Day 39 – Sunday, July 2

PCT Mile 680.8 Chimney Creek to PCT Mile 702.2 Kennedy Meadows 
Day Total: 21.6 Miles

We found a river today! Such an amazing sight.

We waded in the South Kern river and washed miles and miles of dirt off our bodies in the cold water. But before that, we had an even more amazing sight.

We climbed for six miles this morning up to 8,000 feet and came over a ridge to a view of the snow-covered Sierras stretched across the horizon. We screamed with excitement. The mountains! That's where we're going!!! The desert ends soon!!!

From there, it was eight mostly downhill miles with very little shade to the river. I was pretty overheated by the time we got to the river, and wading in the cold water fixed that ever so quickly. I'm beyond excited to get up into the mountains and to have access to cold water like this.

We hiked 4.4 more miles up and down over rolling desert hills up to the road crossing for the Kennedy Meadows General Store. The general store is a landmark on the trail, marking the end of the Southern California section and the start of the Sierras.

I'm proud that we've hiked 700 miles and that we've done SoCal!

One of the cool traditions at the general store is that when hikers walk up from the trail, all the hikers already on the big covered porch will cheer and clap. It's a pretty awesome celebration for making it out of the desert!

We picked up our packages in the general store, including some amazingly awesome care packages from friends. We are so grateful to have your support.

We also bought chips, Gatorades, beer, and a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream each at the store, which lets hikers set up tents in the backyard.

And then we hung out on the big porch at the store with 20 or so hikers, including some folks we hadn't seen since we got back on the trail after LA.