October 12

Distance: 21.3 miles | Ascent: 3260′ | Descent: 3720′

Mile marker: 1973.8

Lunch: J – spaghetti (A-), A – chicken parm (A)

Dinner: J – tomato orzo (A), A – spaghetti (A)

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Now that everyone is out of the Sierras, the mood is pretty chill. All the hikers at the campground slept in a little more than usual, until 7 am at least!

As we packed up camp, we were swarmed by a trio of kittens. They were enthralled with all the straps, strings, and crinkly bags of food in our pile of gear. The attempted to climb the tent, unsuccessfully. But they were successful at getting inside of it!

We loitered on the deck outside the restaurant where the wifi was inexplicably still on despite the power supply from the generator still cut from last night. We finished some internet chores and started the road walk towards the trailhead. Along the way, we were offered a ride and we stopped at the general store for a cup of coffee. The vibe and setting of the general store was much nicer than at Grumpy’s. We rendezvoused with some friends we hadn’t seen since Etna and had a late morning cookie.

Once we finally got on trail at 11, we were all business. The trail followed Kern River as we slowly descended into the desert. A brisk breeze kept it from being too hot.

We stopped for lunch right before the trail took a hard left away from the river and up a 2400′ climb. This is where we assume Alex, unfortunately, lost her spoon 😔. We will have to share a spoon until she can get another at the next town stop in 6 days.

We saw a new snake! Maybe a gopher snake?

Because there are few trees to block the view, the trail can be seen from quite a distance. It’s motivating to have it in sight, but also a bit disparaging when it doesn’t appear to get closer.

We climbed until nearly sunset – we got a late start, after all. And descended as the sky darkened. A pink and blue gradient formed on the horizon above the mountains. It’s been a while since we had a nearly unobstructed view of the sky for sunset. Before now, steep cliffs or forests shielded the view.

We’re going to attempt a big day tomorrow in hopes of getting ahead of the storm on Tuesday, or at least buying ourselves some miles.