Days 31-33 - Sat-Mon, June 23-25
WooHoo! Made it to Kennedy Meadows on Monday. The end of the desert & water challenges. I've completed the Southern Calif section: 702.8 miles down - less than 2000 miles to go!
The two days getting here were uneventful. I could tell we were finally in the Sierras since we were passing streams with water - Joshua Tree spring, Spanish Needle Creek, and Fox Mill Spring. I started the descent down Rockhouse Basin and spent a few miles hiking along the south fork of the Kern River. Not much water in it because of the low snow year.
We set up camp near the store. The store is only 0.7 miles off the trail. There are about 20 hikers here - Swan, Loon, Junk Food, Muir, Bastian, Dude, Tracy, Champ and Wisconsin Curt are some I met. I actually remembered meeting Wisconsin Curt last year when I was on the JMT and he was doing the PCT. The hikers are all enjoying this place, some have been here for a few days recovering from the desert and some are jumping back in for the trek north. Everybody has a much-welcomed resupply box here. My resupply box, foot tape, and new Atalanta skirt were all here but not my new Suunto watch. I haven't had cell phone reception since Walkers Pass and still don't. I have a phone card that Jerry put in my resupply box so I can make a couple of calls from the local public phone but really can't contact many people or send any pictures for my blog. :-(
We set up camp near the store. The store is only 0.7 miles off the trail. There are about 20 hikers here - Swan, Loon, Junk Food, Muir, Bastian, Dude, Tracy, Champ and Wisconsin Curt are some I met. I actually remembered meeting Wisconsin Curt last year when I was on the JMT and he was doing the PCT. The hikers are all enjoying this place, some have been here for a few days recovering from the desert and some are jumping back in for the trek north. Everybody has a much-welcomed resupply box here. My resupply box, foot tape, and new Atalanta skirt were all here but not my new Suunto watch. I haven't had cell phone reception since Walkers Pass and still don't. I have a phone card that Jerry put in my resupply box so I can make a couple of calls from the local public phone but really can't contact many people or send any pictures for my blog. :-(I was able to get cleaned up, do some e-mail, read all the comments and good wishes on my blog, and just enjoy a lazy day with people around to talk with about our trail experiences. Some campers really run up big bills at the KM store. A really popular item is ice cream - some hikers eat several pints. Since I don't eat ice cream, I got off cheap.
I'm really happy to get new clothes to wear. I'm wearing my new Atalanta Inspiration skirt that was designed after I tried Heather's (the owner/designer) other skirt and gave her some suggestions. Jerry sent me a bouquet of lavender blossoms with a new haiku in my box. I got my new Tarptent Contrail that Jerry bought to replace m
y old tent. It is really cool and has a floor! It is only listed as a 1 ½ person tent which means one person plus gear. Wisconsin Curt has been stuck here for 4 days waiting for his resupply box to arrive so I shared my tent with him. We both fit fine so we figured that we only add up to 1 ½ persons. I guess the fact the he is 5' 6" and 140 lbs and I am down to 107 lbs helps! LOL!
y old tent. It is really cool and has a floor! It is only listed as a 1 ½ person tent which means one person plus gear. Wisconsin Curt has been stuck here for 4 days waiting for his resupply box to arrive so I shared my tent with him. We both fit fine so we figured that we only add up to 1 ½ persons. I guess the fact the he is 5' 6" and 140 lbs and I am down to 107 lbs helps! LOL!
5 comments:
OMG, 107! Eat! I know ice-cream is poison, but you need calories.
Glad to hear you made it to higher ground. I can't deal with heat. It's hard reading about it, even.
Good luck getting your watch soon.
Glad to hear your out of the dessert. Have fun!
Congratulations on making it out of the desert. You've lost 13 pounds? I think that's too much, considering you have almost 2000 miles to go. I can't think of what to do to fatten you up. Perhaps the corn chips & salsa you received might help a tiny bit. I know you have a lot of muscle to keep you going, that's for sure. Thanks for the update. I hope to see you soon.
Hugs!
oooh contrail! i have my eyes on one as well. i'll be interested to hear what you think of it.
Careful with that weight, there. The weight loss will not be linear -- it can and will accelerate. I started Campo at 183lbs, and by VVR (a few days north of KM), I was down to 167 (not quite the 10% you've already lost). By Sierra City, even after not hiking and just eating/drinking in Tahoe for 4 days, I was down to 157. This weight loss will start taking a toll on you, so look for some fatty foods to boost your calorie intake. Your hiking pace will efficiently burn fat, and as you know, fats have two times the caloric density of other foods. Heck, buy a small bottle of olive oil to pack and pour on your food!
Good luck,
Iron Chef
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