Joshua Trees, Kernville, and Deciding on the Sierras

May 11th

As the day was coming a close the temperatures began to drop quickly, the wind picked up dramatically and after a long climb carrying 4 liters of water Mantis and I were ready to camp. We just happened to come across an absolute gem of a spot where we were protected from the wind by blooming Joshua trees. The night sky was illuminated by so many stars that night and the sunrise was spectacular as well.

May 14th

After resuppling in Kernville. We took two zeros in Kernville because it was just too good of a town. We even went white water rafting on one of our zeros. We figured what's the rush to get to Kennedy Meadows. We don't plan on going in anyways. Let's just chill for another day in town. Always fun to figure out new ways to pack your food into ziplock bags and have it all fit in your food bag/backpack.

May 17th

Change of plans. We're going into the Sierras! Mantis is such a good planner and is working on our itinerary for the first section of the Sierras. Kennedy Meadows to Lone Pine. How many miles are we going to do each day? How many days of food are we planning to carry? What are the water sources looking like? These are the usual questions we need to ask ourselves when planning. This time around we had to ask some new questions like where does the snow start? What are the snow conditions like? Will we face potentially dangerous water crossings? We were a bit more anxious entering the Sierras because we've seen plenty of other hikers we know leaving the PCT to hike or travel elsewhere and wait out the Sierra snow rather than go in. At the same time we felt confident and pretty excited to be dipping our toes in the Sierras and to really test ourselves!

- Journey Man