Kennedy Meadows to Lone Pine

We ended up taking 3 zero days in Kennedy Meadows to rest up our achy legs. The first night we stayed with a local named John, who we lovingly named Trail Angel "Guitar Hero". We were able to shower at his place, hang out with some other hikers and sleep in a real bed. Oh yeah... and we also listened to Guitar Hero give us an impromptu rock concert! Saturday and Sunday night we cowboy camped behind the Kennedy Meadows General Store under the stars waking up to cicadas. Although it's fun to eat hamburgers and drink cheap beer and talk with other hikers, we are so ready to get back on the trail. We met another awesome trail angel-- Betsy Ross (Pat Peterson) who took us to Grumpys, a local dive bar/grill. She also shared some of her amazing artwork with us. Thanks Betsy! Monday night we stayed with Guitar Hero and his daughter Rachel. Finally Tuesday morning we left for the trail!

The first day we did an easy 8 miles and camped near a small creek. We iced our feet in the stream and met 4 other hikers who also camped with us. The stars have been amazing! We can see all of Scorpio, which is the coolest constellation ever. The next few days we hiked with Lobster and her mom, Sue (we're still searching for a trail name for her). There have been lots of climbing and many people have experienced altitude sickness but we haven't noticed anything different. At Death Valley Creek, we camped with about 25 other thru-hikers including Feather!

One thru-hiker, Cynic, said that he saw a bear while he was night hiking into Death Valley Creek. So I guess there is a reason for us having to carry these heavy bear canisters. Last night we camped at around 9500 ft just before Mulkey Pass where we headed down to Horseshoe Meadow and got a ride with Stringcheese's mom down to Lone Pine. We had an awesome meal with Bull Moose and Uncle Sue (although the service was terrible) at one of the local restaurants. While in town, we'll be resupplying our foods, cleaning up and hopefully finding a hitch tonight or possibly tomorrow morning back to the trail. We've contacted PCTA about getting copies of our permits because we realized we accidentally left our permits back in Kennedy Meadows. Sure hope it all works out!