Kennedy Meadows to Lone Pine

66 miles 5/28/18 – 5/30/18

In my continued effort to kill time and let snow melt I took two days off in Kennedy Meadows, bouncing between the general store and Grumpy Bear’s. I camped at the general store because it was closer to the trail and had a bunch of snacks and drinks for purchase. They also had a little concession stand with hot dogs and burgers. However the WiFi was slow and there wasn’t much indoor seating.

Grumpy’s had great food, fast (pay) WiFi and a beer bar, there was also a pool table. So I found myself hitchhiking a lot and bouncing between the two.

Since I had time to kill I decided to add astop in Lone Pine on my way to Independence. I mailed a good portion my food ahead to Lone Pine, which lightened my backpack.

As I departed Kennedy Meadows, now carrying a bear can, ice axe and micro-spikes, I entered the South Sierra national Forest. The trail followed and a river as it continued uphill before dropping down into giant meadow. The Skirted along the edge of the meadow in the trees before dropping down further crossing the meadow and a creek. I followed the trail uphill into a forest and camped just above a creek.

The next day I continued the climb up hill, realizing how heavy my additional gear for the Sierra was. At one point I was startled by a fast, low flying plane that flew over head. This happened a few times before I realized I was I was hiking through an Air Force practice area. I think I figured it out when I saw a fighter jet go sideways around some mountians.

After some more climbing I made it to the top of a mountain, around 10,000 ft. There were a few sizable clouds forming overhead so I quickly set up my tent in case it started to rain.

Then I heard a clap of thunder, one of the last things you want to hear when you’re camping on top of a mountain. The cell was to the north and moving north east, the thunder started to die down and I climbed into my tent as it started to lightly rain. I then saw a bright flash and a thunderous clap of.. thunder directly overhead. I quickly made my way back down the trail and took shelter under a large rock with some other hikers as the storm passed.

Overnight the wind had blown my tent dry which was a nice surprise to wake up to. I dropped down to the Trail Pass junction which was the exit point for Lone Pine.

On my the way down I ran into some rangers that were checking permits. They mentioned that they had recently done a fly over and there was still a good amount of snow on the ground ahead. They also mentioned the best spot to hitchike down to Lone Pine, which can be difficult.

However, on the way down a car full of hikers headed back to the trail drove by, the driver said he would stop on his way back down. When he came back I recognized him from earlier on the trail. He was easy to recognize because he was wearing leggings with hot dogs on them. His trail name? Hot Dog. The ride down to Lone Pine, back in the desert, was a long winding one. Once I got into town I checked into a motel, took a shower and got something to eat.