slow internet and shifty phones.

sorry the posts have been spotty, time has been short. 

i hiked 52 miles in 36 hours through the night under a full moon to make it to kennedy meadows before caveman and yellow bird started getting worried.  i had sepperated from them the morning before to hitch into a small town for little ceasars pizza and some mtn dew.  i would hitch in and out and be on the trail by noon, hopefully catching back up with the mother ship before dark.  Lake isabella CA was a friendly enough place and i was able to get a ride half way back within an hour of hitching.  there is only one road around these parts and if you passed the gas station that i was thumbing in front of you were headed to where i was headed.  that thought didnt seem to cross anyone’s mind.  i stood infront of the chevron in Onyx CA for seven hours before i got a ride to the trail by a local on his way home. 

 Twelve hours and thirty miles behind bird and cman i leaned into the mtn at sunset with full resolve to reach kennedy meadows by the end of the next day.   The nearly full moon rose red over the ridges in the distance and clouds rolled in from the opposite to fill the sky with light.   On the east faces it was pitch black and twenty degrees on the west face i had stark shadows and lunar light i could nearly read by(still 20 degrees).  Three hours later i was 14 miles into the 52 and ready for a nap.  Tent was pitched on a bit of land with no pitch and hopefully no wind.  Five hours of sleep and back on the trail by 7AM.  38.2 miles to go before i quit, 38.2 miles to go for beer and burgers and the fabled kennedy meadows. 

  The fresh dusting from the freezing clouds lastnight had a short shelf life, the sun was out and the clouds were in hiding.  Atleast the big day was going to have nice weather.  walk walk walk walk walk walk.  break.   twelve more miles down, the last of the pizza from town.  back to our feet, walk walk walk walk walk walk walk.  tweny miles down, the sun is lower that it should be with 18.2 remaining.  walk walk walk walk walk .  sunset, the book says four or seven miles left.  the meadow is beautiful, a trout river glows red like the golden trout that swim in it,  pines and granite, sage and cactus.  night comes and all that exists is my footsteps.  the moon is tired tonight from our date lastnight, so headlamp hiking instead.  four miles pass and i still see no road, hear no dogs or lawnmowers.  sage field mazes, the sage maze.  ten o’clock, rolling hills, incandescent bulbs in the far distance.  still in the sage maze, hoping my trail is the trail and not the wrong trail, or not a trail.  10:30, the third and final cattle gate squeels closed and im on the road.  52 miles in 36 hours.  the last 18 miles of the hike are already forgotton from endorphines by the time i set up camp behind the quiet and empty general store.

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