This last stretch was the desert’s last hoorah and it definitely felt that way. Leaving Tehachapi, the tiny town of Kennedy Meadows was our next town stop as well as the official end of the desert section and beginning of the Sierra section. Even though this was the end of the desert, it was probably our biggest challenge yet.

We had a little over 140 miles to Kennedy Meadows to cover with no plans for a resupply in between. Since we knew that these would be tough miles, we packed out 8 days of food to be conservative which equates to somewhere around 12-16 pounds of food. Additionally, this stretch had extended dry sections without water starting with a 17 mile water carry. This means we started with very, very heavy packs.

Soon after starting, we encountered a 35 mile stretch with no water sources. Thankfully, a PCT alum maintained two well stocked water caches with hundreds of gallons each which made this section doable.

Our first few days we were lucky and thunderstorms came each afternoon which provided shade. When these stopped rolling in, we had to revert to hopping from Joshua tree to Joshua tree for shade.

Several days into this stretch the environment began changing and we began seeing more pine trees and less Joshua trees: the desert was coming to a close. We descended to Walker Pass where some hikers opt to hitch into a nearby town for resupply, but since we still had plenty of food we just waited out the heat of the day here. We ran into a hiker who had just stopped there for a section hike of the PCT, and we were treated to fresh carrots and celery – nothing tasted as good as fresh veggies in the back country. From here we began the routine of the next few days – climbing and descending between 5,000-8000 feet with each day having at least 4,000 feet of climbing. While tough, we began seeing the raw beauty of the Sierras. Slowly we began seeing awesome granite cliffs and pines that reminded us of the high Sierra.

We had finally exited the desert and we’re entering real mountains. Approaching Kennedy Meadows, it was bittersweet seeing the awesome Sierra ahead of us but knowing we would be skipping this section for now. Due to the extreme snowfall this year, we made the call to skip the Sierra section and return to it at the end of the season. The rapidly melting snow would make river crossings dangerous and the slushy snow would make our days slow and tedious at best. Despite this, it felt triumphant entering Kennedy Meadows. Approaching the General Store, we were greeted by a round of applause by the other hikers sipping beer on the porch – the experience every hiker has entering Kennedy Meadows. After devouring a burger, our buddy Travis skipped work and picked us up and drove us back to LA where we would get ready for our flip up north. We ended up deciding to skip to the small town of Chester in northern California (near Lassen National Park) and hike the rest of the hike north to the Canadian border, then skip back down and hike the section we skipped at the end of the season. Supposedly the snow has melted quite a bit in this section, so we’re excited for mostly snow free travel and taking in the sights in a completely new part of the state for me. Onwards to Oregon!