Kennedy Meadows is nothing like what I expected. It is smaller, much smaller. There is a general store, a small restaurant attached to the store, a pay phone, and a smattering of homes throughout the immediate area. One of the locals has some land and he collects old RV trailers and campers and has them arranged in a sort of neighborhood for hikers. It's fantastic. I've got my own trailer where I've slept better than I have the entire trip, hotels included!
After arriving into KM on Saturday afternoon at 3, I went straight to the restaurant because it closed at 4 and I was starving. After a double cheeseburger, I went to work immediately taking a shower in the outdoor (but private) shower behind the general store. They charge $2 for this service. Next, I did all my laundry (less than a load) for another $2. By the time I had the clothes drying on the line behind the store, I bumped into some of my new friends from the trail and they informed me of the hiker neighborhood down the road. I took my stuff, claimed a trailer bunk and went to work preparing for the longest uninterrupted leg of the trail--175 miles. All the way from KM to Vermilion Valley Resort (VVR) on Lake Edison.
Since I'm going from more of a desert climate to a mountain climate, I had to switch out a bunch of gear. To make room for some of my new gear, I reduced my water capacity and switched from a filter to a chemical treatment called Aqua Mira. Since there is lots of water available in the Sierras, I'll have to carry for about a maximum of five miles instead of twenty. I'm switching to Aqua Mira because the water in the desert is oftentimes murky and full of particulate matter. That isn't a problem in the Sierras. Next I added my stove back to my pack. I had removed it earlier to save weight. I also added some additional clothes, mainly raingear for the potential thunderstorms in the mountains. Additionally, I added a liner for my sleeping bag to bump it up a few degrees at night. Unfortunately I also had to add what every hiker hates--the bear canister. It's a bear-proof can that you put your food in to protect it from hungry bears. The can itself weighs 2.5 lbs. It may not seem like much but over the course of a mile, an afternoon, a day...trust me...it adds up. So after making all the necessary switches, the weight basically became a wash, which i was happy about. I was really expecting the weight to be more than what I had arrived into KM with. But basically I traded water weight for food weight. And I'll definitely need the food because it'll take me about 10 days to go from KM to VVR. The reasons are twofold: 1. the higher elevation will slow me down, and 2. I'll be going to the top of Mt. Whitney on Friday, June 26. Mt. Whitney is the highest point in the continental U.S. at 14,491 feet. The trip to the top takes about a day and I'm looking forward to the views, some of which I'll be able to share with you all when I get back to an area with a cell network.
At the moment I think I'm going to wrap this up and get to bed so that I can feel relatively fresh in the morning. I'll definitely have my work cut out for me over the next several days until I get some of my food consumed which will mean a lighter backpack!
I anticipate poor or nonexistent network coverage for the next while, so I'll keep updating from computer terminals whenever I can.
Thanks for reading!
According to your schedule you should be coming into the Edison Lake area. The Leslie family has been there and gone conoeing on that lake. Our church youth group also backpacked out of that region. I have been praying for you, your personal efforts involved in this adventure and for your efforts to raise money in these very difficult economic times. Be safe, and I hope your stuff is waiting for you at Vermillion.
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