I spent a couple days at Kennedy Meadows, cleaning up, filling up, and socializing. The large group that was present Thursday night was reduced in size by Friday night; a portion of hikers decided to hitch north and avoid the snowy sierra. As I would find out, the fears of snow were unfounded, as the only snow I encountered was a half-mile section coming down the north side of Forester pass.  And I can definitely feel the change in the trail, this is no longer high desert, but high Sierra … Alpine lakes, deer, marmots, snow-capped peaks, bears, and JMT hikers everywhere!

Day 39: Saturday 5/23/2015, 15.1mi/24.2km

Day 40: Sunday 5/24/2015, 19.9mi/32.0km

Day 41: Monday 5/25/2015, 10.6mi/17.1km

Day 42: Tuesday 5/26/2015, 0mi/0km
Battery died! No pictures, Zero day in Lone Pine.

Day 43: Wednesday 5/27/2015, 0mi/0km

Day 44: Thursday 5/28/2015, 14.1mi/22.7km

Surprise! My dad joined for a week, from Lone Pine to Reds Meadow (150 miles + Mt. Whitney)

Day 45: Friday 5/29/2015, 25.2mi/40.6km

Going up to Mt Whitney Summit….

Day 46: Saturday 5/30/2015, 15.8mi/25.4km

Day 47: Sunday 5/31/2015, 10.0mi/16.1km

We jumped off the trail for a few days at Kearsarge Pass (Onion Valley trailhead). The original plan was for us to get to Reds Meadow (155 trail miles) in 8 days, which was pretty ambitious, especially given the altitude of 10k+ feet and the crossing of 4 high mountain passes. After sustaining a post-holing injury coming down Forester pass, we decided to do some local dayhikes in the Sierra region.