7/2/2023
Section: Milepost 703.4 to 705.8
Distance: 2.48 Miles
Moving Time: 01:04 hrs
Elevation Gain: 217 ft
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We managed to sleep in ‘till about 7. The sun was up and already things were warming as we headed down to the Grumpy Bear deck for some breakfast. At the deck we found some of the crew from last night already milling around waiting for the grill to open. At 8:30 sharp, the owner came out and announced it was time and we all charged the bar. The classic thing to get at Grumpy’s is the Hiker Breakfast. One massive, and i mean MASSIVE pancake with a side order of hash browns, sausage patty and eggs any style. They offer unlimited pancakes which is pretty hilarious because I don’t think anyone can manage the one they give you to start!
After breakfast we sat around talking about the things that needed to get done today before we left and we had all agreed that we would leave tonight and walk a few miles. It was nice to have a group to go into the Sierra with. There was Izzy (Butter) and Markus (Push Pop), a guy from Tennessee we met in William’s group back in Acton, Tyler (Aspen) and UK Sam (Trip Hazard). Many people are still skipping the Sierra but some are giving it a shot. I got out my phone and started making a list of things we needed to do today on Google sheets as Amanda rolled her eyes and Markus made some comment about me using a spreadsheet program for such a mundane task. “I use sheets for everything Markus - my life runs on sheets' I said with a smile. “Your name should just be Sheets,” Izzy said and I replied “Hey! I like that!” So, officially, my trail name is now and forever more - Sheets!
After breakfast Amanda and I headed just up the street to Triple Crown Outfitters, a little gear shop run out of a container by a triple crowner who has done the PCT twice. Every year she runs this really well equipped little shop just next to Grumpy Bear’s and saves a lot of hikers butts. We had received a lot of packages from REI, thermarest and my parents but needed a few more things, so Amanda went inside while I waited outside. While outside I perused the many bulletin boards of info including beta on all the water crossings we had ahead of us by a guy named Andrew Skurka. I took note of the website and then went in after Amanda and picked up the bear box Philipp had ordered from the store. He wasn’t coming in until the 5th and the owner wasn’t going to be operating the store on that day.
Back at Grumpy’s Jason, Lorena and Simon had showed up. Simon had taken a fall and had his arm in a sling but maintained it was no big deal. Lorena said Philipp was still a few days back and Simon took his bear box as they were sticking around until Philipp showed up.
The rest of the day was mostly chores. I downloaded the KML file of all the river bypasses from the site I had seen at Triple Crown Outfitters, than finally took a shower and did the rest of my laundry. Amanda then laid out all of our things and organized our backpacks. A lot of people commented on the snowshoes. I think they can go either way - they will help us move fast in the late afternoon when the snow gets sloppy but if we are doing a lot of traverses they will be virtually useless. One thing is for sure - our bags are heavy.
At around 1 we had lunch and then missed the 2 pm shuttle back to the general store so Amanda and I went and hitched a ride instead from a very nice couple from LA out doing some Freedom weekend backpacking. At the store I found two extra boxes that had not originally been given to me, one with Amanda’s new bear canister - critical for Yosemite - and about 8 meals we had ordered from REI. I sent our shoes and other miscellaneous items up to Mammoth now that we had our boots - thanks Mom and Dad! We finished off our provisions in the store and the two girls who worked for the PCT organization gave us a ride with 3 other hikers back to the trail head after stamping our permits. The rest of our group was going to come a little later that evening
At the trail head we thanked them and headed north. The backpacks were heavy and our feet were not as pleased with the boots as they were with the hiking shoes. We meandered about 2.3 miles north until we came to the Kennedy Meadows campground. The PCT girls were already there getting settled. We picked a spot and Amanda set up the tent while I went to get water. Our water bladder is leaking just a little so, maybe the standing-on-it trick isn’t such a great move after all. We had some Ramen as we weren’t too hungry after the giant burgers at Grumpy Bear’s and eventually the bugs drove us inside, but the landscape was finally looking like the Sierra and we are tremendously excited!
