June 1

Mile 703

It is a trail tradition to take a zero day in Kennedy Meadows.  You sit with other hikers to discuss your worries about the upcoming high Sierra passes and snow melt accelerated dangerous stream crossings.  You also discuss the complicated logistics of resupply- there is no good answer.   All options are either too short, making the hike out of the Sierra to get to a road seem unnecessary,  or too long- making you cut calories during the most physically demanding part of the trail.  

The other common activity is to gorge yourself with as many calories as possible to help prepare your body for the lean times ahead.   

For breakfast we order the “all you can eat” pancake breakfast. When the pancake comes out it is larger than a dinner plate and 3 inches thick, and comes with a literal ice cream scoop of butter on top.  It is uncommon to finish one.  It is exceedingly rare to finish 2.  It is unheard of to finish 3.   

Next door to the cafe is a small outfitter run by “Yogi” a trail legend.  She has stocked a metal shipping container with food and gear perfectly catered to a thru hiker.    Yogi is a personal hero of mine. She is the first woman to have completed a double triple crown-  she hiked the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide trails all twice.  When there was far less information floating around about the Pacific crest and Continental Divide trails Yogi wrote guidebooks on how to tackle the complicated logistics of these hikes.  The books were full of wisdom and encouragement and gave me the confidence I needed to first hike those trails in 2013 and 2016. In many ways I feel indebted to her for helping make this endeavor seem way less overwhelming.  We bought supplies from her store and took a picture with her before going a few miles down the road to the large deck of the general store to sip wine and socialize with other hikers.  My shirt is covered in ever growing dirt stains that never can wash out.

There are two competing establishments here- a general store and a bar and grill. Both offer camping, showers, and laundry, and they are VERY competitive with each other- each trying to undercut the other with their policies and accomodations. We have heard rumors of their massive rivalry that sometimes erupts in fistfights between the owners. Apparently the owners of the general store and the bar are cousins, but the family ties have done little to ease the tensions. Hikers are generally advised to avoid mentioning the other establishment when ordering food to avoid having any of the ire directed their way. We keep our heads down and split our time equally between both places.

At night a projector is fired up and we sit outside to watch Steven Spielberg’s Tintin. 

The general store has satellite Internet and after amber goes to bed I sit on the deck, with the Milky way shining above me, and find a stream to watch the main event of a UFC pay-per-view on my phone.  The absurdity of this makes me laugh. 

We go to bed with a plan to leave after breakfast in the morning.