Cedar tree cowboy camp - Kennedy Meadows
Mile 685 - 702
Total 17 miles
My cell phone and all charger batteries are dead since yesterday, but the stars measure my time reliably on the trail. With stars fading I quickly get up on a chilly morning and start hiking to warm up, seeing a few hikers still in deep sleep along the trail. When the sun shows up I boil hot tea and warm up the remaining oatmeal supply for breakfast. Never before I have seen so many sunrises as on my PCT journey. And I am thankful for every morning, for the sun and its warmth. I am a child of light and every new dawn fills my soul with hope.
A coyote can be seen quietly climbing up the hillslope; and lizards, the beauty queens of the trail, have crawled from behind the rocks, catching the sun's first rays. California is baking in summer heat. Here in 8000 feet the heat is a gentle warmth, and from top of the ridge I see again the lofty snow covered high peaks of Sierra Nevada. Compared to few days ago the peaks look closer; and the amount of snow appears a little bit smaller.
The path leads me into a valley where I meet the hikers Makeshift and Helen Keller. They kindly let me use their solar charger to charge the cell phone. A river is only 5 miles ahead!
Accompanied by the song of cicadas making love, I walk a very easy stretch, probably the easiest section of the PCT so far, until my own lips shout out with song:
Boží láska jak řeka,
Boží radost jak řeka,
Boží pokoj ať plní duši mou!
Peace is flowing like a river,
Flowing out to you and me,
Flowing out into the desert,
Setting all the captives free!
The Kern River, flowing out of the high Sierras into the desert, is before my very eyes. With no hesitation I take off all clothes and jump into the cool river current. It is the first real river seen since starting my PCT walk; only the Deep Creek near mile 300 was comparable; but the Kern River is at least twice as strong. It is full of life, huge dragonflies flying above its swift waters. In places, beavers have built high dams and deep water ponds; and bees are flying everywhere around. I stayed at the river for a short time, warned by the bees not to hang out for too long. Then I followed its course for the next four miles and the "700" mile marker to the tiny little village of Kennedy Meadows.
At a bridge a road leads to Kennedy Meadows General Store. As I approached the store, cheering and clapping of other hikers greeted me. A happy time of reunion with my Czech friends Rocksteady and Lucy, with Snapdragon whom I saw last time 550 miles ago, with HG, and so many hikers known and soon to be known. There is a big party going on, at least 50 PCT hikers hanging out at the store, drinking, eating, singing, and excited to enter the high Sierras. Kennedy Meadows to PCT hikers is like the Base Camp to Mount Everest climbers. All of my 4 resupply packages have arrived, including the most important item: Bear canister! Thanks to my friend Robert for giving me the Amazon gift card before I headed on trail; I used the card to order the "Bear Vault" canister and it arrived on time. In Kennedy Meadows most hikers take a zero day to rest and prepare before the epic crossing of the high Sierras. I'm doing the same thing. More on preparing for the high mountains in tomorrow's blog post!
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