June 23, 2022 Mile 937.7 to Spiller Creek at mile 957.3 19.6 miles It’s a lot easier to wake and pack up when you’re cowboy camping. The daylight streams through the forest, and we have food and hot coffee on our minds. The trail is flat this morning, following the meadow and river. I walk …
June 14, 2022 Campsite below Mather Pass at mile 815.7 to Big Pete Meadow at mile 832.6 16.9 miles This morning is luxurious. Since we’re so close to Mather, we don’t really have a reason to get up too early. I don’t set an alarm, and I wake up when the sun starts poking over …
June 10, 2022 0 miles This will be a short one. Town days are fun, but not necessarily as exciting to write about as trail days. Suffice it to say: Bishop is a great town, we ate a lot of food, went to so many gear stores, and stressfully packed up eight days of food …
June 9, 2022 Non-PCT miles: 7 PCT miles: 0 It’s pretty easy to wake up on town days. We have barely any food left and just seven miles to the trailhead. We’ve been fantasizing about town food and beer and drinks and washing our hands. Before long, we’re hiking and passing people coming the other …
June 2, 2022 0 miles I’ll tell you a secret: I’ve been behind for the past week. Usually I write each entry at night, but I’ve been so wiped every day recently that all I can manage is a brief list of notes before I pass out. So I’m determined to get caught up on …
June 1, 2022 Campsite on the South Fork of the Kern River at mile 698.3 to Kennedy Meadows at mile 702.2 3.9 miles We talk about it for weeks and months. For so long we say, “When we get to Kennedy…” and “At Kennedy Meadows we will…” For days in the desert we fantasize about …
May 31, 2022 Campsite at mile 676 to campsite on the South Fork of the Kern River at mile 698.3 22.3 miles Naturally, our plan to get up early fails. It is proper cold this morning. My hands feel like little icicles. We move slowly (especially me) through breakfast, teeth-brushing, and packing up. Eventually, we …
May 30, 2022 Campsite at mile 654 to campsite at mile 676 22 miles It’s morning: sunlight. No alarm. I stretch and wake up slowly. There are real advantages to early starts, but having a bit of a lie-in is exactly what I needed today. I eventually sit up and have a nice chill breakfast. …
May 29, 2022 Bird Spring Pass at mile 630.8 to campsite at mile 654 23.2 miles The alarm rings at 3:55. I wouldn’t say I exactly jump out of bed, but I get up fairly quickly. I’ve estimated that a conservative two miles an hour will get us to Walker Pass by 2, so we’re …
May 28, 2022 Landers Meadow Spring at mile ~608.9 to Bird Spring Pass at mile 630.8 21.9 miles I wake up when a gust of wind knocks out one of my stakes and my tent collapses on top of me. I grumpily stuff it back into the ground, but the damage is done. I’m awake. …
Sarahmarie Specht-Bird 