Day 40 - Sunday, June 6

Cowboy camping near the top of a windy mountain (mile 735.4).  Walked 20.4 miles today.

Woke up about 4 am and saw a couple of satellites flying overhead.  The stars were absolutely incredible last night.  Maybe more than I've ever seen and a great view of the Milky Way.  Started getting ready about 5 am.  We had condensation on our bags this morning which was kinda surprising considering how far away from the water we are.   Was on the trail at 6 am and had a short 1.5-mile walk down to the Kern River.  Walking through the pine forest was great, but even better when it opened up to the meadow with the river in it.

Crossed the bridge over the river and hung out with AB, who had arrived before me.  We waited until Jedi and Frank arrived before all setting off.  From here, we walked through the meadow while discussing movies.  The meadow became another pine forest and we began a climb up.

The climb was steep and the elevation wasn't helping.  After about 5 miles, we popped out into a meadow with a small stream.  We got water here and rested.  Over the next hour, Magnet, Microbe, Sure Foot, Rambo, Hot Pink, Mel, and a couple others turned up.

After we had our break, we continued on up into another pine forest which then spectacularly opened up into a meadow with a fantastic view down below.

For me, this was the moment that the Sierra became real.  The view was everything that I had hoped for from this section of trail.  A little later, I stepped off trail to a 180 degree view of the mountains, including the high peaks ahead.

AB and Frank came and sat with me for a bit before we moved on.  Frank is having some stomach issues today and isn't feeling well, but she used her anger at not feeling well and a bit of music to push down the hill faster than I could keep up with her.  At the bottom she stopped and all of us caught up.  Here we ate lunch in a lodgepole pine forest and listened to some music while Jedi climbed a tree.

We then hiked another two miles to Death Canyon Creek which had a little water in some pools.  Narrator lost her spoon, so Frank, who has experience whittling, helped her make a new one using Rambo's knife and a pocket knife.

We loaded up on water and began a long climb which took us up to 10,600 feet and a great view of the Owens Valley to the east.

Jedi and AB were behind Frank and I and they caught up after a bit.  We went another few tenths of a mile looking for a campsite out of the wind.  We didn't find one but tomorrow's sunrise should be good assuming we're not frozen.  We ate dinner in our sleeping bags while trying to stay warm.  If the wind would die down, it would be pleasant.