Day 42: Mile 698 to 702   (4 miles)

Got to sleep in this morning which is rare. Today was a simple flat four mile hike into Kennedy Meadows where I will hit the big milestone of completing the desert section and get ready to move into the Sierras. As the general store came into view, I noticed a lot of people wandering around the outside deck and all a sudden I was greeted by cheers and clapping by all the hikers. It was a great feeling to know I had completed and survived the desert with no issues. (not counting the phone problem)

(Passed the 700 mile mark!)

I ran into Rain Gear, Jpeg, Ninja, Scotland and Ego and we decided to walk a mile down to the river and go swimming since it was a hot day and we had lots of free time.

We arrived at the river which wasn’t the most appealing river to swim in as it was just slow flowing muddy water. It was still the most water we have seen since the hike began and we had no problem jumping right in. We spend a couple hours drinking some beers and playing frisbee with a hub cap we found laying by the river. We were quick to get back to the store as the grill closes by 4pm and they cook up some amazing burgers no one wants to miss out on!

(Enjoying a cold beer while swimming)

(Ninja and Jpeg playing frisbee with a hub cap)

(What happens when you leave your camera for others to play with)

We spent the rest of the day relaxing on the porch under shade cheering on as each new hiker arrived in Kennedy Meadows throughout the day. I played some chess with Ego and Tea Time and finished with a 3-3 record. Not bad for someone who hasn’t played in nearly a decade! Rain Gear decided to head back to the trail and we said our goodbyes as we aren’t leaving till tomorrow evening. One of my favorite parts of staying there was the music playlist. One of the workers had a playlist of constant music from old stuff to new stuff and it seemed every song was a great song and kept us in a fun mood well into the evening.

(Ego and Jpeg playing chess)

(Rain Gear on his way back to the trail)

Day 43: Mile 702 to 709   (7 miles)

Woke up and it was time to resupply. It didn’t take long before I realized how much this was going to suck! I have planned to hike from Kennedy Meadows all the way to Vermillion Valley Resort which is 176 miles with no stops. I would say 97% of hikers stop well before then to resupply. There are many towns like Lone Pine, Independence, Mammoth, and couple others. In order to get to those towns, you have to take a long detour over other passes and will take an extra two days of my trip. I don’t want to waste anymore days on side trips and I think I will be able to get to VVR without running out of food. Also, today is the day I get my bear can. It is required to have through the Sierras and Yosemite National Park. There is no way I can fit all my food in the bear back (which is normal for most people). I will plan on putting in as much as I can and the rest of the food, the best sealed stuff will still sleep with me throughout the night.

Had planned on leaving with Jpeg and Ninja and the rest of them but we were delayed as Ninja was still waiting on her resupply. She had a friend who is a pilot who was flying into a small airport near by and then driving up to bring her supplies. I took this time to call my dad and get a new pair of pants ordered as the current ones had developed a big hole due to poor stitching. I also had a new belt sent to me as I was not liking the one I was using.

Plenty more chess, burgers and beer to get us through the day. Spontaneous and He Man, the two Koreans arrived today! It is always great to see them. Ninja got her resupply and we were back on the trail by 6:30pm. This is the heaviest my pack has been and I can sure feel it! Our goal was to only get seven miles up the trail. It was more of a get out of town and not get stuck in the vortex of Kennedy Meadows. Some people have taken three full days off and I was happy to get out with no days off.

(He Man (center), Spontaneous (right))

(Ate two pints of this amazing ice cream)

Everyone else decided to stop once it got dark and only went five miles. Myself and Tea Time decided to hike on a couple more miles into the dark and reached the seven mile mark we wanted. I decided I was going to cowboy camp and not use my tent tonight. I question myself doing this more now since I am in the Sierras and with more of a chance of seeing bear or mountain lions or anything else at night. It will just be another mental hurdle to get over as I’m sure I will want to cowboy camp when I can as I prefer it over a tent on most days.

Day 44: Mile 709 to 731   (22 miles)

Had a interesting night last night. I was asleep or maybe somehow barley awake, but I heard something small walking right next to my head. I instantly woke up and looked up and saw a dark circle about a foot from my head but couldn’t see what it was. I pulled out my flashlight and shinned down to see a big toad! He seemed to big to hop and he literally was just crawling across the dirt slowly. I took a picture of him and crawled back in my sleeping bag knowing it wasn’t anything to be concerned about.

Early on, I was hiking through some huge open green meadows which this was the first one I had come across. I arrived at the South Fork Kern River where I met Tomahawk who was only section hiking from Kennedy Meadows to the Oregon/Washington boarder. Near the end of my snack time, the rest of the guys arrived to get some water. We watched as tons of birds flew around under the bridge and I can’t count how many nests were built under the bridge!

I continued on through the day and all a sudden something caught the corner of my eye. A black bear! It was far off in the distance which two other hikers who were coming up behind me, they had a hard time seeing the bear and had to show them on my camera which had a 300mm zoom lens and still couldn’t even get a clear photo from this far away. This is probably a good moment to explain my trail name, Eagle Eye. I received the name for my good eye sight and I can pick animals or people from very far away. I did actually have my vision checked before this hike and I still have perfect vision which was good to hear. The bear was far of in Brush Meadow and appeared to be just digging around.

I continued my hike and arrived at Death Canyon Creek just before dark where I ran into Shins and Sinbad who had a fire going. I went on a search with Jonny Walker who arrived after dark to look for a spring to get some fresh water. It wasn’t easy to find, but we finally found it and was nice to have. Even though we have entered the Sierras, there are still some stretches early on where water is tough to find.