PCT SOBO DAY 104 – My first cactus!

Day 104

Start: Tentsite, mile 1925.1

Finish: Kennedy Meadows south, outside mile 1952.4

Miles driven: 27.3 miles

I woke up at the usual time and started in the morning light. It was another day on the trail where I didn’t feel like walking, so I started at a leisurely pace, enjoying the flat trail while it lasted.

On my first small climb of the day, a fighter jet flew so close that I almost ducked for cover. He screamed into the air, his roar drowning out everything else, leaving my ears ringing. I wondered what the animals would think about that scandal.

After that, the morning was largely uneventful. As I descended, the air grew warmer and I felt almost in the desert. The trail was sandier, the ground covered with bushes and water sources scarce.

I stopped at the South Fork of the Kern River for a sip of cold water and hid from the sun under the bridge while I filled my water bottles. There wasn’t a soul around, but I knew there were hikers somewhere.

The afternoon passed and I saw my first cactus of the stretch. I was officially in the desert! Feeling a little lazy, I thought I’d stop at a campground a couple miles before Kennedy Meadows South. Since he had already gotten a zero in Lone Pine, he didn’t need to spend much time there. I really just wanted their famous all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast.

But, as I signed in the route log at the camp. I saw a bunch of names of hikers who had signed that day. There were at least 7. That was a huge SOBO bubble! Among the names was Sun, the boy with whom he had walked halfway through Washington. I was hoping to meet him again, so now I definitely had to send him to KMS.

At this time, the sun was already low in the sky. When I reached KMS, it was almost night. Hikers and their tents were everywhere! Some hikers I had met briefly the day before were there, and it wasn’t long before I found Sun. Turns out a couple of SOBOs had rented an AirBnB and were throwing some sort of party. Of course I had to join!

It was very fun. Somewhere between 10 and 12 of us were sitting around a table, eating, drinking and talking about life. There were new faces and old faces. It was a great way to start the last stretch of the trail.

We all returned to our tents well after midnight, ready to wake up and enjoy our morning pancake feast.

And that’s a day in the life of a PCT SOBO hiker!

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