Day 36 Welcome to the Sierras

Day 36 

June 25th

15 miles

PCT mile 716.5

Kennedy Meadows is a hard place to leave...just a small piece of hiker heaven. But I said my goodbyes and thanked, Scott (the owner) for his accommodations and generosity. It was noon by the time I got out of there.

Saying goodbye and thanking Scott.

My pack is soooo heavy now with the bear vault and 11 days of supply. I'm starting to second guess this resupply strategy. For the next 2 days I've accepted the fact things will be slow going with lots of breaks and hopefully things will lighten up. 

Loaded up!!!

The way too big and too heavy pack.

I stopped 5 miles in at the South Kern River crossing...I found myself a little oasis, to relax and enjoy the change of scenery and pace.

A little piece of Heaven.

I saw my first Mojave Green (rattlesnake) in a burn area I walked through today...boy he was not happy about me disturbing his peace.

I continued on and called it a day at the second river crossing right about at sunset. I was a little spooked as it's been a while since I had camped alone and now we were getting closer to bear country. Once I was settled in about to fall asleep I heard voices...Swimmer and Hans Pilgrim...yeah!!!! I told them I was super glad to have the company and not be alone, so they set up camp next to me. At this point it was super windy, Han's tent kept blowing away as he was setting up, my tent stakes were already pulled out, I had the inside of my tent anchored by my heavy bags of food. I cocooned into my bag for warmth and shelter from the wind...I had left my fly off so it was a bit cooler and breezy...but I didn't want to get out and put it on.