Day 42,    7 miles  May  20

The micro spikes arrived at noon.  We packed up quickly, said good bye to our hiking friends, and were on our way.  When I arrived in Kennedy Meadows there was maybe 20-30 hikers.  Now there is at least double that amount.  I hope to see many of them again on the trail.  Most of them are in their 20s.  Twopie, Turtle, and Lowkey call me Mom and fight over me.

Our plan was to hike in 11 miles to a tent site.   Unfortunately my sunglasses fell off somewhere between mile 706 and 709.   I ran up and down the trail for an hour looking with no luck.   So we ended up only getting 8 miles to a nice tent site beside a stream.  I will be hiking the next 180 miles or more without sunglasses.   Another challenge.

We are required to carry our food in bear canisters through the Sierras.  They weigh two and a half pounds, but we don’t have to carry excess water any more.  There is water everywhere.

We weighed our packs before we left Kennedy Meadows.  Mine weighed 37 pounds without water, Tugboat’s was 26, and Happy’s was 47 with 3 litres of water.

Goodbye desert.  Goodbye Kennedy Meadows.  Hello Sierras!