Mile Marker: 704.7 (KM CG)
Trail Miles: 2.5
Miles Walked: 5.5
It was Memorial Day weekend, so Kennedy Meadows was full of weekend hikers as well as PCT thru hikers. As is typical when it’s a ‘town/resupply day’, it was busy – laundry, shower, resupply , mail, food.
There’s no cell service there and the WiFi at the KM General Store was out most of the day. I’d hoped to check in with HH and the rest of my family. No timely blog or Instagram updates either.
There were well over 100 thru hikers camped at the General Store. More than I’d seen at Casa De Luna and Hiker Heaven. When the grill opened at 0830, there was a LONG line for pancakes and coffee. 
The store has two washing machines so there was a line for that too. The seven of us combined our dirty clothes for two loads and then headed to Triple Crown Outfitters.
Triple Crown is a store run by two experienced and notable thru-hikers, Yogi and Worldwide, who have completed the ‘Triple Crown’ (AT, PCT and CDT) and then some. They sell quality hiking equipment and food – at reasonable hiker prices with no mark up either. I needed to pick up my Bear canister and some new inserts for my trail runners. Dr Scholls inserts had worked with my previous shoes, but my latest pair, Altra Timps, are lighter duty and I needed Superfeet inserts.
The General Store has washing machines, but all drying was by clothesline. We had to wait most of the afternoon for everything to dry.
Finally we were packed up to leave just as the skies darkened with a crack of thunder. Rain. Ugh. We were already at a campground with a store and restaurant. The two six packs we bought while waiting out the rain didn’t help. It was only 2.5 miles to the next campground but motivation was low. Escaping the ‘vortex’ of comfort is hard.
Yet when the skies cleared the and the sun returned, all but one of us started hiking. We made it to the KM CG around sunset. Pitched our tents. Tomorrow is our first day in the Sierras!
Escaping the vortex in KM