Day 58- June 16th

We woke up early this morning near Chimney Creek. The morning was super cold which made it difficult to actually get up, but we were on trail by 7:15am.

There was an active fire about a week ago 1/2 a mile from where we camped last night. They called it the Chimney Fire and it burned over 1000 acres. Claire and I first heard the news around mile 500. We had thought our continuous footpath thru-hike was doomed, as the fire started in such proximity to the trail. 

They had over 500 people working in the fire for days and nights, and when we got to Mojave, mile 566, we found that the trail had been reopened! A big shout out to all the firefighters that worked so quickly and efficiently to douse the fire despite hot temps and high winds. And hooray for the sake of the thru-hike!!

Just like any other morning it seems, we started with our early morning ascent... By 10am, we had climbed over 2150 feet! 

Despite my sock changing and new preventative measures, the uphill graced me with a small new blister on the right heel. This is my first blister since mile 454, over 230 miles ago! I'm not too worried about this one since we're almost to Kennedy Meadows and will be resting there.

Around 11am, we came across a corner and got our first glimpse of the Sierra! It's kind of hard to see in this picture but if you look closely, you can make out some snowy peaks faaaaar off in the distance:

We entered a burn area, but somehow it didn't seem as depressing and dry and dead as all the others before it. Many of the trees were still standing, boasting their fire-survival skills and complimenting their strong sturdy roots.

One of the huge burned trees gave us a perfect spot for our extended rest at about 2:30pm. Its shadow lay prefectly on a couple flat rocks behind it. You can see Claire with the packs in the picture below:

At about 5:00pm, we came across South Fork Kern River, the most water we've seen yet! 

Claire and I waded across the river and basked on another nice flat rock to soak up the last direct rays from the fleeting sun. 

We washed our feet and grabbed a little bit of water here, and then it was off to find a campsite! We didn't go more than 1/2 a mile up the hill when we found a nice level sandy one calling our name :)

Today we walked 17.5 miles! We have less than 5 miles to walk to the Kennedy Meadows Store tomorrow, and we are STOKED! There we will pick up our bear canister which has our ice spikes, some cooking food, and paper maps for the Sierra and the John Muir Trail, which parallels the PCT for about 200 miles.

Because I've only had the maps leading up to Kennedy Meadows with me, there are still a few unknowns. For instance: Lone Pine, Independence, and Bishop are all towns on Highway 395 east of the trail, and one of those towns will be our next resupply. After we asses our food situation and see how much will actually fit in the bear can, we'll know where we're headed next!

There's been no cell service since Lake Isabella, and there won't be for a while. If you've tried to get ahold of me via text or voicemail I won't get them, I'm sorry! It seems that there might be some wi-fi in Kennedy Meadows. Hopefully I can get these posts live soon! One thing's for sure, we'll be in the Sierra soon!! :) 

-Thanks for reading!