Trail Miles: 19.7
We awoke to overcast skies. It was cool. -Maybe our last few days in the desert are preparing us for the Sierras where the weather would be less predictable.
I was looking forward to being done with the desert even though I’d enjoyed it and been surprised by its beauty and variety. We’d been very fortunate regarding weather and temperatures – aside from a handful of days, the weather had been mild.
Regardless of my appreciation for the desert, I’d fallen in love with the Sierras decades before and was excited to return. Yet I was slightly concerned about the snowpack. It’d been a below average winter (75% of average), but much of that snow came late in the season – March, April and even May. There are several passes above 11,000 ft on the trail, and they would still have snow. We’ll have to route find and safely negotiate our way up and over them.
There was trail magic at Chimney Creek CG. I stayed for a bit to sun-dry my sleeping bag. The rest of my group decided to stay and camp there for the night. I hiked ahead another 4 miles before camping for the night near Gargoyle, Surge and Happy Feet (the AT Boys). — Two friends from home were driving through Kennedy Meadows the next day and I wanted to be there in time to see them. It would be a race to do 17.4 Miles by noon!