Kennedy Meadows (mile 702) to Campsite at mile 709
I don’t even know where to start. Today was a whirlwind of attempted plan making that somehow also culminated in hiking seven late afternoon miles.
Perhaps I need to back up.
When we arrived in Kennedy Meadows two days ago the plan was to gather our gear and hike into the Sierra for a six day section over Keirsarge Pass to resupply in Bishop. Then we began to read the trail reports in earnest, stories of people postholing for hours and days, cornices on Mather Pass. Learning that VVR is still closed, Red’s Meadow Road is still closed, Tioga Pass Road is still closed. Meaning that once we got further into the Sierra, it would be very hard to get out. Going into the Sierra began to seem foolish. All around us people spouted incorrect information garnered from who knows what resources. While people are summiting Mt Whitney in winter mountaineering style people clad in trail runners debated about carrying an ice axe since “it’s not like we know how to use them anyway.” I’m cringing.
Keith, who has far more winter mountaineering experience than me, and whose judgement I trust immensely tells me that he thinks we’d be able to make it through, but that it would likely be a cold miserable slog and that it would probably be frightening. I believe him. I’ve seen the pictures, I’ve slogged through wet California snow for hours when you’re postholing up to your hip, and I’m pretty sure we’re about two weeks too early to enter the Sierra safely. Our early success has become our downfall and it’s time to change plans. Many people are burning time by going on side trips or else spending days or weeks in the front country towns of Lone Pine and Bishop. But I don’t like the idea of sitting still, spending money and losing fitness.
After a flurry of research we decide we’re going to shorten this section to go over Mulkey Pass and into Lone Pine, then flip up to the California/Oregon border and SoBo back. Probably. It’s not set in stone yet, but we have a reservation for a hotel in Lone Pine for Friday night and it’s getting late and the internet here is terrible and so we hike out. Bags too full of extra food, with unnecessary microspikes and ice axes for snow we won’t encounter on our new plan.
Aside from the stress of the morning, I feel sad. The loss of a continuous NoBo thru hike is somehow more upsetting than I thought it would be. I know it means we’ll likely lose the start of a trail family we’ve been forming. It will put us away from everybody we’ve been hiking near, people we may not get to see again the rest of the trail. I also mourn the adventure of the Sierra under snow, the challenge that we’re choosing to bypass. The loss of a plan and idea can still hurt.
But at the same time I know it’s absolutely the right choice for us. Keith is worried that slogging through the Sierra for three weeks would ruin the trail for him, and I don’t want that. When I started this trail I told myself that I would prioritize my relationship and finishing the trail over all else, and by making the choice to flip north I’m doing both. Plus this different plan and the associated logistical nightmare will be an adventure, in the fun way that following the same trail north day after day can be devoid of.
By the time we reach camp the details of our plan are no more set, but my mood is much improved. We’ll do the rest of California SoBo and figure out the details in town. It’s going to be great.