Stage one survived (Posted 19 June 2012, 03:24pm)
36.01, -118.13

"There is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing."


I am sitting next to an electric fan in a trailer park in Kennedy Meadows, the promised land. We have walked 700 miles (over 1000km!) and are 1/4 of the way to Canada. Kennedy Meadows is considered the gateway to the Seirra Nevada mountains and also marks the end of the desert section. It is such a relief to be here.

Marcus and I have walked the last 140 miles separately. My feet were (are) in bad shape and I decided to stay a few extra days in Tehachapi to let them recover. Marcus went ahead and has been waiting for me here. It has been a really hard section - the toughest of the trip for me. The distances between water were long and we began carrying 7 days of food. It has also been extremely hot and the shade very limited. I ended up walking much of the section with another couple of hikers, Uhaul and Scallywag. Uhaul is a doctor who spent 6 months working in Opunake so it has been nice to talk and think about home.

The desert has been a struggle for me mainly because of the extreme heat. Water has become an obsession and I am now acutely aware of its importance to survival. It has however also been a very interesting section because the environment is totally foreign. It has been great to see the animals and trees that can survive such a harsh conditions.

Ahead of us are the mountains of the Sierra Nevada. It is perhaps the most beautiful section of the trail and it will be cooler and water will be much more readily available. We are now well and truly in bear country and Marcus saw a bear cub on the last section. This means we are now burdened with large plastic containers called Bear Vaults which we are required by law to carry. Resupplying food is challenging because of the remoteness of the area but we have sent food ahead to ourselves. We are lucky that it is a particularly low snow year so we will not need to carry crampons and ice axes. So on we go.

Signing the register.

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October
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19 Stage one survived
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