We spent the day at the store running a tab for snacks, laundry, showers and incoming and outgoing package fees.

Food weight is enormous for our next 10 day leg to Vermillion Valley Resort on Edison Lake. We'll eat at the restaurant then walk a couple miles.

A plethora of birds woke us at Kennedy Meadows CG. We packed our huge packs and the adventure began.

We followed the river north of the CG. The dusty trail had drops of water on the surface. A bear had been drinking in the river and left large footprints and drips on the trail that we followed for a half mile. I kept looking for him even when I didn't see footprints on the trail.

A short time later we saw small bear prints walking up the trail. We looked for both the baby and the mother but still no bear sightings.

A new to us flower was growing in the trail. Its four pale yellow petals were heart shaped, buds were red, dark green leaves grew against the ground. While I considered snapping a shot of a pink flower we saw our largest rattler yet. It was unaggressive and rattled just once. I think they must get calm and prudent as they age.

Lunch was at the bridge in Monache Meadows over the the South Fork of the Kern. Birds roosted under the bridge and we could watch fish in the river. We have arrived in paradise!

As we followed a small creek up the mountain we were not sure if we were on the PCT or the cattle drive route. Hiker footprints were everywhere at an unsigned junction. As we navigated our way higher, temperatures dropped. We were glad to drop in elevation after a long traverse to find a campsite. 

What views! Gorgeous granite, convoluted cedars, light colored sand sparsely furnished with boulders. No understory to block the views.

Contrast that with my lost pen, broken tent pole, and difficult pine cone filled trail. We worked hard for our miles with our packs heavy with food. We won't be able to solve problems for at least 10 days at Vermillion and that is such a rustic remote resort that it won't have what we need.

The carbon fiber tent pole has a splint made from one plastic water bottle and duct tape. Water is so frequent here that we won't miss the bottle. We have a pencil for notes but I'll miss the fun of writing our mileage splits on my hand for quick reference. The most dangerous loss is Ken's thermal bottoms (left in Kennedy Meadows?) as we head for the high Sierra passes.

As we hike we see many green meadows far below the trail and very little snow on the high peaks around us. We are on our way to the spectacular seven high Sierra passes: Forester, Glen, Pinchot, Mather, Muir, Seldon and Silver. The plan is to hike one a day except for Pinchot and Mather on the same day. That way our food lasts to our next resupply. Daily mileage will drop significantly as we climb and drop thousands of feet in elevation daily. But the views are worth the effort.