Date: June 18, 2017
Miles: 14.7 miles (23.7km), from mile 709.5 to mile 724.2.
Health: Feeling great. Legs tired from the long climb.

We woke up at 4:30am. The sun wasn't up yet but the air was still warm. Camp Counselor and Poison Ivy were already up but I wasted few minutes in my sleeping bag. Night hiking and early mornings are not a good combination.

The girls left the camp soon and I stayed back. I still needed to get water from the creek close by. Soon I was back on the trail.

The trail kept climbing out of a valley and the views were amazing. I was so happy for the change of scenery.

Soon I caught up with the girls and Crumbs as they were eating breakfast next to the trail. Although I had already eaten while hiking, I stopped, happy for their company. Also, I was in no hurry today.

After a leisurely breakfast we got back on the trail. Soon the grade turned steeper and we really had to climb. Luckily the water was plentiful today, so that made our packs a little lighter.

I hiked on with Katie (Camp Counselor) and soon we were just the two of us. While climbing I noticed that her hiking style was very energy consuming so I offered to teach her about the "thru-hiker shuffle". As we hiked on I told her about the why's and how's of the shuffle and soon she was easily keeping up with my pace. It was great seeing her go from slow, energy consuming "regular style" to the shuffle, and seeing her get the "wow!" reaction when she nailed it down.

Soon I was able to speed up and we made nice progress shuffling down the trail. After the climb we hiked a bit in a forest and then reached a large meadow between mountains. The views were just amazing. With snow topped mountains at the far end, a river running through the middle, it was like one of those movie meadows. We hiked on with huge smiles on our faces.

It was fun having a new hiking partner. That means you get new, interesting topics to talk about. We talked about relationships, life, and Iron Maiden.

The miles went fast and soon we reached another meadow. As we got down to the river we saw a large bridge crossing the river. Coming from the desert, and suddenly being on a green meadow with a large, flowing river, and surrounded by magnificent mountains, was just epic.

Even though it was still early, the spot was so beautiful that we simply couldn't pass by. We put our packs in the shade and started to look around. There was a huge flock of swallows flying around the bridge, going in every direction. As we stood on the bridge, the swallows just flew all around us and under the bridge, to feed their little ones. We felt like we had arrived to a magical place.

Soon Poison Ivy joined us as well. There was a large sandbank on the river and we went to investigate it. We walked up and down the sandbank, playing with mud and enjoying the nice cold water. We also found two large rocks that you could sit between and have the stream flow over you.

Others started to arrive as well and almost everyone stopped to siesta on this gorgeous spot. The riverside was soon full of hikers enjoying the plentiful water and the end of the desert.

Nothing can last forever so after an extremely long siesta we started to head out. We had a huge climb ahead of us. We were climbing to over 10,000 feet (3,048m) today. Although the air wasn't as hot here as in the desert, it was still hot.

On the way out I taught Natalie (Poison Ivy) the thru-hiker shuffle as well and now all three of us were moving fast.

The climb was long. I hiked with Natalie and between trying to catch our breath from the climb, we had long discussions. I really like hiking with her and I hate that she and Camp Counselor have to leave the trail so soon (they're only section hiking to Lone Pine).

We had to take a ton of breaks as the climb was just never ending and steep. Although my legs were screaming from pain, I still enjoyed every moment. I feel like if I can do the Sierra and all the climbing, I'm going to be a monster of a hiker and the rest of the trail is going to be "easy".

At around 9,000 feet we started seeing snow and the mosquitoes appeared. I remember that I accidentally packed my repellent in the package going to Lone Pine. Great!

At the water source the mosquitoes are trying to eat my legs so I have to continue. Natalie stays back and I hike on with Katie. We keep climbing and start seeing more and more snow.

We've climbed for hours now and it's starting to get dark. If we want to camp after the pass, we're going to get there after dark.

We break out of the trees and see a large meadow, and at the end of the meadow we see the pass. At least we hope it's there. I check the Guthooks app and that's the pass, not far away.

As we finally reach the pass we see KB, Fyre, Dandelion, and Fire Ant already camping there. That's perfect as I'm not sure how much further I would have managed to hike. Soon Natalie also comes to camp.

As the mosquitoes are out in force, we set up our tents and it's soon a small tent city. We eat and share trail stories. The girls break out into a song again.

I look around and realize that it's just me and six girls, camping on a top of a mountain, looking at the sunset and the snow capped mountains of the Sierra. Life is pretty good right now!

Date: June 17, 2017
Miles: 7.3 miles (11.7km), from Kennedy Meadows to mile 709.5.
Health: Feeling great except the heat is really getting to me. Can't wait to get to higher elevation and into cooler weather.

I try to sleep late but I'm woken up by the sun around 7am. While sleeping next to Camp Counselor and Poison Ivy, at the far end of the campground, was great for being far away from all the noice from the bonfire, it meant we were outside of the small forest and not protected from the early morning sun.

I try to find some way to still sleep but the sun doesn't seem to care about my sleep and I have to get up before I get toasted in my sleeping bag. I haphazardly put all my things together and carry them back to the grocery store. I have to go through all my gear and resupply boxes today for the Sierra.

Before all that I need a breakfast. I miss the shuttle that Sunshine and others take to Grumpy Bears but I hop on to the next one.

Grumpy Bears is a small restaurant about three miles from the Grocery store and they serve early morning breakfast and all-you-can-eat pancakes. There's a shuttle (read: a pickup truck) that takes hikers back and forth.

Once I and about a dozen other hungry hikers reach Grumpy's, we get in line and make our orders. The service matches the name, but in a charming way. I'm trying to order my breakfast with extra bacon but I'm basically told it's not going to happen. No please's or thank-you's here.

I find my spot on the table with the others and we play a game of Uno. We get halfway through the game when the first of our pancakes start to arrive. The pancake, that's singular, is absolutely massive. I drink my chocolate milkshake while I watch others struggle with their massive pancakes. Breakfast milkshake is always a great choice!

Then the rest of our breakfast starts to appear and Dandelion and I happily help all the vegans in our group to get rid of their bacon. I'm glad I didn't get to order the extra bacon.

After the breakfast Sunshine, Fire-ant, and I visit the Triple Crown Outfitters next door. Partly because we want to check out their selection, and partly because we really want to meet Yogi, the owner of the store. She's a triple crown long distance hiker and famous for her PCT handbooks. 

After a quick visit to her store we end up waiting for over 40 minutes for the next shuttle back. It's too hot to be outside.

Once back at the grocery store, it's time to go through my resupply package. I've already forgotten what I had prepared for myself a month and a half ago.

I find a good, shaded spot on the terrace and start going through the package. Lots of snacks, ice axe, microspikes, ziplock bags. But I can't find my base layer. What have I done with it? I even called Mikko about a week ago to check that I wasn't accidentally stupid enough to leave it out of the Sierra package.

Also, no meals, only snacks. I forgot to tell Mikko to take the meals out from the fridge where I stashed them before leaving. Me and my memory.

But not having the meals is actually a good thing because my, or our, Sierra plan has changed with the snow. We're now going to Lone Pine, which is only three days away. That means I don't need as much food as I originally had planned to ship here. And now I'm shipping all the extra food to Lone Pine so I'm saving money not having to ship a ton of food.

I fill the bear can with three days worth of snacks, then fill the empty space with my other gear. Fitting the bear can in my 40 liter pack is going to be interesting.

After I have my gear sorted out, I ship the rest to Lone Pine and pack my backpack. Everything fits barely. I can make it to Lone Pine by stuffing other gear to the bear can, but from Lone Pine onwards the food carriages are going to be bigger. I need to switch back to my 48 liter MLD Prophet.

Poison Ivy and Camp Counselor leave as they want to hike 8 miles out of Kennedy Meadows to a good camping spot. I stay behind with our tramily and we sit in the shade, drink beers and sodas, and enjoy resting.

We have no clear plan on how to hike from here on out. I feel like I want to do some miles today so I plan to catch up to Camp Counselor and Poison Ivy. Others plan to hike just 2 miles to the nearest campground.

It's getting late, which is good for getting to hike in a cooler weather. It's starting to look like no one is leaving, but I want to get back on the trail, so I leave alone. I'll do the 8 miles in few hours and meet the others tomorrow.

I hike the road walk back to the trail and start hiking as the sun is setting. The views are magnificent. I'm walking on a meadow between two mountain ranges, watching the sun set. The air is nice and cool and sparrows are flying around me.

On the way I pass two campgrounds and then it gets dark. I switch on my headlamp and pass a third campground. These are actual campgrounds, with spots for cars and so on. I see many bonfires and people car camping.

After the third campground the trail swirls up to a forest and starts to climb. I listen to music and hike with a good pace. This is so fun!

As the night gets darker, all the animals start to appear. I see tens of scorpions, spiders, and other creatures. At one point I turn my headlamp up to the right of me and see a pair of eyes staring at me. They follow me for a while and I pump up the power on my headlamp. A coyote. We stare at each other for a while and then she turns and disappears back in to the trees. I see her, or some of her friends, few more times during the hike.

At one point the trail takes a sharp turn left and crosses a river. At that turn I see many tents as people are camping there. As I leave the camp behind me on the other side of the river, I hear a dog starting to bark at the camp. Must be the coyotes following me that startled him.

I'm in such a good hiking mood that I soon notice I'm almost done with the 7.3 miles to the campground where the girls were planning to stay. Wonder if they are there.

As I approach the spot I see their tent and switch my headlamp to a low power. I try not to wake them up but as I get closer, they both wake up. They were sleeping softly as they had seen eyes around the campground. Must be the coyotes.

I setup cowboy camp next to their tent and quickly fall asleep. It's good to be hiking again and out of the desert!

Date: June 16, 2017
Miles: 6.7 miles (10.8km), from mile 695,5 to Kennedy Meadows.
Health: Feeling a little tired from the heat.

Today is going to be the day we're reaching the official ending of the PCT desert section. While this is something everyone has been anxiously waiting, for me it's going to be a bitter sweet achievement as I had to skip a weeks worth of the trail and I don't really feel like I hiked all the way here.

I started out with the plan of hiking a continuous footpath from Mexico to Canada but trail logistics and getting injured got in the way. While I'm not the only one who has had to skip sections, and even though I'm planning on doing those skipped sections later, I just don't feel as good as I hoped to getting here. But I do feel great proudness and joy for my fellow hikers who have hiked the whole way here.

This morning we woke up with Fyre and saw no sight of the others. They had not rolled in during the night. I made a big stick arrow on the trail to point to the spot we were camping in.

Fyre got out fast and I left more slowly after her. I tried to eat some breakfast and went through my snack collection while hiking but just couldn't make myself eat any of the bars I had left. All I could think was the burgers and ice cold sodas at the KM General Store. I decided to skip breakfast and just get there fast.

As I got out of the forest we slept in, I could see how the scenery started to change. We were clearly still in the desert but the mountains around us looked different, more grey than the red and yellow ones we've seen for the past month and a half.

I quickly reached the Kern river that starts from the melting snow in the Sierras. By the river I met the three sisters we hitched with from Lake Isabella, and soon after them Fyre and Otter and Otters trail family. We all left in a big group and started to hike towards the junction to the Kennedy Meadows.

From the river the trail starts a slow, gradual climb. The air was getting really hot, even thought it wasn't even 9 o'clock yet. I started to run out of energy and stayed behind. Not eating a breakfast wasn't the smartest decision. I thought about eating something but I just couldn't stomach the idea of a Clif bar. Only three more miles, I can do that.

Soon we reached the 700 mile marker. For me that was about 560 mile marker. I took a quick photo but didn't feel any feeling of accomplishment. I hated that I had to skip, while at the same time, I knew it was the only option for me.

The trail soon reaches the Kern river again and there's an excellent spot for swimming. I stop for a moment to look at the river but I'm so hungry that I have to continue. I'm melting from the heat but I need to get that burger. Swimming can wait.

I keep looking at Guthooks to see the mileage even though I know it's a mistake. Zero point six miles. Zero point four miles. Zero point two miles. I wish I was there already.

I finally reach the junction to the KM General Store. From here it's a mile long road walk. The hard road feels really weird and hurts to walk on. I drink the last of my water and moments later I'm offered a ride to the store but I want to walk all the way and politely decline the offer.

Soon I see the sign and as I approach, I get applauded by reaching the end of the desert. It's an custom that when ever a new hiker gets in, everyone cheers and applauds them.

I'm too hungry to think of anything else except for food and drop my pack to the first possible spot and head to the grill. After a moment of stumbling around, I find the small window where you make orders but I'm told the grill is closed. They closed at 10am. It's 10.05am.

I'm told they open again at 11am so I head to the store to get some ice cold soda to fill my stomach with. I can't decide between Gatorade and Dr Pepper so I just get both. It's starting to get way too hot for me and it's only going to get hotter in the coming days. Thank god we're done with the desert.

I soon find a lot of familiar faces and hear from people I haven't seen in days or weeks. Blis is also here and we get to chill. It's been a while.  We watch and cheer all the new hikers coming in and when ever there's a familiar face, we go and greet them at the door. Everyone's happy to be here.

Finally the grill opens and I get my double cheese bacon burger. It's so good! I get more sodas and try to drink the heat away.

Then we see Queso coming in. And then, one by one, the rest of our tramily comes in. We're all together again! They tell us that they had seen the note we left them about the bear but had gotten there only this morning.

The rest of the day is spend opening everyone's resupply packages, wondering about all the new Sierra gear and how it's going to fit in our packs, and just goofing around with friends. I get another round of burgers and drink more sodas. The best part about thru-hiking is that you are required to consume as many calories as you possibly can.

I leave my resupply boxes for tomorrow. It's going to be interesting to see how all my Sierra gear and the bear canister are going to fit my new, smaller, 40 liter backpack. Luckily I only have to make it to Lone Pine, which is about three days away. That's where I shipped my larger backpack. That's also where I hope to have some connection to update my blog again.

I fall asleep again under the stars. In few days we're going to be above 10,000 feet (3km) in snow in the Sierra. I can't wait!

Date: June 15, 2017
Miles: 19.6 miles (31.5km), from mile 675.9 to mile 695.5.
Health: My legs are very tired from all the climbing yesterday. Shin feels good.

The wind kept whirling around the saddle and while we were camping little bit below, it still got to us a little. I woke up few times during the night and the stars were really beautiful.

As my alarm went off at 4.45am I turned it off and turned on my side so I could see the sun rising behind the mountain range far in the distance, slowly starting to illuminate the Mojave desert floor far below us. What a view to wake up to!

Otter and Fyre were still asleep so I didn't rush out of my sleeping bag, instead I just gazed at the beautiful sunrise for an good 45 minutes. Then I noticed Otter was getting up so I started to get moving also.

Otter was fast out the camp as she wants to make the 23 miles to the Kern River before evening. Fyre and I are only doing about 17 miles to a campsite with a water source so we are in no rush. We're hoping that the rest of our tramily catches up to us today.

The trail goes down first for about 2.5 miles and then follows along the valley floor for the rest of the way to our first water source. The trail is easy and flat so we can just easily cruise while eating breakfast.

We fill our water bottles, eat the second breakfast and start getting ready for the 2,500 feet (762m) climb up from the valley. We heard some rumors about possible trail magic on the road before the climb but sadly there was none.

The climb is much better graded than the one we did last night. But it's still a long climb. After about hour and a half I stop at the last water source before our camp. The spring is at about one third of the way up the climb and I'm already winded. That's what resting for a week does to your legs.

I take a rest at the spring and eat early lunch as I'm still hungry. More people show up and we have an early siesta. But we can't stay for too long as the sun is getting higher and we still have a long way to climb.

After about an hour of climbing I catch up to Fyre while she's having a water and snack break in a small shade little off the trail. The trail climbs through a burn area so there's very little shade to be found. We sit on a log and talk about the others, wondering where they are and how we miss them.

As we're almost up we get back on the hot trail and start hiking towards the top. We can already see it in the distance. I reach the top first and as I turn around the corner I just start yelling in joy. Fyre is just few steps behind me and as she sees what I'm seeing, she starts yelling as well. We see a long line of tall, snow capped mountains. The Sierra Nevada mountain range. Our next destination.

The desert section is so close to the end and finally seeing the Sierras makes it feel so much more real. We can't believe we've made it this far.

From here we start the climb down to the last valley before the Sierra. Down there there's a small spot called Kennedy Meadows where all our Sierra gear is waiting for us. But we first have to reach it. Blis is pushing there already today, but we're fine getting there tomorrow and doing an easier day.

While seeing the mountains brought a smile on my face, it soon fades as the hot sun and trail melts me at every step. Even if we're going downhill, it still feels like I'm just draining energy. I rest at every possible shade but the trail just keeps going. 

Finally I see the valley ahead of me and start the last descent. At the bottom there's a small stream and a camp site but very little shade. Fyre's already there. I drop myself and my gear in the shade and complain about the heat.

More hikers show up and we talk about the rumors that there's a bear that comes up to this campsite. While others head on to different sites closer to Kennedy Meadows, we stay here with Fyre as it's the one where our friends probably will make it tonight. It's the only spot where they could camp unless they'll do a really short day.

As others leave, we set up our cowboy camps quite close to each other, just in case there's any truth behind those bear rumors.

As Fyre heads out to "little girls room", I stay in the camp and start making evening snacks. After I get my food bag from my backpack I turn around and right behind me I see a large creature looking at me. A black bear less than 30 feet from me on the stream. I freeze.

I start going through all the things to do when encountering a bear in my head. The first thing I remember is yelling. Then I remember Fyre is somewhere out there in the brush. So I yell "Um, Fyre, there's a bear in here!". I hear a "what?" from not far. "A BEAR!" I yell.

I turn back to the bear and just as I'm about to yell at her, I remember, a photo! No one's going to believe me without a photo. Luckily my camera is right next to me and I quickly take two photos. I'm certain that she knows I'm there but she starts coming closer so I yell at her. No reaction. I yell louder and also yell at Fyre as the bear is moving to her direction. Again no reaction from the bear. She doesn't seem to be afraid of humans at all. Not good.

She's now about 20 feet from me so I take a large rock and throw it as close to her as I dare. As the rock is leaving my hand I start thinking how wise it is to anger a huge furry beast who's that close to me, thinking she can charge the gap between us before I can even start yelling out "mommy".

The rock hits a pile of rocks next to her and she jumps and retreats back to the stream. Thank god. But she's still way too close for comfort. I keep yelling at her but as there's no reaction, I throw another rock at her. It lands right next to her in the stream and she retreats to the brush. Fyre comes over right as the bear disappears from view.

I can still hear her not far and we decide that we're not camping here. As she's still close by, looking at us from the brush, I chase her off one more time. She still doesn't go far, but far enough that we feel safe to back up our things.

As we're leaving we leave a note for the others about the bear. It will be completely dark when they get here but hopefully they'll see it.

As we climb out of the camp the light starts to fade and it starts to get dark. We take out our headlamps and hike on. We make jokes that the only thing missing from this would be to run into a rattlesnake tonight. Less than fifteen minutes later I jump as there's a rattlesnake right next to the trail preying. Great!

We decide not to make any more jokes about any animal encounters and move on, giving the snake enough space. Two miles out we find a perfect spot and we set up our camp again.

Tomorrow we hit the Kern river in the morning and then make our way to Kennedy Meadows and officially end the PCT desert section. It's time for the Sierras! And I got to see a bear!

Date: June 14, 2017
Miles: 19.1 miles (30.7km), from mile 656.9 to mile 675.9.
Health: Feeling great! Still careful not to put too much stress on the right leg.

Fyre had setup an alarm but we somehow missed it and woke up at 6am. We could watch the sun rise over the desert floor from our sleeping bags, it was so nice to be back here again. Sadly we couldn't enjoy the view for too long as we had to get some miles in before the heat returns.

The weather report is predicting +100 degree (38c) weather here in few days. I'm so glad to be out of here by then but feel bad for the ones behind us. Today is thankfully "cooler", with the highs of 85 (29c).

Fyre leaves before me and I'm soon hiking after her. I catch up to her as she's eating breakfast on the side of the trail, looking over the Mojave from high up the mountain.

The trail is really beautiful. We're now in the Southern Sierra Nevada mountains and you can slowly see the desert starting to change. The trail follows along the mountain range and we're constantly climbing upwards. It doesn't feel that bad as the grade is very subtle.

My new backpack feels amazing. I was a bit worried about going hipbeltless but it actually feels really liberating to hike without the hipbelt.

On one of the saddles I notice writing on the trail. It says "Blis" with large letters. This is probably where he slept last night. We were only few miles apart.

I soon reach the first water source of the day and as I get closer I notice a piece of paper on a rock next to the water. It has all our names on it and inside Blis has left a message. He's doing a long day today. We could in theory catch up to him but I don't want to push too much with my recovering leg. And there's no rush, we'll make it to Kennedy Meadows on the same day anyway.

I sit down and have second breakfast. Fyre soon catches up to me, as does Taylor and the Swiss. We rest for an hour and fill our bottles. It's not a long carry to the next water.

As we left I take the lead on the trail and about mile out I'm stepping next to a rock when a snake dashes out from the other side of the rock and scares the living daylight out of me. I must have jumped a good feet or two. Not cool snake! It looked like a small baby racer snake which are not dangerous to us, but it still got me good.

Hiking feels easy and the miles go by fast. Soon I reach the next and last water source of the day. It's getting really hot so I setup my gear in the shade and start my siesta. No need to hike any more in the heat as it's getting close to midday and the hottest part of the day.

Fyre soon follows as does few others. After about an hour I hear a familiar voice coming down the trail and it's Otter. They've caught up to us. Otter's entire trail family follows along and there's a nice pack of hikers having a siesta around us soon. It's fun to swap trail stories with everyone.

The sun keeps moving and soon I run out of shade. I move my spot way down to the water where it's way cooler. I soon fall asleep.

As I wake up, it's about time to start hiking again. From here on, the trail climbs for quite a while. It's still hot but we need to get going as it's going to take few hours to get up.

I wet my bandana in the stream before I leave but it dries in few minutes in the heat. We snake up the hill in a long row, every now and then leapfrogging each other. I start way too fast because I'm so excited to be hiking again and soon run out of steam and need to slow down.

I set to my regular pace which allows me to hike easier without taking stops. At one point the grade gets so steep that I need to take out my second hiking pole to get traction. The mountain looks clearly different from the ones in the desert. Instead of yellow sandy rock, it's more granite and blue/grayish. The faces and drops from the trail are also steeper.

At one point almost at the top we run into an older southbound hiker who tells us that there have been a beer sighting not far where we are. Hi tells a story about how it apparently came to their camp. We're definitely getting closer to Sierra.

Finally I reach the campsite we had planned to camp on. There are two close to each other on a saddle. I check out the first one and it has great views down to the desert. As others are not here yet, I decide to hike forward to check out the other one. It's only few minutes from the first one.

As I reach the second camp it's all hidden in a thick brush and there are now views into any direction. Also there are already a lot of tents here. I decide to head back to the first one.

Fyre is already there setting camp and Otter arrives soon. We three decide to stay there while others push to the second one. I soon fall asleep watching the stars.

Date: June 13, 2017
Miles: 4.8 miles (7.7km), from Walker Pass to mile 656.9.
Health: Feeling excited to get back on the trail. Shin feels good but I haven't used it at all so I'm a bit worried how it's going to feel under stress. 

We woke up late. There was nowhere to go or be in the morning. I lazily get up around 7am and go to hang out with Fyre and Blis who are both up already. The plan is to walk a mile back to town to get coffee and breakfast.

As we're about to leave, the camp manager comes over and reminds us that the sprinkler system goes off in about an hour and we should move our tents and gear before that, if we don't want to get them all wet. We just pack all our gear as we're leaving sometime later today.

We take our packs to a shade and start walking to the breakfast cafe. As we get there we see it's absolutely slammed. We're hungry so we start looking for a new breakfast option. Fyre and I go to Subway while Blis gets some chicken from the gas station and joins us in the air conditioned Subway.

We do nothing but sit around and have goofy conversations. The Post Office opens at 10am so we have time to kill. We take turns guessing what each other's bedrooms look like. We start with Fyre's. Blis is way off but I nail it almost perfectly. Then we do Blis's and mine. That takes about an hour and the Post Office opens soon.

I have two packages waiting for me. One from Gossamer Gear and one from Pa'lante Packs. My new backpack has arrived! And we ordered foam pads from Gossamer Gear to add some warmth underneath us on the Sierra snow.

Just as we're outside the Post Office talking how we've not seen a single Pa'lante Pack on the trail, another hiker comes by with the same pack. It's Roadrunner and he got his pack here as well.

Crimson and Chillstep are having some difficulties with their packages. All the PCT resupply infos use General Delivery as the address for the Post Offices but this only works with USPS. When you order something from someone like Amazon, where you can't select the delivery company, your package can get lost or not delivered unless you use the actual physical address of the Post Office. It feels silly that a company like UPS can't find the Lake Isabella Post Office without the actual address on the package.

I'm so happy to have my new pack so I just head back to the RV park to test it out with my gear. Everything fits in perfectly and the pack feels great on my back. I was thinking of hiking the 50 miles from Walker Pass to Kennedy Meadows with the new pack and carry my old pack inside, but after Fyre called that plan "stupid", I went back to the Post Office and Priority mailed the old pack to Lone Pine.

I'm trying to see if I can fit my Sierra gear in the Pa'lante Pack in Kennedy Meadows. It's only three days from KM to Lone Pine so I'm sure I can make that no matter what.

On the way back from Post Office we stop by the Subway again and have lunch/dinner there as well. When we're leaving, we see Queso and Pony hop out of a car and going to the Post Office. We go say hi and then walk back to the RV park with them.

By now Blis has gone on with Wilder, Crimson, and Chillstep. When we get to the RV park we start wondering how we're getting up to the Walker Pass where the trailhead is. It's a 37 mile hitch up the mountain. As we're wondering this, I see a car pull up and a bunch of our friends piling out. I ran over to say hi and casually talk to the person who drove them here. I ask if she would be willing to do one more trip up the mountain and she agrees. Wohoo!

I call Fyre over and run to get my gear. Three sisters, who are section hiking, join us on the ride and we stuff all six of us into the car. The drive takes a while but we're finally up at the trailhead. We thank our driver, give her some money for the gas, and then shoulder our packs and start hiking. Man it feels good to be back!

The trail is basically all uphill and we climb up as the sun is slowly setting. We don't want to push it too much, and it's already late, so we only do 4.8 miles. We find a nice little camp spot on a saddle and set up our camp. Someone has build a small wind shelter there and we take advantage of that.

We look at the sunset but as it's cold, we quickly get into our sleeping bags. We've rested so much that we don't feel tired and end up talking late into the night while looking up at the stars. It's just Fyre and I. We wonder where everyone else is.

In few days we're going to be in Kennedy Meadows and officially be done with the desert. I'm already looking forward to Sierra.

Date: June 12, 2017
Miles: 0. 
Health: Feeling better. Shin feels good enough to walk on. 

It's Monday and finally time to start moving again. My shin feels like it has recovered well enough to hike and I can't wait to get back on the trail again.

Crumbs is going with Legend to Kennedy Meadows. Chopsticks, Fyre and I are taking the bus to Lake Isabella, and I'm dropping Poison Ivy and Camp Counselor at the Highway 58 and they're continuing their hike.

I first drop off the girls at the Highway 58 and then drive to Willow Springs road to drop off Crumbs. Once there Legend invites me in and we have a breakfast. Soon we make a change of plans and I'm going to drive Legends truck and trailer to Lake Isabella, and he drives his RV with Crumbs.

As Legend still has few errands to do before we can head out, I drive two sets of hikers back to town. Then we find one hiker to drive Legends truck with me to town so that I can drop off Rachel's truck, pick up Fyre and Chopsticks, and get my gear. As I'm doing this, I see someone waiving at me across the road in town by the bakery and as I slow down I see Poison Ivy and Camp Counselor. What are they doing here? I just drove them to the trailhead earlier in the morning.  

The girls tell me they had turned around due to the strong winds and were skipping with us to Lake Isabella. What a great timing! They hop on and I drive back to the house to pick up Fyre and Chopsticks. Then we head back to Willow Springs road trailhead.

After everything is ready we get on the road. I can only drive 45 miles per hour as the breaks on the truck are not the best, and the heavy trailer behind the truck is so heavy.

After a long drive we make it to the Walker Pass, which is the spot where PCT hikers hitch down to Lake Isabella. It's a 37 mile hitch so it's not the easiest.

At Walker Pass we meet Copper Tone again, and few of our trail friends. Otter is there and we find out our timing was perfect as she's celebrating her 21st (I think?) birthday today. We make plans to celebrate once in town  

Our celebration is cut short as we're offered a ride to town and we graciously accept. As we're driving down I get a message from Blis that he's staying at the RV park. So that's where we're heading too.

We all get dropped off at the RV park and hobble in to get our spots on the beautiful green grass. It feels so soft! The place is full of our trail buddies so it's great to be here.

It's quite windy and Fyre and I struggle to get our shelters up. It's been way too long since I last pitched my tarp.

Derek and Kelley come over to tell us that everyone is going to the Moose Lodge close-by to watch the NBA finals, drink $6 pitchers, and eat burgers. Soon we're all there enjoying ice cold beer and burgers.

Fyre, Blis, and I stay longer and talk with the owners of the bar about hiking, country music, and traveling. Once we start heading out we're told there's a short cut to the camp but it's dark so we're not quite sure if we're going the right way. On the way I go through a narrow passage and didn't see the barbwire behind me and rip my down jacket open from the back real good. There's a big hole on the back and I can barely hold the down in. In camp Fyre helps me fix the hole with Tenacious tape. Good as new!

We have few more beers on the bonfire and then head to bed. Tomorrow we get back on the trail and I feel so excited.