Just as soon as I’m ready to climb into my tent for the night, Owl and Phoenix show up, to be followed ssoon by more new faces. It’s quite pleasant, but the temperature starts to drop rapidly as the sun drops. I finally get to one back in the trees with a small creek. For the next several miles, the trail passes through are right next to a meadow, so I’m concerned about windy camp sites. I consider camping there, but there isn’t water and it’s a little too early. As the trail tops out at saddle, the wind is the worst, but there are trees in my future, and they sure do knock the wind down. His name is Gavin and he’s fresh on the trail, so no trail name yet. The rattlesnake I almost stepped on in plain site was quite the shock welcome back to the trail.Īt a water source, a new hiker shows up. My mood drops as I struggle through the wind. With the elevation and lack of protection from trees, the wind picks up. Once the trail crosses the “river”, however, things change. The weather is perfect warm without being hot, little wind, and no clouds in the sky. The trail now leaves the sandy meadow and becomes a dirt path following the river upstream. Wow! And I even recognize a couple of the names, too. The PCT trail register there indicates that something like 30 people passed through here in the last 2 1/2 days.
But soon enough I come the end of the road where there’s a campground and day-use parking area. Within sight of the trail are many river access points, so cars and people are always in view. Soon enough, I’m hiking alone along the South Fork of the Kern River. He’s hiked the Appalachain Trail before, and she is working on her first hike like me. Starting at the same time are two hikers I’ve never met before: Owl and Pheonix. At times like this, I feel so guilty about leaving her and the family. She has been so supportive of my selfish endeavor. One of the hardest things I’ve done on the trail so far was to turn around and look back at her. She drives me to the trailhead and I’m off and hiking at 11. This place is a lot less crowded and quieter than when I left two-ish weeks ago.
We had breakfast at Grumpy Bears Retreat. Sarah and I took the long mountain drive from Kernville to Kennedy Meadows.
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