With 7 hours left of driving to do and limited time, we were up and moving at 6 am. The long drive was comfortable in an air conditioned car but the outside temperature sat between 95 and 100 deg F from midday on. We are not looking forward to the hike down to the town of Independence and back after the first week in the Sierras!

After dropping us at the general store at Kennedy Meadows, OG headed off to Ridgecrest with his crampons and ice axe which needed to be posted home before returning the hire car and hopefully getting a lift back here. We have set up our tent, eaten a late lunch/early dinner and had showers. The temperature here is in the 80s (F) but we expect it to be cooler as we hike to much higher altitudes.

The photo above is the deck at the general store at Kennedy Meadows. When we were here last time in the beginning of June it was crowded with through hikers. This time it was just us and two section hikers.

The plan is to start after breakfast tomorrow morning and hopefully put in a good number of miles. With altitude effects as well as the steep ascents, we don’t know how fast we can expect to proceed on this section.