Beauty & the Beast (D-36 709.5 - 735.5; D-37 735.5

Beauty & the Beast (D-36 709.5 - 735.5; D-37 735.5 - 760)

All I can say is that Seirras are absolutely beautiful and very tough too. Meadows, rivers, creeks and steep climbs up mountains. Unlike the desert, the elevation gradients are higher and the trail is not uniform.

Here are a few pics:

Bridge over Kern River

Kennedy Meadows

Saw a few more snow plants...they are so pretty (& interesting - thanks Lisa & Ritu) that I had to share again

A change in signage

Signs now on trees, instead of boards

Crossing a meadow

View of Owens Valley from the crest @ 10650 ft where I camped on Day 36

Mountains all around and meadows

Chicken Spring lake - the first lake I have seen on PCT

Filtering water at the Lake

For those who have had Biscoff cookies on Delta airlines and loved them, there is now Biscoff butter. Love it!

Some more scenery

My campsite on D-37 with Rock Creek flowing next to the tentsite and deer walking around in the meadow

Data:

D-36

D-37

NOTE: Another feature of the Seirras is that there is essentially zero cell phone connectivity. In fact haven't had any signal since the day I left Kennedy Meadows. So, while I am writing these blogs in real-time, it will be 10-14 days or so before it will be posted online when I get back into town & you will be able to read them. So, till Musk's satellite-based cell service (Starlink?) becomes a reality in a couple of years, this is the best we have.

Comments

A thru-hike attempt... successful! (D-117: 2642.6 - 2653.6, D-117S (SOBO): 0 - 17.1, D-118S (SOBO): 17.1-30.6)

It is done! Finally, on August 10th, 2022, 117 days after I started at the US-Mexico border on April 16th, 2022, I reached the US-Canada border. Walked 2653.6 miles (4270.6 km) south-to-north through the states of California, Oregon and Washington. No bittersweet moments...just sweet relief to be done 😀. We were few of the lucky thru-hikers this year who were able to go south-to-north continuously without any interruptions. People who started even a couple of weeks earlier and maintained this pace hit a lot more snow in Seirras and a hell lot more in Washington, the latter being almost hike-stopping. By the time we got to Seirras, the snow was much more manageable, and almost all the snow had melted in Washington. People who started later or were slower have had to skip parts of Northern California due to forest fires. Even Oregon and Southern California have some fires starting already. Anyway, reached the northern terminus of the PCT yesterday morn...

Resupply (4 days to go)

(Finally gave up on HikerFeed app which seemed good on paper, but never worked properly for me 🙁) 10-day resupply in the bear canister, ready to ship - 7.6 kg / 16.8 lbs (gulp!) Already shipped the first box last week

Wind, constant wind & Trail Provides (D-4)

Finally the hike thru the "real" desert - as I had imagined it - happened today. No trees at all, only shrubs, cacti, dusty, wide flat vistas and absolutely relentless wind that almost never let up till the late evening. The wind was so strong in the second half of the day that it even literally pushed me uphill sometimes. The extra backpack weight seemed like the only thing that kept me from being blown here & there 😄. One good thing about the wind...it made the day seem cooler. And wind/sun way better than wind/rain. I have been drinking water from 1 liter bottles that are kept in the side pocket of my pack. Unfortunately they are not easy to access and I have to carry a bottle in my hand when I need to sip it frequently. This is a pain! So, I had decided to buy a thin tube at the next town in a few days and insert it into the bottle cap to make a flexible straw to make my life easier. However, this afternoon, I came upon the water cache ...

A thru-hike attempt

Search This Blog