Kennedy Meadows – 700+ Miles
We are at Kennedy Meadows, a little past the 700 mile mark. The miles are just slipping away and we are 2 days ahead of schedule right now. For the last 2 to 3 weeks we have been averaging about 22 to 23 miles per day on our “full” hiking day.
We have finished with the dry desert climes of southern California, and are about to enter the Sierra Nevada mountains. The reports from all of the backcountry snow sensors or ZERO, meaning the snow melt has removed most all of the serious snow. There will be patches of snow in crevaces and on north facing slopes, but mostly the trail should be clear. This is very unusual for early June.
Already amongst hikers this is considered to be an “easy” year because of snow melt. The technical term is a “wus” year. And I know that some people reading our journals believe that all we do is eat and drink, probably getting the impression that this hike is one long party. Hmmmm…..certainly with the water caches and trail angels its not as rugged as it was ten years ago, but there are still those 2,700 miles to walk to connect all the trail “food magic” along the way….The feet know that easy or hard this is one long walk.
For now, we need to get to the Kennedy Meadows store for their 9am opening for beer…..er, I mean, coffee….yeah, that’s it, coffee…
