July 4

There's a lesson somewhere in here... A day of unknowns and anxiety... A day of everything falling in place and working out better than I could've possibly hoped..

Having decided to go for the trip into Independence today I quickly did laundry as soon as the general store opened at 9. Dressed in clean clothes, I took one last look at all my gear spread out all over the trailer hoping everything would be fine left there for a day... Ok let's do it. Walked back over to the store and saw a small family checking out. Well here goes, asked as politely as I could and after some amount of hesitation said they'd try to make some room and squeeze me into the cab of their pickup - yes! That got me down to a gas station on the highway where we were headed in opposite directions. I hop out thanking them and start hitting people up at the pumps. Most people react as I'd expect, with almost automatic excuse-making mode. Understandable for sure, but it is weird to be on the asking end and feel instant mistrust w/o people giving you a chance... But not too long after my search (might've asked 4-5 people) I ask a couple of guys and while initially met with the same hesitation I pressed a little and they eventually agreed. The driver goes to make room in the cab if his pickup and what do you know, they're backpackers :) About to head out for a week or so. They weren't going all the way to Independence but Lone Pine was most of the way there, about 40 of the 55 miles. We had a really great conversation the whole way and I think we all enjoyed the trip. I just know that that ride helped me get excited about the trail again in a big way - most of the drive was along the Sierra range and the views of those mountains were just beautiful and awe-inspiring - this was what I had come out on this hike to see! :) It was really moving to get a glimpse, a preview of what we were on the verge of getting into.

They stopped at the ranger station in Lone Pine to get their wilderness permits where I proceeded to search for a ride the rest of the way. Pretty much the same story, even unknowingly asking a few adults that were part of a big bus of boy scouts - I know it's generalizing, but it never ceases to amaze me how unhelpful or self-centered scouting groups seem to be... The people I asked had no idea where they were headed and really didn't care to ask or help in the least - no good deeds done today! lol Maybe the less than great experiences over the years just have me expecting less than the boy scout ideal... But most encounters have tended to reinforce my desire to quit the scouts when I was a kid.. Not to say I wouldn't have learned a good deal and had some great experiences with them, but I just remember feeling that my troop was full of bullies and thus as a whole everyone reciting all the oathes/values/ideals felt completely hypocritical... Reminds me of another experience earlier in the trip when Flip Flop and I had lunch on top of Baden Powell, sharing the area with a loud group of scouts. After lunch FF and I were taking in the 360 degree views one last time (closer to the top and where the scout group was than where we chose to enjoy lunch in our own space and somewhat quiet) when the scout leader loudly and fairly condescendingly asked if that was an umbrella?! Referring to the one strapped to FF's pack. I think FF probably said something in the affirmtive but the comment sure didn't feel like much of an invitation to talk about it. It felt like he was making fun of it, trying to be funny and amuse his scouts with his incredulous tone. Never mind the poor example set for the kids with what came off as a critical and disrespectful comment, unfortunately he missed out on an opportunity for he and his kids to learn about hiking the PCT in addition to a pretty interesting and practical choice of gear that challenges the standard way of thinking about equipment. The umbrella can actually be great in the desert as well as in the rain. Oh well. Probably had no clue they were even on the PCT and that we were out hiking for more than just a weekend. Just ticked me off that a leader would set that kind of example and once again undermined the organization as a whole. I had friends on the AT who loathed the scouts for their lack of respect towards the land and others.... sad. Anyway! Sorry for venting! ;)

I ended up approaching an older gentleman (perhaps one of the last people in the building I hadn't asked yet) who very easily agreed to give me a ride as he was headed in my direction. Noticing all his maps as I got into his minivan we immediately got to talking about the trail. Trails actually, as he was from Pennsylvania and had hiked much of the AT in addition to piecing together parts of the PCT. Very nice fellow and was obviously more than happy to help out a fellow hiker :)

He dropped me off across the street from the small park in town and the only spot that looked to be full of people - the woman from the first hitch had said not to blink or you might miss the town and she was right :)

I uneasily crossed the street and approached the park not really even having much of an idea of what I was doing or looking for. Found a group of hikers and began scanning for anyone I knew. Thankfully saw Stix and eventually ran into a few more I knew later on. Pretty nice grassy setting with some trees surrounding a nice size stream running through the park, of course with the amazing views of the Sierra as a backdrop. Soaked my feet for a bit at one point and found myself just wanting to watch the water on and off throughout the afternoon, something I haven't really had the chance to do much of through SoCal.

Found out that I'd missed a dance the night before as well as the hiker pancake feed and hiker parade this morning. Fortunately I made it in time for the town's BBQ; $10 for a big plate of really good tender deep pit pulled beef, cole slaw (yes Mama I ate every bit of it), baked beans, salsa, tortilla, garlic bread, and lemonade. Spent all afternoon basically hangin out in the grass and talking/listening to other hikers. Got a little bit of a scoop on the upcoming challenges of the Sierra. One friend eagerly showed me a video clip he took of one of the water crossings - what was a tame creek in the AM was a raging, roaring torrent later in the day from all the snow melt. Scary, exciting, amazing to see.

Ended up eventually finding and introducing myself to a guy I'd heard worked at Kennedy Meadows. Fortunately he was going to be able to give me a ride back in the AM, unfortunately I wasn't going to be able to crash on the floor of his hotel room. So hmmm.... spent much of the afternoon wondering and worrying a little about where/how I was going to sleep that night. This off-the-cuff is not really something I've done very often and I can't say I'm very comfortable with it. But this whole trip into Indepedence was just that, an adventure in its own right. I began to feel pretty stupid for not bringing my tarp and sleeping bag - everyone I described my situation to were a bit surprised by the fact that I didn't have my pack with me :) yeah I know, crazy. I didn't quite think it all through but I probably would've been a lonely stick in the mud in KM if I'd delayed and spent too much more time trying to think it all through. Amazes me too, but whatever, I knew it was going to be a figure it out as I go deal so there I was, figuring it out as I went :) One thing I did think was that if all else failed, I'd just shell out for a motel room for the night, but that wasn't exactly a great idea being that it was such a small town and that it was Independence on the 4th - duh. Of course everything was booked up by visitors as well as by other hikers either fresh off the trail or who had beaten me to town.

A couple of options came up. One being the guy who was giving me a ride back who had a tent set up at a campground up in the mountains he obviously wasn't using as he'd gotten a room in town. It was about 15 miles away but that wasn't really a huge concern as lots of hikers were based there and there people giving them rides that I could've jumped in on. More of a concern was getting back to town in time for the ride in the AM and more importantly the fact that I had no bag with me and it'd undoubtedly be freezing cold up there.

There was the possibility of maybe getting a hitch into another town for a motel room but availability wasn't a guarantee and I still had to worry about hitching back in time for the ride back to KM, or face a tricky hitch all the way back to KM.

The other option was to hang with Stix who happened to have a second sleeping bag and pad b/c his girlfriend was going to be joining him to hike for a little bit. He wasn't exactly sure where he was going to crash himself but if all else failed we could probably share a site w/ hikers at a campground about a mile away and cowboy camp, hoping that it didn't rain despite the nasty clouds we'd seen on and off all day.

As the BBQ and gathering wrapped up I found myself talking to Stix once again about what we were going to do. He mentioned that he'd been invited to watch the fireworks by some girls he'd met at the dance the night before. I suggested that maybe they wouldn't mind if we just cowboyed it on their lawn, having had thoughts of being treated like a vagrant if we just crashed in the park or anywhere else in town - always interesting to even have the potential of experiencing the slightest taste of what it might feel like to walk a mile in someone else's shoes... It's not like I was a bum or didn't have any money, but all rooms were booked, I didn't have a car, didn't know anyone who lived in this town... I'd be fine just sleeping wherever on the streets or a patch of grass for the night but visions of being hassled by authorities seemed like a very real possibility..

So we went over and hung out with these girls which was a little bit awkward at first as I wasn't sure what they thought we were there for, especially as they didn't know me. But they were really cool and had no problem with us hangin and then tagging along back to their house/ranch just down and across the road. We met the family and sat by the pool as their mother curiously asked us all about the trail. They brought us watermelon and then some yummy homemade vanilla ice cream and apple pie. The ice cream actually reminded me of the ice cream my grandfather made by hand in France, soo good. We even ended up jumping in the pool - can't remember the last time I'd been on a diving board and the first attempt at a dive off of it felt just about as foreign :)

Pretty sunset colors off the clouds (clouds!) with the amazing backdrop of snow capped mountains. Hard to imagine living in a place with that kind of scenery right in front of your house...

We then joined the whole family (the two sisters and their friend, parents, grandparents, and the third sister with her husband) to watch the town's fireworks from behind their house, occasionally setting off some of their own.

After hanging out a bit more 'til about midnight, Stix and I crashed for the night in the soft green grass of their yard under a nice tree. With the meeting place for the ride back in the morning just a few blocks down the street, not a worry in the world. What a crazy great day. I know things have a tendency to work out in the end and this was a good lesson in letting go of worrying and having faith that things will work out, but I still can't imagine living one's life this way... Being able to chill and go with the flow is good but I think I'll always prefer the security of having a plan of some sort..


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Location:Independence