I don’t know if it was the drag of getting to Kennedy Meadows but not yet being there, the silimar scenery that hardly changed or just being tired of general discomfort, but today was just an unenjoyable day. But I guess thats part of it all though; good days and bad days. Embrace them all. I woke up, packed up and hiked downhill. Pretty soon after starting out I got cell phone service somewhere, and I took a long time send the last days entries out. I think somewhere in my mind I convinced myself that because we’d be reaching Kennedy Meadow soon, where the trail winds up into the mountains, it might gradually be getting cooler during the day. Oh the way your mind plays tricks on you. Ofcourse this was not the case. After filling up my water bottles at a lower elevation creek, the heat quickly robbed me of my energy and I struggled to find a good pace as the trail steadily rose, up, up and then some more up.
Around 1300 I made it to the first summit of the day and I took a break for lunch. Soon I was joined by Mountain Ninja, and we chatted a bit before I decided to push on, because my mileage so far was poor and I did not want to arrive in Kennedy Meadows late tomorrow. Because the next 2 miles would pass over the crest on fairly flat terrain, I thought that I could manage to hike a little during in the hottest part of the day. By the time I made it to the end of the ridge, ready to drop down into the valley again, I’d long realized my mistake; I felt zapped and had to take a break again. So I rolled out my tyvek and crashed into afternoon sleep.
The 5 mile descent into the valley would lead me past another creek which was the main water source for tomorrow’s miles. I had to bring several bottles and my pack was annoyingly heavy. I knew I was now left with the final big challenge; another 7 mile climb to the last big summit before reaching Kennedy Meadows. There was no way that I was going to make it all the way to the summit of this beast, because it was already evening, and I was very tired. Also I was just ready to call it a day. Sometimes just cut your losses. After checking my interactive maps I decided on a spot a couple miles before the summit. Around 2100 I put up my headlamp and was counting down every tenth of a mile; I needed to get into my tent and chill-out badly. Finnaly I hauled myself and my heavy pack onto the crest, only to find that after a quick look-around there were no decent camp-sites there all. I re-read the description on the app. Turns out I’d made a mistake, and the mentioned campsites would be on the summit after all. Another 1.5 miles ahead. Great. Some not-so-chivalrous screams dissapated into the dark. Nothing to do but push on. Way past my designated arrival time I reached the campsites, properly shattered and in a foul mood. I Pitched my tent, ate a long overdue dinner and went crashed into sleep. Tomorrow’s another day.
Grey skies,
Clouding up the things we used to see with white eyes
Maybe everything was meant to be this way
Will it ever change
Or are we stuck here on our own?
It’s all gone grey..
It’s all gone grey..
I found,
Telling you the truth the hardest thing to get out
I know it wasn’t you that made me feel this way
Will it ever change
Or are we stuck here on our own?
Grey – Yellowcard
