Day 46 June 3, 2008

Well, I forgot some of my guidebook pages inside of the Kennedy Meadows store........so we had to hang around until they opened up at 9am before we could head into the Sierras! Atleast we were able to buy a muffin for the trail!! :) Pretty easy walking, the chaparral wasn't quite behind us yet, we were still walking in the 4 inches of beach sand for quite a few miles. Not sure if I mentioned the forest fire that we were about to head into, but there was yes, another fire in our hiking future (the Clover fire...they name their forest fires out here) Anyway, it was about 5-6 miles from Kennedy Meadows and as we got closer, you could smell the smoke and a helicopter kept going over our heads hauling a waterbag.......kinda eeeery! We passed a sign that said, "trail closed, federal offense to pass this point" or something to that effect.....but we were told it was okay to pass.....so, onward we hiked! Then we came to a fire crew along the trail taking a lunch break and they were fine with us being there. They just had one guy at the begining of the fire area and another at the end and as long as we checked in with both fire guys........we were out of the danger area and all was well! I will attatch a picture of the fire in a bit. Interesting stuff! Then we came to Beck Meadow (this HUGE green meadow, open space and a big ole mountain in the distance.........welcome to the Sierras!) yeah! Crossed the South Fork of the Kern river (on a bridge!!) and hiked a few more miles before we camped for the night. 16.4 miles into the Sierras....officially! We camped near The NewZealanders, Fireman, Sundown, Laces and Chief. The packs feel VERY heavy with the bear cannisters and ice axes and 7 days worth of food..........ugh.