Day 50-55: miles 653-703

Well, I've made it to the Sierra gateway!! Kennedy Meadows is a true hub for hikers as we all gather here before heading into the Sierra. Technically, the southern Sierra starts at Walker Pass, but the true challenge is yet to come. It'll be incredibly difficult, but hey, I'm not doing this cause it's a walk in the park. The latest reports are coming in 5-8 days delayed, depending on which point people exit the Sierra, but they say that microspikes and ice axes are sufficient now (aka no crampons required, which is a relief). Snow is currently slushy by around 9am, so we better be over each peak before then which means waking up around 3-4am. I'm incredibly excited, though a bit nervous. I'll be doing a long resupply of 150 miles, while Shade and Cheers will be going out much sooner, which means we'll be parting for a bit before meeting up again in Bishop. I won't be alone since there's plenty of hikers entering every day now, but I'll definitely miss their company. But there's only so many places on Earth where you can go 10 days without crossing a single road or seeing a single sign of civilization, and I'd really like to have the experience of doing this chunk all at once.

Day 50: miles 653-666

We hung out in Ridgecrest for the rest of the morning before heading back to Kristy's for lunch. While walking to our seats, we had two separate families ask us if we needed a ride back to the trail - I got the number of one of them, and we'll plan to head out a little later once it cools down. We started around 4:30 and hiked into sunset, which was absolutely gorgeous above the mountains. Once I got my headlamp out, I also saw some bats flying around and a bunch of little frogs chilling in the trail. I was a decent ways behind Shade and Cheers and couldn't see their lights. We'd talked about camping near a spring, but there was a creek right before and the spring was off trail, so I assumed they would have hiked on. My mistake! When I got to the next campsite 1.2 on I was all alone and realized they definitely would have gone down to the spring, since that's what we'd talked about. Oh well, I was able to message through my satellite communicator that I was camping just ahead them. I got set up by 9:30ish, had a light dinner, and was off to bed!

Day 51: 666-682

I got a fabulous sleep in while waiting for Cheers and Shade to catch up. It was around 8 when they rolled by and I joined up. The trail headed around the edge of a canyon, in and out of pines and shrubland. We got to a river, filled up, then started uphill for about 6 miles, with fabulous views of the mountains and canyons around us. Then we had a lovely downhill all the way to Chimney Creek Campground, which was a large established campground. We got great sites and made dinner, where we were joined by Simba, a 14 year old kid hiking by himself! He was very impressive and it was fun chatting with him that evening. We turned in for bed, admiring the almost-full moon before falling asleep.

Day 52: 682-698

We decided that we're not going to push all the way to Kennedy Meadows today, rather splitting it in two. It'll be better to arrive in the morning, when the store and showers will be open and we'll be able to get a shuttle to and from the gear store. Also, I'm on my period and Shade has a bit of a head-cold, so I don't mind going slow. We started the day with a big 7 mile uphill, which was going through the 2000 Manter Fire - even though it had been over two decades, the area was incredibly exposed, as no trees had grown back. The landscape was dominated by shrubs like rabbitbrush and sagebrush, plus the dead trunks of old, burnt pine trees. At the top of the summit, we got another glimpse of the Sierra, with Mt Whitney and Mt Langley looming in the distance. Then we enjoyed a lovely downhill to Manter Creek, where we had lunch and I soaked my feet. We were joined for a bit by a German couple Shortcut and Handaxe, before they continued on. Soon we got up too and did another three miles to a lovely granite outcrop where we set up and had dinner, enjoying the view of the sun setting behind the craggy mountains around us.

Day 53: 698-703

We got to sleep in big time today, heading out around 8:15, and had a lovely five miles into Kennedy Meadows. We passed mile 700, saw the Kern River for the first time, and said goodbye to our last cacti hiding under the pinyon pines. We made it to the road around 10 and had a short road walk to the General Store - one of three business in the town. Walking up to the store was very surreal - we were greeted by a raucous round of applause and set our packs down on the deck before sitting down on the picnic tables and enjoying a cold drink. Goodbye desert, hellow Sierra! We start talking about this moment beginning at the border, so it was so amazing to finally be there!!

My mom was driving all the way (six hours!) to come see me, and was arriving in the evening. So we chilled out on the deck before getting a ride over to Triple Crown Outfitters (the gear store) and Grumpy Bear's (the bar): the other two businesses in town. Yogi herself, owner of TCO, drove us over and informed us that though the town sign says 'population 200,' that's the minimum required for phone companies to put in landlines, and in reality it's about 40 people living here year round.

After a nice shower at Grumpy's and hanging out, my mom came just in time for dinner! It was so fantastic to see her, and really really special that she came out. She treated me, Cheers, and Shade to dinner before we headed back to the General Store for camping. We set up, said goodnight, and headed to bed.

Day 54: zero day!

No hiking today! Just hanging out and relaxing. It's kind of nice to have that be the only job of the day - though it sounds silly, it's truly so important to be well rested before entering the Sierra and getting above 10,000 ft. We enjoyed the snacks that my mom brought, of which there were many - including a fantastic banana bread and lemon almond bread cooked by her friend Ann!! We then did laundry and visited the gear store again, then I did the initial packing of my bear canister, which is loaded to the brim. Then it was time in the hammock, eating some watermelon, and heading over to Grumpy's for dinner and then back to the General Store for bed!

Day 55: zero day!

Zero day number 2!! I'm racking them up! Mom and I went on a nice day hike this morning, going SOBO back to mile 700. It was fun for her to see the views and the ecosystem we'd been seeing for a while. Then we came back, and relaxed and had some more watermelon and snacks. I patched up the holes in my pants, cleaned out my pot, and reorganized my food. We had lunch and I did a final check that I had all my extra gear (rain gear, warmer gloves, waterproof socks, balaclava, microspikes, ice axe, bear can, and bigger battery pack). Then mom and I said goodbye :( it was so fun to have her here, meeting my friends and seeing the trail life. It's sad to see her go, but I'm really excited to go into the Sierra tomorrow!! I took a last shower, relaxed a bit more, then Shade and Cheers and I made dinner before I came to the front to finish this blog! The vibes here are quite loud and rowdy but luckily the campgrounds are far back, away from any sound (also away from the wifi though). We're heading out around 8 tomorrow - it's another day from then before we're in the snow and at high elevation!! It'll be really difficult but I'm incredibly excited :D

If my plan goes well, my next town will be Bishop, in 150 miles and around 11 days - I'll try to post then!