Days 44 - 50: does it get better than this?

Day 44-50
June 18-24
Miles 702-789
Kennedy meadows to Kearsarge pass/lone pine

Day 44 - Why rush?

Since we had to wait for the store to open at 9 to close our tab, we slept in. We experimented a little more with packing our bear cans and our packs, got some ice cream, closed the tab, and headed out. It was still very desert like for a couple miles and we even passed another burn section.




We took a break on an awesome rock and laid in the sun with a mountain breeze.








We reached the top of a climb and came to a beautiful meadow. It was incredible.




When we got to the south fork of the kern river, about 14.5 miles in to the day, Tom was there with trail magic. There was plenty of camping, a campfire, beer, and a great river to wash our hands in! There were about 10 other hikers there and we couldn't resist staying the night.








Day 45 - Good Company

We had another relaxing and scenic Sierra day. We leapfrogged and hiked with more people than we ever have. Nimble foot, sparrow and the barracuda, hello kitty, and Magellan all stayed with us at toms trail magic and we ended up camping at the same spot near death canyon creek. These guys were all fun to talk to. Barracuda is 7 years old and such an awesome kid. He remembers everyone's name the first time, loves and talks to everyone, and will listen to anyone who tries to teach him something intently. We are so glad to take shorter days. There is a reason everyone does low miles in the Sierra- its so pretty and amazing!
















Day 46 - gear failures

Everyone that camped with us got going pretty early. We left last because it was cold and we knew a 6 mile uphill was coming which we love. When we finally did get going, we passed everyone on the uphill. It was fun leapfrogging with them all again. Sparrow and barracuda were excited because they were going to meet their husband/dad the next day and he was going to hike with them till whites pass in Washington. When we were taking a break a man walked up and said he was barracudas dad and he came a day early to surprise them. Magellan and nimble foot were there when they first saw each other and said it was so cool to be able to witness. Nimble foot said he felt like he was intruding on something personal yet he was so lucky to witness it. The three will take a few days off the trail so they will be behind and we hope they catch us by the end. Our water filter has been slowly leaking. It has gotten to the point where we can no longer use it. We were stuck in the Sierra with no form of water disinfection. We really had 2 options: not treat any water until kearsarge pass in 4-5 days (a lot of people dont treat water in the high sierra) or hitch into lone pine early with sparrow, barracuda, and barracudas dad. We were mulling it over when Petre, another thru hiker, came up and said he had extra iodine we could use! We were so happy! However, iodine tastes so gross and looks even worse.




We are excited to get our aquamira in tuolumne meadows! In addition, the zipper on our tent broke. We ended the day above 11000 ft. To one of the coolest sunsets we have seen yet. I was so cold but i made myself get out of the tent to take pictures because it was so awesome!








Day 47 - Stairway to heaven

We saw a lot of day hikers and weekend backpackers today because we entered the mt. Whitney area. We wanted to hike mt. Whitney the next day before the sun rose so we planned to get to Crabtree meadows early so that we could get up early. The hike was very peaceful and steady. At one point we experienced the steepest climb for the longest period of time yet. We stopped in the middle and just looked at each other and smiled because we were having so much fun!




We got to Crabtree meadows at about 2:30 and set up camp. It was so pretty and Scallywag came up to us and asked if we had all made it to heaven.




We went to bed super early to get up at 1:00 am for our sunrise summit.

Day 48 - Whitney Wonderfulness

We got hiking by 1:20 am. Mt. Whitney is the highest mountain in the contiguous united states at 14,508 ft. The mt. Whitney trail is not on the official pct, so we slack packed. This is when you keep camp set up and only hike with water, food, and absolute essentials, basically like a day hike. We didn't even bring backpacks, but stuffed all of what we brought for the 17 miles in our pockets. It was really cold but we made good time for the first 4 miles of the mt. Whitney trail. As soon as the steep uphill switchbacks started, everything started going downhill. First, my headlamp stopped working. I was stuck on a steep cliff in pitch black darkness. And my night vision is terrible. Nate used his headlamp to guide him and me up the trail and this was slow going. Because we were moving so slow, we got cold. We had each brought a pair of thermals so we stopped to huddle under a rock and put our thermal layer on and to get out of the biting wind. Those of you who know me know that when I get cold everything shuts down. From that point on I was weak, had trouble breathing, and couldn't get warm. We summitted just after sunset and still managed to get good pictures. It was the most incredible view. At the top in the sun, it was 31 degrees F.








































We took our time hiking back to camp and took a 4 hour nap when we got back. We woke up to cook dinner and immediately went back to bed for the night.

Day 49 - Flying up Forester

While Mt. Whitney is he highest point in the contiguous US, Forster pass is the highest point on the PCT. In high snow years this can take all day and is very intimidating. We were expecting the worst and boy were we wrong. From far away, the pass looks intimidating and steep, but the views are so amazing.




We were so surprised how easy this pass was. We realize it is much harder when there is snow, but it was still surprisingly easy, and was definitely one of my favorite experiences so far. I just couldn't stop saying, "isn't this SO cool!"




















The hike down was relaxing and still so awesome.




The water situation is so nice. From here to Tuolumne Meadows, there is water almost every mile and it flows directly from mostly non contaminated sources. It's like, "oh hello beautiful stream, you have some pure, clear, cold water for me...why yes I would love some!"




We camped at upper vidette meadow with Taka, Flower, and Flatlander.

Day 50 - Overwhelming Senses

For 7 days we have been in the ultimate backcountry. No access roads, no cell service, nothing but peace and serenity. Entering back into society was a bit of a shock for us both. We hiked the 7.5 mile detour over kearsarge pass to gain access to Indepencence, CA. The trail was scenic and beautiful, but very crowded.












When we got to the trailhead, uberbitch and bristlecone were there with magic! We got onion soup, candy, and a place to sit. They were giving rides to Independence but they only had room for 4, and 3 people got there before us. We tried to hitch for about an hour when a Korean Mountaineering hobby group said they would give us a ride when they left. They gave us watermelon that was so good! Before they left however, bristlecone came back and gave us a ride down. Independence, however, did not have everything we needed to fix our tent, headlamp, and filter issues so we started waiting for a hard hitch into Lone Pine. We were so lucky because within 10 minutes Randy pulled up and offered us a ride! He was ice climbing in Tuolumne this weekend and was on his way back to LA. We took care of the most important thing first, pizza for Nate and shakes for me! We did laundry, fixed all of our gear issues, showered, and are staying at the Whitney Portal Hostel. We don't want to take a zero here so we stayed up until 1:00 taking care of things. Town stops are so stressful for us. We can't focus and our minds become fuzzy. I would not have thought this kind of transformation would happen after only 50 days. It makes me wonder, is it just that we have become used to the wilderness or are our minds always this cloudy and it is just not apparent till you have experienced something else? Its always weird, whatever the reason. We did manage to read this article while in town though.




Tomorrow we will upload pictures, videos, update our thank you page and blog. On a side note, I found a restaurant named after me! Ironically, It advertises foods I don't like.








Great town and excited to get back on trail!
- Jenna
-Be Free

Southern California Synopsis

Well we did it, we hiked 702 miles through southern California on the Pacific Crest Trail. Jenna and I are both sad to say goodbye to this section. It was fun, scenic, hot, and difficult.
There are many great things about this part of the PCT and some not so great things.
Some of the things we will miss are as follows:
1. Warm desert nights
2. The clear sky at nights where we can see billions of stars.
3. Jenna will miss the heat
4. We will miss the scenery of the desert landscape and the intensity.
There are also some things we will not miss:
1. Rattlesnakes
2. 15-25 mile waterless stretches
3. Nate will not miss the superheated days
4. We will not miss the massive burned sections
5. We will not miss having to sit out long stretches of midday hiking due to the temperature.
Jenna's most memorable part of Southern California was the desert views, the intensity and challenging nature, and the heat. The most challenging part for her was the wind from the Mojave desert to Tehachapi. It blew her over a few times. Nate's most memorable part of southern California was getting water, the desert sunsets, and the stars at night. The most difficult part for him was dealing with the heat.
There are also a few things that we would change and words of advice for other adventurers. For one, we would never use the Sawyer Squeeze water filter. We felt like we spent more time during the day filtering than we did walking. It worked great for a week then the bags started leaking and the washer on the filter broke. Use chemical treatment, so, so much faster and easier and you will curse much less. A second thing that Jenna would change is she would go stove less and eat all dry meals. She did not like taking the time to cook at night and more importantly she got sick of the dinner meals the fastest. Nate however loves to cook and a hot meal at the end of the day does take time but it is a huge boost of spirit and energy.
We are very happy with almost all our gear and planning decisions. We LOVE our Western Mountaineering sleeping bags. The are so cozy and warm and we always joke that the bags need an eject button because we always sleep in due to cozziness. Our backpacks are great as well as our zrest ground pads. We also love our Montbell Puffys and all of our other clothing. Some advice is that make sure you test ALL you gear. If you are going to carry something make sure you absolutely need it and will use it. One thing we have never used is our rope or pack covers. Our pack covers we will use as we move north, the rope...will probably never be used. One good experience we have had is with Big Agnes. While in the Sierras our Flycreek UL2 zipper broke. When we got to Lone Pine we called them and they immediately sent a replacement tent to our next stop in Mammoth, free of charge no questions asked. Amazing support and help from this company and an amazing tent. A bad experience with a gear company was the Sawyer Squeeze product. When we called and told them our filter failed within a few weeks of our trip their response was basically this..." you can buy new bags on our website, and we can't do anything about the filter leaking" which to us essentially translated to "f*** you". We are not too sad though, we are now saving several hours a day by using chemical treatment.
Overall we both loved the southern California section of the PCT. There were more forests and varieties of terrain than we both were expecting. We finally feel like PCT thru hikers. Entering the Sierras will be beautiful and full of fun new adventures. Thank you for all the comments, support, and love from all over the world. You all keep us going every day. We thank you with all our hearts.








- Love Jenna & Nate
-Totem & Jungle Cookie.

Day 39 to 43: The Last of the Desert

June 13-17
Day 39 to 43
Mile 643.8 to 702
Below Skinner Mountain to Kennedy Meadows
Day 39-Water
Today we slept in a little bit later than we wanted. Normally that is fine but we needed to get up early and hike while it was cool because we were getting low on water. We were unsure if the cache 6 miles ahead would have water. If it did not then we would have about 20 miles until the next water. We hiked through the morning with a deep sense of hope & and foreboding in our minds. The cache had been filled just a little before we arrived by Mary. We were so grateful. Kindergarten Cop was there earlier in the morning before the cache was filled and was able to gather some water together. He left a liter for us but we really are hoping he got enough water. He is such an awesome guy and we couldn't believe he saved water for us when there was so little.




We passed 1000 km today!




After a few hours of hiking from the cache we decided to take a nice long lunch. Burritos! I think that is my favorite trail meal.
Hiked on a few hours to get water at McIvers Spring.




There was water dripping out of a pipe at a rate of about 1 Liter per 5 minutes. There was also a strong smell of feces and toilet paper everywhere. Needless to say we did not get any water. Luckily we had enough to get us the seven miles to Walker Pass. On the way to our campsite walking from the terrible water source my foot got caught on a branch. Needless to say I fell on the ground flat on my face hitting my knee on a rock. After cursing the said branch I made sure my knee was okay and laughed off the whole series of events. Great day!
Day 40-Hiker Magic Vortex
Today was fun! We woke up expecting to hike 7 miles to Walker Pass and then do an additional 15 miles or so... Boy were we wrong. We packed up camp which in bear country means we have to un-bury our food. The seven miles from camp were very quick. When we got to Walker Pass Campground all we needed was water from the cistern before we moved on. Walking down to the cistern we were greeted by Okie Girl at a camp spot. She has been doing trail magic there for two weeks!




We chatted with her and had some soda an bagels with cream cheese. We accidentally ended up staying there all day. We got some reading done and ate chips, sandwiches, cheese dip, soda, bagels, cookies, and muffins. It was a great day and we met up with some old and new friends. Kindergarten Cop, Mark, Kyros, Shaggs, Storytime, Birdie, Freestyle, Charlie, Hannah, Robo-knee, Sea Hag, and Karen were all at the camp at some point during the day.




Okie Girl also made us a delicious dinner of spaghetti and I got to help make the salad. While we were eating a guy pulled up and informed us some cops were on bikes on the trail looking for a body. Everyone was kinda freaked out and later we saw a police helicopter flying around. We would find out later that the police were looking for a backpack that had been torn apart by a bear. It's funny how stories snowball on the trail.
Day 41- Big Miles
From our stopping place at walker pass the distance to Kennedy Meadows is about 51 miles. We decided we would try to get up at 2 am to try and do a fast 30 mile day in order to get to Kennedy Meadows faster. Well we didn't get up at 2. Or 3 or 4. We ended up waking around 5 and hiking shortly before 6 am. We got in some good miles while it was still cool.




At our water source near mile 668 we met up with Mark, Voodoo, and Twinkletoes again. We hiked on through the day and got to one of our last water sources before Kennedy Meadows (Mile ~680). There was a cache of beer and soda sitting in the water. It was pretty funny. We made up camp a way from the water and ended our first 30 mile day.








Day 42- The End of the Desert
Today was the last day of southern California. We woke up knowing we had 21 miles to hike to the Kennedy Meadows grocery store that closed by 5 pm. We did the miles pretty quick. There was a burnt section of forest in the area.




We are really sick of burn sections and they feel like they take forever to hike through. We got to our first real river!




We got some water then each got in the water and cleaned off. It had been a very dirty week. We hit the 700 mile mark right before Kennedy Meadows.




While hiking along through some cattle gate we got rattled at by a big rattle snake. It was the biggest one we have seen which is ironic since it was only a mile to Kennedy meadows and the start of the Sierra. We got in to town and said hello to some people and then got our boxes from the store and some food. We chatted with some new people (freestyle, Hanna, Charlie, mark, Tripod). They got on trail and we got camp set up. Went to bed nice and early after a long day.




Day 43-Kennedy Meadows
It is funny how sleeping till 7:00 am on the trail is sleeping in. We got up and went and ate a delicious Sunday breakfast at the Kennedy Meadows general store with kindergarten Cop. There was pancakes,eggs, sausage, bacon, orange juice, and more than enough coffee. We sat around and chatted with fellow hikers and drank coffee for much of the morning.




We caught up with our good friend Tusc ( short for Tuscan Raider) and his friend James. Our friends Gumbi, Bacon Bit, and Kindergarten Cop were leaving so as is custom bacon bit and gumbi had to have pictures of them doing handstands. Jenna got in on this and the three of them did handstands in front of the Kennedy Meadows general store.




Jenna was very happy to see other gymnasts on the trail. Originally we planned to hike out this day and not take a zero. Early in the day we changed our minds opting for a zero. It was much needed and was nice to celebrate the end of southern California. We got our bear boxes ready to go for the next day. In the Sierras it is mandatory to have a bear canister or to use bear boxes. Since bear boxes are often spaced 20-45 miles apart almost everyone is forced to carry a heavy bear canister. We both got new socks and I got new shoes, they were badly needed.




We relaxed the rest of the day grabbing snacks, food, and hamburgers as needed. At dusk, Tom plays a movie outside on a projector. His house is near the store and many people relax and sleep here as well as the store. The movie was Irobot so we sat in the mountains that night eating popcorn and watching a movie. Southern California Ends and the mighty Sierras begin.
-Nate (Jungle Cookie)