For Memorial Day weekend I got my Sierra Nevada season started by visiting Kennedy Meadows. This is the unofficial beginning of the Sierras according to Pacific Crest Trail hikers so I planned to invest some miles on this route. A windy night followed my journey north, and in the morning an interesting drive up Nine-Mile Canyon road led me to the KM campground. I lucked out with one of the last two parking spaces and very shortly was on the trail heading towards Canada. I was a little surprised to see it started out downhill, thinking that I would not enjoy this section on the way back. After just two miles I crossed the first bridge over the mighty Kern River and a couple miles later took a food and water break at Crag Creek, sharing space with a dozen kids on a group backpack trip. There wasn't a lot of water flowing here, although enough to fill a couple bottles and definitely some welcome shade. From there the trail definitely went uphill, following a long canyon through an old burned area up to a prominent saddle. Finally I reached some pine trees, until this point they were scattered among the more common desert juniper. Ahh, it’s nice to be back in the high mountains again. Camp locations seemed rare, so I was able to find a flat spot within a grove of trees. A long walk followed by going down and up and down toward the river, but I had mistaken the distance and didn't bring enough food and water to make it for the rest of the trip on tired legs. I retreated back to camp, then had a nice time just hanging around and reading. Later that evening another hiker came through and mentioned that I was camped in the same place he used on his previous PCT hike. On my last morning I took my time packing up and retreated back the way I came, fortunately the last section was not as steep as I remembered. I followed all of this with a well-deserved double cheeseburger at the General Store and then made the long drive back home. Definitely a good start to backpacking season, I’m looking forward to more nights in a tent.
Kern River bridge about two miles into the hike.
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Lots of juniper trees.
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Cactus reminder that this is still desert.
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Crag Creek in that line of trees ahead.
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I've been hiking in the sun for hours and finally see the end of this canyon. Near the top is an old sign denoting the Haiwee trail junction.
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Finally into some trees. I found out this was an isolated grove, some long meadows are ahead on the trail.
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Trail marker above Beck Meadow.
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Monache Meadow ahead, around here is where I stopped due to mental map off by six miles.
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Trail sign. I just learned that the official PCT number is 2000.
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Camp. This spot had a barely-flowing creek next to it, unfortunately it was not breezy enough to keep condensation out of the tent.
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"Argue for your limitations and sure enough they're yours".
Donald Shimoda
