Day 36

Mile 667.7 to Kennedy Meadows South

PCT Miles: 35.7 (57.1km)

Total Miles: 703.4 (1125.4km)

I cannot hide that yesterday I was inspired by my conversations with Chezwick. I feel like, somehow, hiking with him transferred a bit of his determination and discipline to me.

Today I was hiking before 6am and my plan was to break my hiking record from yesterday and hike 30 miles. That sounded plausible, so I went for it. The idea was to get as close as possible to Kennedy Meadows South (KMS), so I could arrive there tomorrow morning. Things turned out a bit differently though.

Kennedy Meadows South is probably the most famous “town” in the whole PCT. The “town” is composed literally by these three shops (a General Store, a bar/restaurant and an outfitter) that serve PCT hikers during the hiking season. KMS is also the divider between the first part of the PCT (desert) and the most challenging part, the Sierra Nevada.

Stopping at KMS is almost mandatory for PCT hikers. First, for resupply. Second, to fix, change or improve the gear, since things will be very different in the coming 400 miles than they were in the past 700. It will be much colder, lots of snow, much higher altitude and there will be a lot of elevation gain/loss every single day. Hikers also gather here to team up (it’s not advised to go to the Sierra alone). You need to bring micro spikes, an ice axe and it’s compulsory to have a bear can (I’ll tell more about the bear can later).

Back to my day: it was an intense day, since I was pushing myself since early morning, but nothing absurd. I was 99% sure that I was going to stop when I reached 30 miles and leave the remaining 6 for tomorrow. I arrived at the camping spot around 7pm, but apparently it’s a popular camping spot (close to a stream) and it was a bit too crowded. There was this girl with a punctured sleeping mattress surrounded by 4-5 guys trying to help. There was someone complaining that mice had just eaten their food and there was this other guy trying to lecture everybody about the Sierra. I don’t even know from where those people came from, but there was too much going on for me. I refilled my water and very spontaneously decided to keep going until Kennedy Meadows. That would mean that I was going to hike a bit in the dark, which is something that I’m usually not comfortable with. In my mind I could hear Chezwick telling me that this is why we’re here: to overcome these fears. Little by little, one by one.

My short night hike was absolutely incredible. I didn’t even need to use my headlamp because the moon 🌕 was so so so bright. And knowing that I was about to finish the day hiking more than 50km and breaking my record from yesterday made me feel invincible!

I’m proud of myself. It was a big day and I feel like I’m improving physically while still making wise decisions, day by day.

And by the way: Bye, desert! Thanks for the great time but I really doubt that I’ll miss you!