Day 44: Out of Kennedy Meadows

Miles hiked: 14.2

Mile marker: 717.6

5:00 AM hits and I’m scrambling around my tent to gather my explosion of things. I tried to organize a bit yesterday, but I still have my micro spike box, unopened water filter, cards from my supply box my mom sent me… these are a lot of new additions to my pack.

My clothes bag feels twice as heavy as it was before. I bought some new shorts, underwear, and got my new shorts sent out to me. I would love to not wear spandex on trail. I’d rather have something much more breathable.

I stuff everything into my pack then bug Dad for help on packing my tent. I’ve already forgotten how to do it properly.

We futz with my bear can for a few minutes until it sits atop my pack.

Everyone else has gone to the porch by the restaurant. The sun is already lighting the very blue sky as we walk through the dusty path to the rest of our group.

We all eat trail breakfast and do our last minute tasks before our ride is here. Our packs carefully placed in the trailer, we pile into the van.

Two Dutch people are in the trunk of the car, chatting. Rafiki says, “Oh! There are people back there! I thought that was the radio!”

“It’s a very cultured radio station here in the middle of nowhere in California,” I say.

Our driver is a small older lady with short hair and a ball cap. “I’m gonna miss you guys!” she says. I’m not really sure if she means us hikers as we move on or if she is leaving. But when she tells us she loves us and hugs us each goodbye as we’re grabbing our packs, I know that it means a lot to her that she gets to be apart of our lives.

The trail begins on a sandy path bordered by familiar scrub brush. Not a quarter mile in and my bear can is sliding to the side.

“You need to take your pack off,” Luxy says from behind me. Dad is ahead but pauses as he sees the action. He backtracks and we end up repacking the top of my pack to make it a firm body for the bear can to sit on.

The sun shines brightly as we walk through the path. The trees ahead tease us with the promise of both shade and the sierras. It still feels like we’re in the desert.

We reach a bridge and cross a river. Rocks are piled up next to it.

“Do you want to hang out here a while?” Dad says.

Yes.

We all get in the water for some more moss-ball war and splashing. The moss here looks like grinch hair.

The water is chilly as we splash around. I sit in a rapid to try to rid my shorts of debris. Outside of the shorts being too big, they seem to be working out well.

We continue on only to be stopped shortly after our swim by a ranger. She’s a young woman who asks for our permits.

“If you don’t have them accessible, that’s okay. But I will stamp it if you do.”

We all pull out our permits for a stamp. She checks our start date, too.

“Just some information: please make sure to poop 100 feet from a water source.” She smiles. “This year not everybody has been doing that. Also there’s a bear at mile 729 to 731. He’s not afraid of people and he likes food. He’s very curious and in his adolescent stage, so please be mindful. Is everybody summiting Mount Whitney?”

We all nod as we listen and repack our bags.

“Please stay on trail. Some people have been following bootprints that lead off trail and end up in some dangerous situations.”

We ask about snow on Mount Whitney, but the ranger hasn’t been there recently.

We continue on our hike.

It’s uphill.

My pack feels like it belongs to a professional football player. I imagine what I want to send home and what foods I can sacrifice. I’m breathing heavily through my nose.

We stop every two or three miles for water since we’re following a river. There’s going to be a lot of water in the Sierras!

I spot Dad and Savannah under a tree. We lunch here, chatting as Dad falls asleep. Soon we all quiet down and close our eyes. The sun hides behind puffy white clouds and a breeze chills my skin. I curl into a ball.

After two hours, we get ready to go. I pack my bag, but need Dad’s help after my packing skills are unsuccessful.

We continue uphill to my dismay. There are both scrub brushes and pine trees around me.

Soon we reach a meadow. We follow a long path and scrubby grass borders either side of us.

This flat era soon comes to an end. We hike up another hill for what seems like forever (it’s not that long, I’m just so tired and my pack is heavy.)

We finally reach a bridge over a river! Birds sweet and fly around as if I’m in a Disney movie. Dad sneaks into the rocky woods. It’s looks like there’s nothing up there but we follow.

There are flat spots for tents! We set up and then go down to the river for a rinse and laundry session. I only rinse off the dirt from my legs. I wish I’d gotten in for a full wash, but I didn’t want to have wet clothes.

I eat beans and rice for dinner. Dad went further off for a better tent site. We all put our extra food and cosmetics into Rafiki’s bear bag to hang. We leave our bear cans by a fire pit and head to bed.