Day 58: Zero day in Kennedy Meadows

So let's take a day in Kennedy Meadows to sort things out.

Let's sort out the itinerary (with a helpful consult from Ian). The original plan was to go from Kennedy Meadows > Bishop (via Kearsarge Pass) with a day-hike up Mount Whitney along the way > Mammoth (via Red's Meadow). A very aggressive plan, consisting of 6-8 day food carries. But I got the bear canister and realized how small it really was (and how little I enjoy solving the sphere-packing problem), and I was worried about how I'll do at elevation, so after much discussion, after much eavesdropping on what other hikers are planning (which is a bad idea: it brings up every possible permutation, and they're all more aggressive than what you're thinking and so you feel like a wimp), and after even constructing a spreadsheet with the different options mapped out, I opted for the most conservative route. So Kennedy Meadows > Lone Pine (3 days) > Bishop (via Kearsarge Pass) with a day-hike up Mount Whitney along the way (4 days) > well, maybe VVR then Tuolumne then Sonora Pass (where I can dump the bear canister). Or maybe I'll stop in Mammoth or something. I figure I'll get to Lone Pine, and maybe to Whitney, and that should give me a good feel for my pace and ability in the Sierras. After that I can make informed decisions on speed and mileage. (Is my lack of experience showing?, because I *feel* it's showing.)

Let's sort out the snow gear. There's no snow. As in Postholer's PCT snow report says the snow is at 0% of average. There's no snow. So I sent back the ice axe, but I'm retaining the microspikes, just in case. If I get to Lone Pine, or especially to Bishop, and see no snow, then I'll ship them back. I am taking an extra long-sleeve thermal layer (for sleeping, actually), and an extra wool hoodie. There's a heat wave predicted for the Sierras this next week, but after that, while it may be hot here at 6000 feet, the PCT stays above 9000 feet for the Sierras, and I'm told the temperature drops, especially if you're crossing over passes. So I'll keep the extra layers for now. (Is my lack of experience showing?, because I feel it's showing.) I also thought to get thicker socks, but talking to Butterfinger in the morning (who's hiked the PCT before) (and the CDT), they're not needed in the Sierras. Washington maybe, but not the Sierras.

Let's sort out the bear canister. Packing stuff in there is a pain in the neck. I'm still Ziplocing everything; should keep down on odors, sure, but also helps organize things. But then the Ziplocs take up precious volume. But I managed to fit in 3 days of food (well, mostly: Ian had shipped some extra breakfasts and supplements because of the original plan, and I'll take those with me.) I had finally managed to establish a system for organizing my blue food bag, and now I need to start all over again, but ah well, so it goes. (Is my lack of experience showing?, because--well, you get the idea.)

Let's sort out the shoes. I've been noticing that, towards the end of the day, the pads of my feet have been getting numb. So I was looking to maybe get footwear with more padding. I dropped by 2 Foot when I first came in yesterday, said I'd come by the next morning, and the lady there said, yeah, you should do that now. Because her inventory was getting low and wouldn't be refreshed for another half week. So I did. I tried the Altra Timps (which are supposed to be like my Lone Peaks but with more padding) but the Achilles bit didn't feel right: kept slipping. She tried tying the shoes differently, and that helped, but it was still there and I like very loose ties on my shoes anyway, so that wasn't an option. In the end, I got new insoles: Spenco insoles (which looked familiar--I think I've tried them before). I currently use Superfeet Carbon--the zero-drop in the Altras aggravates my plantar fasciitis, so I just wanted something in there to make it nonzero--but those had no padding, whereas the Spenco's have some. Hopefully that will help!

And those were the major organizational topics. I got some upgrades: a dry sack that just fits my tent bag (I strap the tent to the top of my bag now), a replacement buckle for my sleeping bag stuff sack (I remember seeing a random screw in my tent and thinking, what's this for?, before promptly losing it--it was for the stuff sack buckle you idiot!), some odds and sods I picked up that I'll ship out when I get to Lone Pine.

But how was the mind?

Well, the day started out tough: I needed to make decisions about my itinerary and I hate doing that. I just don't have a principle to hang my decisions on. In the end, my principle appears to be minimizing food carries--that means a lot of time in town, but I'm hoping to convert those into single overnights rather than overnight-plus-zero. So that was a bummer of a morning. But I got to pick Butterfinger's brain some (he's an audio engineer who likes fiddling around with Raspberry Pi's, so we had a technical background to relate to), so that was good. In the afternoon, Hangn' Out and me headed out to the *other* spot in Kennedy Meadows, Grumpy Bear's Retreat. We caught a meal and hung out, and towards the end of the afternoon people started trickling in. And Hangn' Out knew most of them: this was basically his hiking bubble and, perhaps unconsciously (he *was* a bar owner for many years, has that easy-to-meet people vibe), he introduced me to a lot of them, explained stories about a lot of them. And that was good: I started feeling more in-sync with this hiking crowd thing. At the end of the day, we even joined in one of Reva's (Michael Be's partner--she had joined us for the LA Aqueduct night hike) yoga sessions. I'd never done such before, but Hangn' kept commenting, hey, this is a stretch I normally do before heading out! So that trip to Grumpy's, meeting other hikers, and even talking to a group of bikers who were on a multi-day trip and just stopping by (and one had been in the Scouts so knew a lot about the region and camping and so could relate), made me feel a lot more connected. So it was with a pretty good.

We got back on the last shuttle from Grumpy's to the General Store (I had to beg a little from Rebecca, the shuttle driver) in the evening, and Hangn' Out went straight to bed. Whereas I got involved in a conversation with Steve, who was one of the first people I met when I got to the General Store yesterday, talked to me and helped me out with some stuff. Turns out Steve's a robotics teacher, but his school canceled the robotics problem due to COVID: the students have to touch stuff--motors, actuators, stuff--and that's a no-no under COVID. He was a bit miffed about this, but also, after being out here for over a week, day-hiking, camping, and just exploring this region, he was starting to feel a different draw, a draw away from the increasingly strange and off-putting energies of the city, and towards the meadows and creeks and mountains. He had taken some short camping trips, gone out to some creekheads, watched the fish jumping, the birds hunting, and not seen another person all day, and it just felt like something he'd been missing. We talked for quite a while, he had had a conversation earlier today that affected him and was "ranting" (his word), but I mostly listened. (If it was a "rant", though, it was one of the most polite and erudite rants I've ever heard--he was mostly rehashing his inner arguments, I feel, and I was privileged to listen.) I think when first meeting someone, the point isn't to have an opinion, but just to understand, and though I often forget, this time I remembered. Towards the end, I learned that he likes to make maps, and actually had a map of this very region. I had been taking notes on places he'd been so I could someday come back and check them out, so when he said he sold maps, I instantly wanted to get one. And did! Evidently, his map is the 4th best selling one at the local REIs. It's a beaut. So if you're reading this, Kyle (Stewart, from JPL and now UCLA), then might I recommend the Golden Trout Wilderness (Steve's pick), or the Domeland Wilderness (my pick: the PCT wanders by it and it looked fascinating) as possible destinations? And might I recommend getting the Southern Sierra Trail Map by Calico Maps, available at your local REI, as a guide?

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Some notes:

-- I played a chess game with Hangn' Out in the morning; something to pass the time while we waited for breakfast, as he said. I haven't played in years, he said. I believe him implicitly. He still wiped the floor with me. It was embarrassing. At one point another hiker was sporadically watching the game. Do you play, I asked. Yeah, he said. I looked at the board. Well, my bishop is under attack, I said, so I moved it out of the way. That was the worst possible move, he said, now your bishop is trapped. And he never bothered to look at the board again. Yeah, embarrassing!

-- In case your wondering, it seems that there's a bit of a holy war between General Store (food and supplies) + 2 Foot Adventures (gear) on one side, and Grumpy Bear's Retreat (food) + Triple Crown Outfitters (gear) on the other. But the hikers don't seem to believe in said war: the common scuttlebutt is that the General Store is a better vibe during the day, but Grumpy's is better in the evening. And if you want to sleep more peacefully, go with the General Store. Right now I'm just camped out on the hill behind the store: there are lots of sandy spots amongst the trees, some taller, many shunted. Camping out here is free, there's a bathroom with a flush toilet, there's showers and laundry for a fee (which are free at Grumpy's: you see where the competition starts?), but it's a fine enough spot. Lots of people get caught in the "vortex" at Kennedy Meadows--stay for longer than anticipated--and I can see why: it's a combination of still feeling like you're outdoors and camping--you're living out of your tent--but there's cooked food and running water. The best of both worlds, if you think about it. And there are plenty of other hikers around, doing the same!