This morning I packed up quietly around 5 AM and got ready to go. Everyone else was still fast asleep and in no rush. Which I definitely understand. For a lot of people this section to the Sierra is going to be one of the most time-consuming portions of the entire trail. But if all goes to plan I would really like to be done in less than 2 weeks. So that would have me averaging around 30-35 miles a day. It will just depend on the conditions and how much snow is left behind.

Once I was ready, I met up with Jay and he drove me down the road to where the trail picked up. Apparently there was a campground in about 3 miles so he told me I could leave my backpack in his truck and he would meet me there. One final slack pack before heading into the Sierra. For that next hour, I flew along the trail and was feeling really good. I’m pleasantly surprised that even after sitting in a car for hours and then on a plane for hours, my previous injury didn’t feel super tight or uncomfortable today.

It didn’t take long to make my way to that campground where Jay was. I grabbed my backpack from him and said goodbye. He would be leaving my food and bear canister in one of the bear boxes at Cottonwood, where I can pick it up sometime tomorrow. It’s so early still that if I do over 30 miles today, then I will be to the campground sometime fairly early tomorrow.

My pack was really light and I was feeling great as I left there. The first day out from Kennedy Meadows involved basically going uphill the entire time. The trail climbs up to 10,000 feet and a little bit above that. Though the climb itself is quite gradual if I remember correctly. A gradual climb is probably my favorite type of terrain out of everything. Even more so than a gradual downhill or a flat portion of trail.

The weather was fantastic and I was so happy to be moving at a predictable pace. After being out on the Appalachian Trail and going slow, it was such a relief to be moving it 3 mph. The trail out here is typically flat dirt with pine. Sometimes portions of the trail can be slow going. But because the trail is graded for stock animals it’s generally a very gradual up and down.

When I was about six miles into the day, I passed some people who were still tented. Everyone’s on their own schedule, but it always surprises me to see tents set up past 7 AM. Especially after 8 AM or 9 AM. But I’m just a type of person that likes to get going early and get the miles in. I’d rather be at camp earlier in the day than start late and get to camp late.

The trail weaved up and down along switchbacks, but was really nice and easy. I listened to music and just let the time pass away. Then when I was about 14 miles into the day, I crossed over a large bridge and decided to stop off for water. There were a couple other hikers there about to head out as well. I recognized one guy from yesterday who I met a grumpy. He must’ve left last night rather than staying at KMS. I sat there for a minute or two and grabbed some water. Then I continued along the gradual climb.

I knew that over the course of the day the grade would pick up a bit. I had such a strong memory of descending down into Kennedy Meadows during my 2022 southbound hike. So I knew it was only a matter of time until it got a bit steeper and I got into a wooded area. It took a while, but eventually I caught up to the two guys who had left the water source before me. Then an hour or so after that, I caught up to another hiker who had been off the distance. I took another opportunity to fill up on water when I could and chatted with that hiker for a bit. He came over from Japan to hike the trail.

As the day went on the temperature just got progressively hotter and hotter. Climbing up in elevation would help a bit, but we were talking temperatures around 90°. When I had looked at the weather most recently, I saw that the temperatures for the whole week were around this. But I figured it might be a bit better in the mountains.

As the day continued, I couldn’t tell if it was the heat or the altitude, but I was feeling very tired. Typically, my body adjusts very well to increased altitude. In both of my experiences in the Sierra previously and in the San Juan’s, I had almost no side effects from the altitude. Generally just a bit of sluggishness for the first day or so. But I think that the little bit of tiredness combined with the heat was wearing on me.

Time was passing by quickly though, and it was looking like I would be at camp around 5:30 PM. And that was even doing a 33 mile day. I definitely missed how nice and predictable the terrain is out here. I was spending so much time on the Appalachian Trail hiking every day to go such a shorter distance than this.

Any chance that I got I stopped off and filled up on water. I was drinking as much as I could, but it still didn’t feel like enough. When I got down to the bottom of the next descent, I filled up one more time and talked to a hiker named Goat Head who was there. From there it was about 4 miles to the top of the next climb. Which would rest at about 10,600 feet and involved a good bit of elevation gain.

Typically, I really don’t mind climbing whatsoever and it doesn’t tend to exhaust me too much. But the heat was definitely wearing on me. Maybe it also had something to do with not eating enough food. And even having drank a lot of water I still think it wasn’t enough. That next stretch of 4 miles was really hard. I found myself stopping a bunch to stand and regain my strength. It wasn’t necessarily that I was out of breath, as much as I was just super tired. But I think considering it’s day one at altitude and also so hot out, that that isn’t super surprising.

There were multiple times on the climb that I considered stopping sooner. There were tons of camp spots on the way up. But I really wanted to just keep going and make it to my intended campsite. It’s so easy to get in your own head and flake on your plans later on in the day. That’s something that I try to avoid if I can.

Slowly but surely I made my way up and eventually got to the top of the climb. There were tons of super nice tent spots, and it was really early still. The climb definitely took longer than I had expected. Probably because I stopped off a couple different times to rest. But it was only 5:30 PM when I got my tent set up. I couldn’t tell if it was from the altitude or perhaps the heat, but I had a bit of a migraine coming on. So once everything was situated, I got into my tent and took some Excedrin. Then I drank a liter of water, ate something, and set an alarm for an hour later. It was so early that I could take a quick nap and try to feel a little bit better.

I wound up being very glad that I did that. Because after an hour, I woke up feeling great and my headache was gone. It was still super early, so I ate some more dinner and decided to make a hot chocolate to get some more water down. And for the rest of the night, I actually felt really good and quite energized. Two hikers that I passed many hours earlier wound up getting to the top of the climb around 8 PM. I could hear them just around the corner from me obstructed by a large rock. But I don’t think that they knew I was there.

Somehow, I had enough energy to get some video work done and even a bit of writing. Then ate some more and drink some more water before finally calling it a night. Today I did about 7500 feet of elevation gain in 33 miles. And for the first time this year, I got above 10,000 feet. I think that at 10,600 for tonight is coming be really good for me. Typically, sleeping at higher elevation makes it easier to acclimate. And even though I tend to do quite well at high altitude, it never hurts to set myself up for success and even better acclamation.

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