Day 34 – The Promised Land
Originally published on Mason Hikes the PCT 2017.
Mileage: 9
I woke up super excited this morning because I knew what was in store: KENNEDY MEADOWS!!! The solution to all of my hiking problems (mostly the desert) was within reach, so I set off early to get into town for some breakfast.
The landscape was still progressively getting more and more beautiful, and as I walked by giant granite cliffs and mountains, I heard a sound I hadn’t heard in a long time. Running water!
WATER!!!
Never have I been so happy to see flowing water, but unfortunately I didn’t take a dip because it was 6am, cold, and I wanted my pancake(s?). Next time.
Kennedy Meadows!
I basically ran into town, where I received a round of applause from all of the hikers hanging out on the general store porch, which was a pretty cool way to come into town. I got a quick tour of the facilitates before heading over to Grumpy Bears for my breakfast, which was an ENORMOUS pancake, some bacon, some eggs, and some home fries.
It was a whole lotta pancake. They’re technically all-you-can-eat, but I brought honor to my family simply by finishing a single pancake.
Since I didn’t have any of my Sierras gear, it was time to head over to the outfitters to unfortunately rebuy a few things. The store was a tiny little section of Jackie “Yogi” McDonnell’s house, and she was really nice and knowledgeable about the things she was selling. I ended up with some nice maps, some crampons (they didn’t have microspikes), and an ice axe.
Yogi was nice enough to drive me back to Grumpy Bears, where I hung out for a while, getting free beers from an ex-army ranger named Ruben and hanging out with some hikers named Cincinnati (he’s actually from Mason), Dodger, Dom, Robin, and Claire. I eventually asked a random couple for a ride back to the general store and headed back to the fabled porch.
My porch time was spent relaxing, drinking beers, talking with everyone, and playing the most intense game of Egyptian Rat Screw ever. After an intense battle that lasted about two hours, we went over to build a campfire to make some s’mores and continue the celebration.
At this point we only had about five people, but soon some trail angels/hikers from last year came bearing gifts (lots of beer and bourbon) and our celebration expanded with some more hikers coming over. We had a great time drinking beers and sharing trail stories with Happy Feet and Jazzus, and the Council of the Fire issued its first trail name: Purple Savage.
Me, Happy Feet, Jazzus, Thumper
We had been talking about all the flies and how we hated the green ones because their bites hurt and they didn’t die if you just hit them. Claire explained that to make sure they were fully dead, she had been taking them over to an ant nest and feeding them to the ants. She described, in gory detail, the process by which the ants ripped apart the fly limb by limb and then tore into the still-living fly’s body and started eating its organs. Absolutely Savage.
Most of the current hikers called it a night around 11PM. I was happy to be in Kennedy Meadows and hanging out with other hikers is always fun, so I stayed up a bit later with a few people before calling it a night myself. I’m excited to begin the Sierras tomorrow!