Two days in Kennedy Meadows. The cool owners of the “Grumpy Bear” restaurant let us camp in their ground for the entire time which was a blessing. The place is a lot more chilled and friendlier than the General Store.

 

We basically alternated between the restaurant eating food & drinking food…

 

…and the store picking up packages, buying last minute items, showering, washing and eating more food.

The rides back though were the best part. This is called “dry-cleaning” 😂😂😂

We also visited the famous Yogi who has published books and guides about the PCT, provides maps and has now opened up a gear store right across the street from Grumpy Bear. So here is my new stuff:

A requirement for the next stretch is a bear canister for your food which bears can’t get into. It is made out of very durable plastic and a lock system they can’t open. It therefore also weighs a lot… I wasn’t even able to fit my food for the next 7 days in it 😳

And my good old Salomon Speedcross3 broke down on me early but they still made it to mile 700 which is a fair retirement age for them. But there was no grip left anymore and the holes were getting to big. So I was a bit more adventures and bought the S-LAB version of the Speedcross4 now. Apparently with better grip on snow. Let’s see?!

An ice axe, micro spikes and some rope for the sketchy and steep parts.

I also have not introduced my super lightweight tent yet. It is small due to the flater sides and setting up a not free standing tent is always more difficult but it is very compact and light – 437gr!

And then I did get a few more items: a thicker liner for my sleeping bag to give me a few extra degrees in the snow, a seating pad which weighs about 30gr to not get a cold butt and some more plastic bags as emergency gloves if it gets to cold, wet and windy.

And so the two days passed by quickly. But it was probably the most relaxing town days so far. We had enough time to just sit around and relax after the chores…

Tomorrow morning we will have a good breakfast and then we’ll be off in the mountains! We are not worried but there is a noticable tension because of all of the unknown factors with the massive amount of snow this year. We will try to go through but we are also ready to bail out if we have to. Pirate will also join the group tomorrow. Now I only hope that the Little One will somehow manage to catch up and eventually the rest of the family… Signing out now and most probably without internet for the next 7 days. Fingers crossed…🤘🏼