- Date: 2023-06-21
- Pct day: 47
- Start: Mile 695
- End: Mile 703
- Distance: 8 miles
- Ascent: NA
- Descent: NA
- Start name: NA
- End name: Kennedy Meadows South
- Wake up: 06:30
- Start hiking: 07:30
- At camp: 11:00
- In bed: 20:00
- Where I slept: cowboy/tent
- Shower: yes
- Best thing: making it to Kennedy Meadows South!
- Worst thing: stress about the sierras; frost over me
Key moments
- Woke up covered in frost
- We ignored one of Larry’s rules: “don’t cowboy camp next to a stream”
- My entire sleeping bag was covered in a layer of frost and I just found myself giggling away at this
- I look over and noticed that Mariah’s quilt was also entirely covered in frost
- It was all quite ridiculous and I had a good chuckle about it
- Graham arrived at the campsite, hadn’t seen the guy for about 500 miles, it was really nice to see him!
- Beth and I headed off to make it to Kennedy Meadows, we’d heard that you get a round of applause when you make it there, so we were quite excited about that!
- Sure enough we made it to the general store and a bunch of hikers gave us a round of applause!
- I bought everyone a round of beers and enjoyed chatting to a bunch of the hikers there, it was weird to see so many pct hikers together in one spot. The most hikers I’d seen together was about 20, and there were probably 60 hikers.
- We got a ride to Grumpys. Basically there are two main places people stay: Grumpys is free camping, showers, and laundry, but you need to buy most of your food from the kitchen and also pay for wifi. The general store has general store food you can buy, as well as a restaurant, and free wifi but you need to pay for showers and laundry and camping.
- Felt really nice to walk into Grumpys and have a bunch of friends I haven’t seen in ages all hanging out there. A nice little cheer and moment of “Heeyyyyy! How ARE YOU?! WHERE have you been?”. It was cool.
- I got to meet the somewhat famous “Yogi”, who runs an awesome outfitter store in a shipping container just near Grumpy’s, called “Triple Crown Outfitters”. There are two outfitters in KMS (Kennedy Meadows South), “Triple Crown Outfitters” at Grumpy’s, and the silver trailer of “2 Foot Adventures” at the General Store.
- There is apparently some rivalry between the two stores, but I think that might be one particular dude who works for 2 Foot, the dude who was working there when I was there was an incredibly chilled out PCT Alumni who did stuff like let people return a brand new Leukotape if they found half a roll in a hiker box. He was just a chill dude.
- Yogi, who wrote a very popular guide to the PCT, was incredibly friendly and helpful, and had some really great infographics on resupply for the Sierras, and guides showing you how to efficiently pack a bear canister.
Plan from here
- I’ve decided I am going to go into the Sierras. Not a decision to be taken lightly - people have died crossing streams by themselves in high snow years. I want to be with a group of people I know and trust…
- And most people I know and trust are skipping the Sierras
- So I need to find a group of people to hike with in the Sierras.
- I want to take at least 1 or 2 more zero days
- I’ve got to sort out food for 10 days, an itinerary for 10 days, and also sort out some other random bits of gear. Like Crampons, Ice axes.
Animals Sighted
Gear thoughts
- I am about to spend more money on gear. That’s exciting. But also…I literally don’t know how I’m going to fit 10 days of food into a 44L pack that is already kind of full?
- Looking forward to swapping out my sleeping bag and sleeping pad to something warmer for the Sierras
Physical condition
- Some blisters on my feet. Got new shoes, felt like a sort of a new man.
Thoughts and Observations
- I heard a banging sound at the porch of Grumpies. It was a dude using the handle of his ice axe to crush up a bunch of fritos so they could be more compact in his bag.
- Most people were skipping the Sierras entirely, working out a way to get from Kennedy Meadows South (KMS), or walking out of the first part of the Sierras into Cottonwood Pass, 3 days out from KMS, then flipping up to Truckee or Chester.
Some of the bad things
- Stress of working out what to do for the next few days
Quotes of the day
- the trail is the family
#pct #pct2023 #pctclassof2023
