Day 38 - 41 Mile 652- 704
Our second day off in Lake Isabella was a relaxing one. We moved from the KOA to a motel because of incoming weather. This system is putting a little snow in the Sierras North of us.
We each took turns stepping on the scale in the while restocking our food bags. Shadow has lost 21lbs, Coach lost 10lbs, and I lost 1lb. ONE POUND! What the heck! Shadow jokes that I'm eating more food than him and Coach thinks that I'm not giving him enough snacks. Both of those statements are FALSE. Everything is Even Steven out here. There would be a fight if I had to sit there and watch him each an extra Snickers bar.
Jim and Debbie, the couple watching our RV, invited us over for dinner. Larry and Carol, a couple we met in Alaska came over too. Debbie brought out 7 gigantic steaks from Costco for the guys to grill. The 3 of our mouths watered. Bake potatoes, salad, strawberries, and cake. We had a great evening chatting and eating.
Larry and Carol gave us a ride back to the motel. It started raining halfway back. The 3 of us decided not to rush out of town and see what the weather does over night.
We hung around town till 11am, grabbed a burger, then hitched back to the trail. Just as we were being dropped off it started snowing. We put on rain gear, we headed North. About a mile in we crossed paths with a hiker that turned around because of the snow. We pressed on. The trail rose to 7,300ft where the landscape turned into a Winter's wonderland. It was the strangest thing, watching snowflakes fall while gazing out onto the desert below.
We were cold and wet by the time we arrived at camp. I started a fire while Shadow hung the bear rope for our food. Better safe than sorry.
The morning was cold. We put on our wet socks and shoes got moving fast to warm up.
The trail was gentle and smooth. The rain last night helped keep the dust down. As we were hiking a girl popped out of the woods. She was from Denmark and was very happy to see us. She started at Lake Isabella with her giant pack and we were the first humans she has seen.
Lunch was at a great overlook. It had warmed up enough to dry our the tent in the Sun. As we ate, a hummingbird with a brilliant magenta head flew right in front of Shadow and hovered before flying away. Another fun bird sighting was this afternoon. A bird with a bright orange head and yellow and black body landed on a branch close to the trail. He seems curious of us.
This evening we are staying at an old Gold Mining camp. Remnants of the slew, a few small buildings, and old truck line the ground along with rusty beer cans. This place takes me back in time.
I have been waiting 702 miles to write this post. Today we made it to Kennedy Meadows! Not only does that mean we have completed the "Desert" section, also that we have reached the gateway to the high country. 702 miles in 41 days with 6 zeros (a day without hiking) and a few neros (a less than full day of hiking). For those of you that are not familiar with hiking the PCT, it's a big deal. We have completed over a quarter of the trail so far.
Last night the tail end of a low pressure system blew through and left a clear cold night.
Our goal today was of course make it to KM, but also make it there by 5pm to get a burger. We left an hour early just to be sure. A morning climb to 8,000 make the rest of the day downhill and easy. We cruised down to the Kern River after lunch. Just the sound of running water made me realize where we were. Coach stopped and said, "Do you smell that? That's the Sierras."
I was leading the pack when a guy came running towards us. It was Running Dawg! His wife Zippy had planned to meet us at KM and hike the Sierras. He was out on a training run. He turned around after talking with us a while and ran back. By the time we made it to the road, they were waiting with 3 cold Coronas! There wasn't a better way to finish the desert. They gave us a lift to the KM Store where the 3 of us picked up our bear boxes and ordered a burger. This place is a small country store that probably sees more people hiking or riding a horse than drive a car. The next 250 miles require a bear box to put your food in. They weight about 3lbs and are bear proof. We ate and commented on each others food in the bear boxes we packed 5 weeks ago. Traded some food with each other and strategically repacked.
It was just 4pm so the 4 of us decided to hike another 2.5 miles to the KM campground. 3 nice flat spots by the Kern River was a perfect place to stop. We rinsed our feet and socks in the river and ate hotdogs and turkey burgers for dinner.
There are lots of unknowns starting tomorrow. All my prep work before getting out here was to make it through the desert. I figured that if I could make it through the desert, I could make it through anything...we'll see.
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