Stats

Start: Spanish Needle Creek – Mile 668.7
End: Tentsite – Mile 696.9
Elevation Max: 7,965
Elevation Min: 5,904
Elevation Change: 5,192 up & 4,414 down
Average Heart Rate: 132
Walking Time: 8 hrs 27 minutes
Date: 5/13/2022

The Walk

The morning weather was cool, but not so cold you don’t want it leave the tent. It was perfect. I had a great night sleep. Maybe waking up once when a hiker was leaving. I got moving at 6:30 and was out by 7:00.

A creek crossed the trail just past where I camped. I was still waking up and almost slipped in! Luckily I caught myself and jumped forward. It was an exciting start to the day. And I was glad to have dry feet.

The morning started with a 2k foot climb and flew by. It was a wake up call for my legs. I caught up with Water Baby and we climbed to the top of the peak.

Then we moved on. We were still in the desert, but new mountains filled the horizon. I could feel the change coming closer. We were almost to Kennedy Meadows. Almost done with the desert!

I took a break for lunch and hung out with some hikers that I met at Pancakes house. I enjoyed a long 1.5 hour break. I had already hiked 14 miles and had another 14 to go. I wasn’t in a rush. The shaded spot with a cool breeze was nice, I laid on the ground and relaxed.

I noticed I had a snack I forgot about! Some red vines. I pulled them out and took a bite. They tasted weird. They were sugar free, what a waste of weight. Ha.

Hikers came and left so I eventually packed up and started hiking. I put in some music and the day went by pretty quickly.

I met up with Copter, Smurf, and Cacoon taking a break and we walked through the last 8 windy miles out of the mountains. We could see Kennedy Meadows coming into view, and we even got a peak of the sierras and Mount Whitney!

I’m so excited for the next section. Some people will fly through the Sierras. But I think I’ll slow down and enjoy my time there.