotel at 8am… all had been confirmed and set via text. So imagine my surprise when at 6:50am… I walk out to get some coffee from the Alabama Hills Cafe and see said older couple getting into the shuttle… confused I approached the driver. Apparently he had forgotten to text me about a time change… I wasn’t packed or organized to leave… he said he could come back later, when he had another rider going up to bicycle… so my 8:45am start moved to 11:30am… not ideal… but it was what it was. I spent the extra morning hours rearranging my bag and seeing the best way to fit my bear can and ice axe… by the time 11:30 rolled around I must of packed and repacked my bag 40+ times. Horseshoe Meadows campground still closed … the closest I could get dropped off was at the gate…a 9 mile walk back to the PCT… I know, I know… 9 miles isn’t a big deal considering I am hiking everyday… but this was 9 miles I had just done two days ago… 9 miles of non PCT miles… 9 miles all uphill… for some reason it left me irritated… I realized about halfway up - I was being impatient for getting to Whitney… I was feeling the urge to be with Scout and Wingit, who were about a day ahead of me… I basically got in my own head… I reached the trail junction with the PCT…. And I could immediately feel the impacts of it being harder to breathe… I needed to acclimate again… I decided to give up on reaching Scout and summiting Whitney with him the next day… I knew my body wasn’t ready to go that high… and set up camp about 9 miles down the PCT next to Rock Creek… even though the day started off with a negative vibe and a little questioning of why am I doing this again… I was excited to pass into Sequoia National Park… and really enjoyed having lunch with a view of Chicken Spring Lake… once I got through the long climbs for the day… and reached my little descent… I realized even though I was being a little negative nellie about Climbing… it felt like an accomplishment once I got over the top… and reminder myself it was all physically preparing me for the two giants that laid ahead. Maybe I wouldn’t catch Scout to climb Whitney with him… but I would catch him to celebrate his climb the next day at Crabtree Meadows… which was only a few miles ahead for me. As I tried to fall asleep at the appointed hiker bedtime of 7pm… a feeling was nagging at me that I couldn’t quite place… I shifted my focus to my “Sierra” plan… which I have been pretty shifty on… this part of the trail requires long side trails over mountain passes to reach roads to get rides to towns… the main one was Kearsage Pass (only 7.6 miles and only 11,700 elevation at the highest point, and a popular trailhead so better chance of finding a ride), which for me would mean a quick few days on trail… I had packed enough food to get me to Bishop Pass Trail…(13-14 miles, a much steeper grade, and a much less used trail head)… Bishop Pass made sense with the calendar but wasn’t sitting too well in the motivation department… I fell asleep still trying to make a commitment on my plan…
Miles 733.0 to 750.2 (plus 3.6 down Cottonwood Pass) I woke up this morning and got going around 8am because the sun was shining and creating warmth in my tent (early for me... how am I ever going to get up and going in the wee cold hours to clear these mountain passes ahead???).... still no hound :(....and still no service... I think sleeping at 10,000 feet... helped my body acclimate a little better ... because my legs felt good from the get go this morning and the climb up to 10,900 took way less time than I had planned... after that it was pretty level trail... some descent... some ascent... but I was cruising... I had planned to get to Cottonwood Pass and down to Horseshoe Meadows (a campground a couple of miles off trail that serves as access to the town of Lone Pine) tonight and get a ride the 18 miles into town in the morning.... but as the day went on, I realized I was going to make it around 3pm... and could get to town tonight and get cell service in town.. it had been over a week since I had actually spoken to Charlie and I wanted to reach Nathan somehow... Motivated and legs feeling strong... I made it to the campground at Horseshoe Meadows and started down the road... not a single car... this was supposed to be an easier place to hitch... after walking down the road a little over a mile ... I set up shop in a turn out... practicing my friendliest thumb out maneuvers.... an hour goes by... not a single car... (in hindsight: you would think I would of noticed that none of the parking lots in this huge campground nor the equestrian camp had cars either...). I give in and try to use my garmin to satellite message a guy named Lone Pine Kurt that offers shuttles for hikers.... not sure if it went through... and knowing Charlie was in a big budget meeting... I reached out to Rebecca in Georgia to try and call him as well... (thanks Bex!) ... for $60 bucks I had a ride down the mountain that was on his way ... sitting in my little turn about on the side of the road...finally a day hiker comes trouncing down the road... she asks if I am injured... nope just waiting on a ride... I answer... and that is when she tells me the road is closed by a gate about 250 feet up around the bend that I am sitting at.. I walk with her to the gate... and there are all the cars... three people immediately offered me rides... darn it... I had already scheduled the shuttle... I sat there a little miffed at myself to be out $60 because I didn’t walk 250 feet further.... However... that $60 bucks turned out to be worth it... Kurt was a wealth of local knowledge... giving me a history lesson of how the Alabama Hills (where were driving to) got its name... you can Google it... but it was from Confederare sympathizing miners rebelling against the Union troops naming the area Kearsage... the USS Kearsage sunk the CSS Alabama... he told me stories of his wife growing up in Lone Pine during its heyday of being the set of western films... and said I had to stay at the Dow Villa Motel... just because of the history... it was a really enjoyable ride... I checked into the motel... the dirtiest I have been ... and immediately began the first of three consecutive showers.... went to grab some Mexican food... and while waiting for my entree... Hound called... he had thrown out his back early the second day of us leaving Kennedy Meadows... he had not been able to move at all... he was able to get a message to his dad... who hiked to him without his pack and carried Hound’s pack back to Kennedy Meadows as Hound limped in pain the 14 miles back... so glad he was able to get help... and to know what happened....and yet, my next dilemma arrives.. Hound was getting off trail for at least a week... he and I had planned to go through the High Sierra together... because of snow and dangerous river crossings... people usually group up to cross this section... Scout and his group weren’t coming into Lone Pine... and everyone else I know was taking a few days off... and I am so slow up climbs...I wouldn’t want to hold anyone up... it is a really low snow year (they are saying it is the equivalent of July conditions for an average year)... I know about a dozen people have already crossed Forester the highest pass and have a good sense of what I will find there... after weighing everything out... I have decided to push forward... hoping it will all work out and I will meet someone I can hike with at least up Whitney and over Forester Pass...if not, I am smart enough to turn around and I need to trust my abilities and limits. So a day off in Lone Pine today... staring at the giant of Whitney that lays ahead of me on trail (and man it looks really tall from here)... then i venture into the real majestic section of the Sierra starting tomorrow... I won’t have service until I come back down - depending on conditions and how I am doing that will be in four days or eight (still undecided on whether I will take Kearsage Pass down or if i am feeling good go all the way to Bishop Pass)... will update when I can.
Miles 716.5 to 733.0 I remember clearly the first time I saw the Grand Canyon in person... Rebecca and I were driving Charlie’s car cross-country on a Thelma and Louise roadtrip... we arrived before the sun rose... and as the light came up on the sky to reveal the vastness of what photos could of never prepared me for... I firmly felt the presence of a higher being... I was moved... That same feeling came a year later... when Reed and I having just driven cross country to move me to California... pulled up to tunnel view in Yosemite... nothing in my wildest imagination could of prepared me for that site... since living in California - I have been able to explore the fruits of the Sierra ... enjoy the backcountry of three of our amazing national parks... revel in her beauty and mystery...today was different, I am not sure if it was because I have walked here... if because it was entering it deep in the backcountry and putting the sweat and tears in to earn the views... but i was moved to tears and nearly brought to my knees at the vastness of wonder and miracle before me. If you ever need an affirmation of faith in whatever it is you believe... you can find it here... Back to the play by play... I woke up around 8... no Hound... I was starting to get a little worried... two section hikers heading southbound came to the river and before they left, I asked them if they passed him to let him know I was aiming for camp at 730.8 tonight .... I sat around until 10:30... waiting for him to show up... he never did... I decided to move forward.... While yesterday was easy for me... today... even with less grade on the climbs... my legs were protesting... they didn’t want to get going... as I passed over 10,000 feet... this became more evident... as well as the increasing difficulty it was to catch my breath... I slowed down... took more breaks... I was hoping Hound was catch up anyway... I am in no hurry... I kept telling myself... I followed the wrong set of footprints away from a creek crossing... a two mile detour and more bushwhacking to find my way back to trail... crap... now I didn’t know of Hound was ahead of or behind me... I walked up to 10,800 and down to 8900... then wash lather and repeat... I reached my intended camp spot... it was about 6:00.... looking ahead at the climb back up... I decided I should knock out a few more miles to make the next day less strenuous... I was back to being slow on the climbs... Hound would get way ahead of me... I left a note for him in the sand... and pushed another 1000 feet up... I was standing there taking in the views...feeling the presence I was talking about in the beginning of this post and JRod (one of the bubble that had caught us in the last section) came up... he stopped and stood for a moment with me in silence... then spoke about how today had stirred something in him as well... the magic of this place is tangible and we are only scratching the surface... like entering the first steps from the wardrobe to Narnia... I asked if he had passed Hound and he said no... I was officially worried now... he went on trying to catch up to Pilot and Packmule.... I got my garmin out and tried to message Hound...which was kind of useless since I didn’t have his garmin address and knew neither of us had service... but it made me feel a little better. It was a restless night... I don’t know if it was worry about Hound... sleeping at 10,000 ft... or just one of those things... but I had some strange and vivid dreams that kept waking me up.... and I can’t remember the last time I had dreams that I could recall in the morning... but when I woke up the next morning ... my dreams seemed as if they were tangible events in real life...
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...;)
Miles 693.5 to 702.2 (Kennedy Meadows) When I started this journey ... I honestly didn’t know how far my old legs would carry me... if i could mentally fight through the days I wanted to quit... the PCTA permit is for 500 miles are more... a lot of people say once you have reached 500 you have earned you permit... for me that juncture was 700 miles - through the desert - Kennedy Meadows... if I reached there I could quit and feel proud of myself... if i reached there I could conquer the rest of the trail... Kennedy Meadows was my goal... my magical line of success I had drawn for myself. I woke up this morning less than 9 miles from that goal... well first, I woke up this morning to Scout announcing everything in his tent was soaked... I felt around and yep... everything in my tent was soaked too... it had been so long since we had seen flowing water... we all excitedly set up camp by Manter Creek... quickly forgetting the dew and condensation consequences of camping so close to water. Oh well, I thought ... it’s an easy day... I will just bask in the sun, while everything dries... one by one my camp mates left - eager for a beer... a burger... a shower... whatever was driving them. I spent an hour by myself reflecting on how far I had come and what it felt like to be reaching this first milestone... then packed up and set out for a lazy hike to town. The past few sections a lot of days have turned into just getting from point a to point b without running out of water or melting in the heat... today I wanted to bask in the last remnants of desert and the very beginnings of the Sierra.... to be present... I reached the south fork of the Kern River and decided to jump in and take a quick swim... I sat on a rock for a half hour listening to the birds serenade one another.... I hiked slow and with no intention... deep in my meditation... it was a really nice morning.... As I hiked up the last .2 of a mile on Sherman Pass road toward the general store... the giant bubble of twenty year olds that had all left earlier that morning... began whooping and hollering and cheering... already emotional unsteady...the tears began to fall ... they cheered me all the way in... I had arrived ... I could finally call myself a backpacker... and i had made it in the same time as a number of people half my age and much fitter... many of them have made comments to me after learning that I have son their exact age about how they can’t imagine their mom out here and how much more that puts them in awe of me... I’ll take the old lady backhanded compliments any day. Also sitting on the deck was Apple Pie, who I hadn’t seen since he got off trail at Paradise Valley Cafe... he has such a calming presence and I really enjoyed having lunch with him. Later that afternoon, we headed in the back of a pickup to the other side of town to visit the outfitter, Triple Crown, and Grumpy Bears bar and restaurant. So many hikers were hanging out... some had been just hanging out for a few weeks... remember before I left for the trail angeling I did for two guys who had started in February? Well, I caught up (and now have passed) to Grizzly Gramp... At the outfitter, I got my class bandana.. a gift each year from former thru-hikers to current ones... I got some new shoes... my feet have grown a whole size! And I got some sound advice about the Sierra’s from Yogi - a double triple crowner!!! (A triple crowner is someone that has completed all three of the US’s long trails... PCT, AT and CDT... and she has done each twice... talk about badassery!) Hound and I set up camp at the General Store, which is much more my speed - quiet and less crowded - we made our plans to leave the next day and continue on to Lone Pine for our snow gear pickups... everyone else was sticking around Grumpy’s for another day or so... Oh and I made a new friend, Buddy, at the General Store... he seemed to really enjoy the straps on my smelly pack as he curled up and took up home in my hip belt!
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