June 12th Mile 719 Cow Creek

What a lovely day! I was up early and on the trail by 6am in order to get the big climb done in the cool morning, before the sun took over. Just less than 2,000 feet up before it got hot then around 1pm I pulled in to a campsite above the Kern River for my second lunch and extended afternoon rest stop. It was 12 miles to that point and I only had 3 more to go for this days camping. I suppose I could have gone lots farther but 15 miles is a-ok for me. No need to push on my first couple of days back.

I must say the hiking so far has been much easier than that I've been experiencing these last weeks. Yes there are climbs but there are rolling meadows on the top of the climb rather than the steep up-and-downs I've been slogging through. Plus, there's water every few miles so no need to carry lots of extra. I'm liken it!

Much of today's hike was along huge meadows. First Beck Meadow then Monache Meadow, the latter being the largest meadow along the Sierra mountain chain. Because they aren't high altitude meadows sagebrush still dominates with the center of the meadows being grassy. Once I get higher the sagebrush will disappear and grasses, with wild flowers, will dominate. Don't get me wrong, I like sagebrush, but I won't be sad to leave it behind for a bit.

Tomorrows climb will also be an early morning affair. From this spot at 8,339 feet I will climb to about 10,500 feet in about five miles. Not too bad. So far I haven't had the usual 24 hour altitude headache I often get when coming up from sea level. Hopefully the slow climbing will make the transition easier.

I took a couple of videos today but I won't be able to post them to this site. I haven't been successful so far, I think the files are too big and I am clueless as to how I can change them from this phone. I am going to try shooting the next videos on Socialcam and I think I will be able to post them on Facebook. However not until I get cell service. It's supposed to work but you know how that can go. We will see.

Random images from the visual eye candy I received today.