Kennedy Meadows

Hi everyone,

It has been so long since I last got a chance to post that I don't know where to begin. When Evan and I were first in Tehachapi, we took a day to rest and then got back on the trail at Tehachapi Willow Road. About 8 miles from there the trail crosses Highway 58 which can take you back into town. We camped about 2 miles from that road the day we left town and in the morning we had made it about 3 miles past the highway before I started to feel super nauseated. I had unknowingly eaten some wheat in town and I knew that as soon as I started feeling sick, it would stick around for a few days. Considering that we were headed into a minimum of 90 miles to any town, campsite or other people, as well as some of our longest waterless sections, we decided it would be best to head back into town. Evan and I spent a few days at my parents house, water skiing and eating plenty of food. Oh, and taking showers. We decided to take advantage of the opportunity to let some snow melt in the Sierras. From my parents house we headed to a Buddhist peach farm in Lake Hughes. After a few days of weeding in exchange for food, we decided to head back to the trail. So, about a week and a half later, we left from Highway 58 and set up camp a few miles out. However, as soon as our alarm went off in the morning, Evan woke up with an ear ache.

Once again, we headed back into town and a wonderful trail angel named Duana not only picked us up, but proceeded to let us stay in her air conditioned trailer, gave us beer and movies while Evan tried every home remedy possible. After 4 days he was all better and we headed back to trail. Finally on our third try we made it out of Tehachapi and into the official start of the Sierras.

Over the last 150 miles, the trail passed through pines, back to desert and up again. We saw more climbing than we had previously, which hopefully helped to prepare us for the big mountains we'll see pretty soon (namely Mt. Whitney 14,505 - highest point in the continental US!). We also saw some of the HOTTEST days we have seen yet. We saw a couple of Mountain Lion tracks, which made us move quickly, and a few days later some bear tracks. In the middle of one night, Evan sat up and started playing his guitar, which I thought was a very inconsiderate way to cope with insomnia. As it turns out, he had smelt a bear near our camp and successfully scared it away.

We have also seen our first glances of the big mountains. I'm pretty sure I saw Mt. Whitney several days ago - it looked like a peak-shaped cloud above all of the other mountains. Since we arrived here this afternoon, we have heard that the snow is looking pretty good - apparently only a couple of patches between here and Whitney. I have heard of several cases of HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema) - basically high altitude sickness categorized by fluid in the lungs. It's pretty serious, but knowing the symptoms and having the Spot accessible, means that if it happens, we can call for help. Evan and I have both been above 14,000 feet before, but we returned the same day to 4,000 feet. This time we will only be returning to 10,000 and the next day we will go back up to 13,000. Oy it's gonna be tough, but we're drinking plenty of water to help prepare for it.

More news when we get to Independence in about 10 days. We'll let you know how much snow we see!