Last night I didn't get much sleep. With the wind whipping through the trees and a nearly full moon bathing the land in moonlight, I sat awake, snacking on roasted almonds and beef jerky, and thinking about my mom, who passed away on this day 25 years ago due to breast cancer. Sure do miss her. Finally managed some fitful sleep well after midnight, but was up again before morning's first light. "Might as well hit the trail", I thought. So, that's exactly what I did. My headlamp and the remaining moonlight gave me plenty enough illumination to see the path in front of me. I'd walked a couple of miles this way, when suddenly in the distance, I saw another light coming toward me on the trail. Who in blazes would be stupid enough to be up this early? :-) Turns out it was a couple of kids with a hunting rifle. First day of deer hunting season and they were looking to bag a buck. I think they were more surprised to see me out there without a gun! Wished 'em luck and continued down the trail trying to make myself clearly visible and my presence known so nobody with an itchy trigger finger would think I was a deer. Well, this increase in anxiety must have addled my senses because I got off on the wrong trail running past Summit Meadow to Olancha Pass. It wasn't until I was once again staring at that dropoff into the valley easward that I realized that I had strayed. A quick look at the map and I knew where I had made my mistake. A bother, but not too much harm done. It is awful pretty up here. Ran into a few more hunters returning to their camp. In talking to them, I believe they were the father and older sister of the two boys I'd met before sunrise. They directed me to a shortcut back to the PCT that would save me a little time. So, you could say I took a bit of an alternate route. At noon, the sun was getting high, the air was getting hot, the trail was getting dusty, and I was back in cattle country near the South Fork of the Kern. In some places, I wasn't sure if I was still on the PCT or on some cow track. Huge open meadows provided plenty of fodder for these bovines and judging from the number of 4-wheel drives assembled in Beck Meadow, this place also served as deer hunting central. As the sun reached it's peak and the temperatures went from hot to boiling, it was just my luck to enter an extensive burn area, which meant no shade to be found. Boy, was I glad when the trail crossed the Kern for the second time that day. Shoes and socks came off, but the rest of me sat immersed neck deep in the cool water beneath the footbridge. Ahhhh! That was the most refreshing dip of the trip. Back on trail, it wasn't too long before the clothes had dried out and I was feeling the furnace once more. Fortunately, Kennedy Meadows wasn't far off. First I entered the campground, filled up on water, and had a snackat a shady picnic table then I continued along the trail crossing many dirt side roads until I hit the paved road into town. Lucky for me, I arrived at the post office/general store thirty minutes before they closed. Just enough time to get my package, mail off my bear can (bye-bye), and observe the ice cream ritual---Chocolate Fudge. Now I'm camped in the middle of a thicket along the banks of the Kern a couple of miles out of town.
Hoodoo Gateway
27 Miles
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