Day 63
Today's Miles: 13.1
Today is the day! We only have around 13 miles to make it to Kennedy Meadows!
We started out the day with a quick 4.5 miles down hill to the next water source. We hiked this section completely dry because we dry camped last night. This always makes me a little nervous, but hopefully in the upcoming sections water won't be such an issue. It will feel weird hiking without a water report after today. The water report has been like our bible for the last 600 plus miles.
The sun was just peaking over the hills as we were coming down. I was glad to get out of the exposed burn area before it got too hot.
We got to the water source and chatted with Clutch for a half hour or so. Clutch is awesome! He gave me a little section of a sleeping pad the other day and I have been using it as a butt pad during breaks. Oh the luxury!
Tailgate was sure this would be the last cactus for a while. Still yet to be seen.
A little bit of green must mean water! We were approaching the south fork of the Kern River and I was excited because this will be on of the largest bodies of water we have seen on the trail so far.
Definitely big enough to soak our feet.
There was a large fish here that was taunting tailgate as we soaked our feet.
After we left the Kern we headed out across the meadow. It was surprisingly hot.
We made it past 700!
AND we made it to THE Kennedy Meadows!
I got a little emotional as we dropped down into the meadow. Arriving here is such a big milestone for us! I have been dreaming of arriving here since we started planning this trip and now we are actually here! Bring on the water and trees galore, I am ready for a change of pace!
We got into town and were greeted by the crew at Tom's place and then we headed up to the store.
At the store we grabbed our two packages and had a "rambler" burger at the burger shack (double burger with cheddar and pepper jack cheese, sautéed onions and BBQ sauce).
In the afternoon, Tailgate noticed there was a little smoke in the air and by the evening we were beginning to become concerned about the nearby fire.
I guess Lifeboat was concerned too because he was camped just a few miles away and picked up camp when he saw the smoke. He showed up to Tom's while we were watching Water Boy in the outdoor amphitheater.
Above you can see the sun setting into a smoky sky.
The last 700 miles have been such an adventure, and I can only imagine what the upcoming trail has in store for us. I am so happy to have made it here. I am just savoring every moment of this personal victory.
This seems like another good time to thank our supportive followers, family and friends again. We can't say it enough! Thank you! We know you all are celebrating in spirit with us here!
-Twist
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