Day:256
Direction: Southbound
Trail location: 1910
Cumulative miles hiked 2019/2021: 2580
Cumulative miles hiked 2021: 563
Miles hiked today: 17
Elevation: 9966
High/low temp/humidity: 64/46/10
Spinning on the turntable: Post Malone: Hollywood’s Bleeding
Oh my word it was cold this morning. My feet have been cold the past few nights. I’m sleeping in a 20 degree Marmot, with a liner, with socks. I can’t believe that I’m getting cold. I’m having issues with the sleeping bag zipper popping off a tread while I’m sleeping, and completely unsheathing (?) while I sleep, so that doesn’t help much.

I started the day with a the hill climb that i didn’t want to climb yesterday afternoon. I feel better today than I did yesterday. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it many times; The High Sierra Section has been very challenging for me. I miss having companionship.
I’m conscious of the fact that my time on the trail is winding down. In 2019 I wanted to keep going, keep the experience alive, to keep hiking. This year I’m just wanting it to be over. My feet and ankles ache. I know I’ll look back at this experience later in life and really love it, but today, at this moment, my dogs are barking quite loudly. I’m struggling to get up and moving again after a long lunch break, so I’ve started limiting my lunch time to 30 minutes. Eat fast!
The skies are most amazing blue. I’m entranced by the different landscape, the rapidly changing foliage, and the piercing blue sky. I could sit for a long time and just soak it in. I may actually sit on logs here and there just absorbing the scenery. After nearly two months of smoke filled sky, this is amazing.
I fill my sightseeing with stuffing my face with food. I’m trying to jack up my caloric intake to give myself more energy for hiking. In the first month I was loosing about a pound of body weight a day. Lately I’ve been loosing about .75lbs per day. I’m fine with weight loss, I could easily absorb more of it, but the lack of energy is problematic when I want to hike all day long!
I’m trying to remember correctly, but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone today. Or yesterday. Once I passed Whitney Portal, it’s very quiet out here. It was a nice quiet afternoon of downhill hiking. I hit the summit of some pass today, but I don’t know what the pass was named, so I named it “pain in my ass pass” when I sent out a Garmin message to my list.
This evening I have another camping area to myself. There may be 25 good camping spots, and it’s just me. I don’t mind the lack of folks, but I wouldn’t mind it if someone showed up for dinner and then left 30 minutes later after some good conversation.
I was groaning to myself earlier. I was setting up my tent and I saw a nice pair of prescription glasses sitting on a rock. It took me about an hour to decide that I’d take them with me and leave them in KMS lost and found. I really don’t want to haul other folks stuff out, but, it’s someone prescription glasses. If it were me, I’d hope someone would do the same. It sucks being a nice guy. I’m shaking crumbs out of my backpack to avoid carrying extra weight and here I am carrying someones glasses. Sigh.

This is a screenshot of my Garmin map. The points in the South are from 2019 when I approached KMS. The points in the North are from 2021 as I approach KMS. Soon they’ll converge and we’ll be done. Noelle asked me before I left Onion Valley what kind of celebration I wanted to have. I didn’t, and still, don’t know. I’ve been so focused on finishing that I’ve not spent much time thinking about how to celebrate “finishing”.
Clever man, “future posting”! ie giving a report on the day before it’s even happened!
Looks like a lot of mostly traversing @ 10K’.
Map shows crossing Mulkey Creek. Is there water?
As the earlier poster said “The end (aka KMS) is near.”
My first Scout backpacking venture took us right to that sign; I’ve backpacked to all those places. Thanks for bringing back the memories.
Dan
I’m a tricky little fellow. I enjoy leaving inside jokes and other things that amuse me in the updates. Sometimes, someone even notices them! There was reliable water in the Kern River and Cow Creek, but aside from those, most of the seasonal water holes are bone dry. It’s great to hear that you backpacked to all these places! It’s beautiful!
As crap. Post-trail blues while still on the trail?
Sell the movie rights. ‘Wild 2: The Reckoning”
Followed by ‘Wild 3: Noelle Gets Her Hike Back On After Shoulder Surgery’
Followed by ‘Hitchiker’s Guide To A Supported PCT for Mature Folk’
Followed by a month on a Thai beach.
That was supposed to be “Aw crap”.
I’ll start with a the month on a Thai beach…although, honestly, I get a bit bored sitting on beaches. I’m good for a few days and them I’m itching do something else.