Trail Day 44: Kennedy Meadows Campground (mile 704.6) to tentsite (mile 721.7)

17.1 PCT miles

I arrived back at Kennedy Meadows Campground around 8 am. I got all my stuff together and signed the trail register, including a note about how I was just returning to the trail today.  While I was doing this I saw several people head onto the trail.

One of my fears about returning to the trail was that I would not find people to team up with for the challenging water crossing as well as the snowy mountain passes. However, there were plenty of people on the trail. I had a couple days until I came across anything too challenging,  so I could relax and see what people I consistently run into, instead of grabbing onto the first team I met along the way.

New territory.

The first section of the trail was very pretty. I was moving through pine trees with birds chirping and the sound of the Kern River flowing near the trail. The temperature was also very pleasant, at least for the first hour or so. Then the thermometer on my shoulder hit 90 degrees  (F) again, just like in the desert.  Unlike the desert, there were more options for shade here.

The Kern River.

Eventually the trail crossed over the Kern River. Good thing that there was a footbridge built here, because the water was a torrent. It even looked a bit brown which meant it was probably carrying quite a bit of sediment with it as well. It was impressive to look at from the bridge, but I couldn't imagine trying to find a way to ford it.

The footbridge over the Kern River.

The river as seen from the footbridge. 

Soon after the bridge I hit another burn area. Of course. That nice shade I was enjoying in the trees was gone and when I looked at my thermometer,  it was reading over 100 degrees. I had packed some chocolate in my food resupply, thinking I would be spending the majority of my time in cooler weather at higher elevations. That chocolate was going to liquify on my first full day back on the trail.

A common sight on the PCT.

I struggled in the heat of the burn area for a while before finally making it to the top of a pass. I was rewarded with shaded forest and small grassy meadows. The grassy areas had wildflowers.

Wildflowers.

A little past this the mountains opened up into a very large meadow. It was extensive and beautiful. The trail followed the meadow for a while before heading back into the trees. From the meadow you could see the snow of the higher peaks I would be reaching in another few days. I was relieved to see that the snow was in sections and not completely capping the mountain as it had been a couple weeks ago.

Meadow with snowy mountains in the distance.

The trail climbed over a small mountain and came down to the Kern River where there was another footbridge. The river was more gentle in this area and meandered beautifully through Monache Meadow, another extensive, green mountain meadow.

The Kern River flowing through Monache Meadow.

I stopped at the footbridge to refill my water. As I was filtering, I noticed a large group of bird making a ruckus. They were swallows who had nested under the footbridge.

Swallows being swallows:

The footbridge from above.

Swallow nests below the footbridge. 

After crossing the bridge,  I got nice views of Monache Meadow again before starting an uphill climb. I would be ending the day with a climb. I was already tired, plus I would be getting up to 10,000 ft in elevation. I had just spent the past 2.5 weeks near sea level, so the climb was very slow and difficult.

Monache Meadow. 

The climb was also beautiful. I started to enter the part of the forest where the pine trees get really big. I was also following,  and crossing, a creek most of the way. The creek had good flow and created many mini waterfalls on the way down. Since it was getting late and the light levels were getting low, I stopped to take some long exposure pictures of the waterfalls.

Mini waterfalls at the creek. 

More mini waterfalls.

I climbed up until I was almost out of light and found a campsite. I'm not sure how much longer I would have been able to walk even if it had been light out since my legs were really tired. I was able to get a small peek at the sunset in the meadow area I had just crossed before setting up my tent and eating dinner. In the low light a deer came bounding down to the area across the creek from my campsite and had dinner as well.

Looking back as the sun is setting.