Daily Miles: 11.7
Total Miles: 105.2
As I suspected the allure of an actual bed let me sleep until 8AM today and I missed the first bus back up to Walker Pass. Not a problem though as I was able to take my time and not be rushed.
After 3 cups of coffee and a breakfast sandwich at the local coffee house I was at the bus stop with about 6 other hikers (none of which I hung out last night at Nelda's with) at 12:35 for the second bus. When it showed up there were actually two half mini buses. I thought it was funny that they put all the hikers on one and stuck the 3 or 4 locals on the other. Better to save them the smell I guess. And we were off back up the valley.
About halfway up the bus started to slow down and pull to the side of the road. I hadn't even thought about it but we were making a stop in Onyx to pick up the hikers that went into the KOA Campground there instead of Lake Isabella. It wasn't until this moment when I truly realized how many damn people are out here hiking this year. There were over 20 more hikers waiting at the bus stop there!!! I don't think there was enough room on both buses for everyone. They had to have sent a bus back to get more people because we were fully crammed in on our bus. $3 to go 33 miles though. Pretty good deal.
When we pulled into Walker Campground there were at least 10 more hikers there as well who were hiking on. This meant at least a total of 35 people heading north mid day out of the pass. Plus however many people had left on the early bus from both places as well. There could have been potentially 50+ hikers leaving Walker Pass headed north today. What scares me is that we are supposed to be BEHIND the pack. On the bus I even heard somebody say that there were 300 hikers camped out at Kennedy Meadows. That number is mind boggling to me. I think in 2008 we had about 600 total people attempt the trail. I have heard estimates this year of 3000 to 5000. Dear Lord Baby Jesus!!!!
Once off the bus I had to retrace the .8 miles I did yesterday and then headed on up the hill once again with 6 liters in tow. It was the middle of the day and our cool streak is starting to come to an end. In the next few days it will be over 100 degrees in the desert again. The wind had calmed down but there was just enough to make the long climb somewhat bearable. Aside from 15 to 30 second breaks I hiked all the way up the hill without any major pack off breaks. Once we hit the highest point for the day I stopped and ate and realized I had covered 8.7 miles already. My goal today was 10 out of town.
After that break it was 3 more miles to Joshua Tree Spring, which even though it was dry, still had a bunch of places to camp. As I was setting up my tent I was treated to my first southern sierras sunset.
6.8 miles to water tomorrow and hopefully about 16 to 18 total miles. 2 more days to fill in my gap and I get to Kennedy Meadows.
Patch
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