Instead, as I approached the top of a big and long but steady climb, I ran into a hiker named Influx. He hiked the Appalachian Trail last year and is hiking pretty fast. He started on May 4th this year! It turns out his pace is the same as mine, he just hikes 12-14 hrs a day instead of 10-12 like me. We fell into great conversation and hiked with each other all day!
Influx (picture taken later in the afternoon)
We took turns leading and also talking. We shared stories of past hikes, stories of this hike, and really just talked about all sorts of stuff for hours! He’s such a cool dude! After the trail he’s moving to Portland, Maine. The morning was soooooo beautiful. The wildflowers were blooming and the mountains were looming on the distance!
Influx taking it all in while maintaining 3+ mph
Just before noon, we caught up to and passed Julian and Keglegs, who were taking a small break and enjoying the views. Soon after that, we made it to the South Fork Kern River! It was just as beautiful as I remembered. It’s crazy to think that we were just floating and swimming in a branch of this river just two days ago in Lake Isabella!
Time went by so fast, we had hiked 17 miles by noon!! It’s funny to think I was going to take it “easy” and roll into Kennedy Meadows tomorrow morning. But by noon today, I was only 5 miles from KM! As the day was getting toasty, Influx and I stopped at the river for a small bite to eat and a nice cold dip. Julian soon joined.
Kern River
Very shortly afterwards, we hit mile 700!
And then a long snake..
And then Kennedy Meadows!!
So, long story short, for those reading this blog that aren’t familiar with Claire and I’s 2016 hike; last year at Kennedy Meadows, I got the Noro virus, and then accidentally gave it to my poor baby. The virus originated from feces and is transferred by touch. This was purely due to the large amount of hikers at Kennedy Meadows, aboit 35 people got it that year in the same area. We struggled through the beginning of the Sierra, spending almost 4 zero days in the wilderness to recover. This totally shook our hike and budget, and it is one of the main reasons we left the trail at Mammoth this year.
This year, I decided that I would spend as little time in KM as possible. It’s not a bad place, in fact, it’s not even dirty at all this year! I’m just scarred. That was the worst experience in my outdoor life hands down. All my friends this year thought I was crazy, but I walked in, ate some food, bought some food to carry, waved to everyone, and was back out on trail in less than two hours!
Justin the cook/drummer from 2016!!
The Justin burger (he hooked it up)
I bought a six pack and handed 5 out to my closest trail friends, enjoyed my burger and beer, and hung out for just a bit. I DID see some people I hadn’t seen for awhile!
Early Bird and Shadow from France!!
I hadn’t seen Shadow since Hiker Heaven! As I was leaving, I saw four familiar faces coming back from the beach:
L-R: Joe Solo, Shaman, Turbo Stache and JJ!!
I was so stoked to see these guys! I hadn’t seen any of them since Hikertown, and Shaman and JJ are getting off the trail here at KM! They’ve finished with the section they were going to do, (they have families to get back to), and I’m glad I got to say goodbye! Turbo and Stache are staying until at least tomorrow to pick up a package that is hopefully arriving. There’s a chance that they will have to wait for Monday, which would suck, but also line them up to hike with us in the Sierra!
Julian and Keglegs are staying in KM tomorrow, as I think any first-time PCT’er Kennedy Meadows-arriver should! They wanted me to stay but we made plans to meet in Lone Pine and take back off into the Sierra together. There’s only 40 miles from here to Lone Pine, and there are no river crossings or major passes, or even much snow for that matter, so I feel 100% safe going solo.
The trail climbed up into the trees, following the Kern River. After about 4.5 more miles, I finally stopped my long day in a great campsite right next to the river and a big bridge. Claire and I camped just across this bridge in 2016. It’s very beautiful and the sound of the river is already coaxing me to sleep. I’m so excited to be entering the Sierra!
While I’m stoked to pass 700 and that I hit KM today, I don’t have the same feeling about it as when Claire and I got there two years ago. It’s not that I don’t want to celebrate the ending of the desert and start of the Sierra.. But for me, I’ll be celebrating when I’m strolling through the next section of trail, NOT having the Noro virus.. I’ll be celebrating on the top of Mt. Whitney, with Claire vivid in heart and mind, summiting the tallest peak in the mainland USA for the both of us :) I’ll be celebrating when I cross mile 906.6 at Mammoth, and I get to see Claire and everything afterwards will be new.. My victory is continuing to hike, my body feels great, and I’m Canada bound!!
Thanks for reading!!
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