A chilly and damp start turned into the warmest day for quite a while. Even though it was a short walk into Kennedy Meadows, we still left at 7am because those going to the Sequoia Trail were on a timeline.

And then, the 700 miles!

To digress, I had the Backpacker’s Pantry Louisiana Red Beans and Rice last night. I woke to a green haze in my tent, and immediately understood that the slightest spark would engulf me in a fatal inferno. I carefully opened the tent door, and aired the tent. Lucky escape. Needless to say Energizer, who normally walks behind me, walked in front today…

We then arrived at Kennedy Meadows, gateway to the Sierra and our first major milestone!

The general store is above, and this is Grumpy Bears

I picked up my packages, ice axe, crampons, boots and gloves I sent on earlier. Plus, my REI order including the compulsory bear box

And the sad farewell, after over 700 miles to my beloved Saloman XA Pros

Today was a long one, with two tiring climbs. It would have been harder had it not been for the trail magic provided halfway by these ladies, near Chimney Creek Camp:Drinks, fruit, sandwiches (including one packed for later)!Most of the day was sunny and pleasant with just a little rain later. But I’m aching quite a lot…

Up reasonably early and packed up before heading over to the cafe for a little breakfast of pancakes.The usual four (me, Energizer, Chairman and Little Red) augmented with two new people (Boomerang and Yann) attempted to hitch but found it difficult. Freddy and I had just given up and were moving to another location to try again when a lady pulled over and asked if we needed to go somewhere! Her name was Keira, mother of five who had just dropped her smallest off at daycare and was at a loose end. More than that, she drove down the road and picked the rest up too!So we got back to Walker Pass around 10.30 I think and headed up back into the hills. Unlike recent times there was negligible wind but the cloud cover remained, so a nice cool walk for the whole day.Lunch at Joshua Tree Spring was followed by a short afternoon to Spanish Needle Creek where there were a selection of nice campspots and plenty of water.A campfire and a meal later and I’m ready for sleep.

Given the weather decided on another day of recovery. By the evening the air was still and it wasn’t looking too bad.By chance met up with Thomas who I hadn’t seen since Idyllwild, and Outloud, Caitlin (now Poppins) and the bunch from Casa da Luna turned up in the room next to us!Lots of others turning up in Ridgecrest now too – Beerman, Ranger, Lost and Found and Chicken Champion amongst others.

The usual zero day combination of shopping, food and this time the special treat of getting a hair cut and a beard trim!New trousers and some camp shoes/creek crossing shoes from the Big 5 Sports shop, and ordered my Bear box, some underwear, gaiters and a baselayer from REI on sale. From Kennedy Meadows north will have to store my food in a bearproof container for a good while.

Freddy as usual was up first but the rest of us rose later at roughly the same time. The wind was much reduced and there was no more snow falling.

It was a quick and easy walk down to Walker Pass where we quickly got a hitch into Ridgecrest, a small town in the desert of about 25000 people, probably the biggest settlement I’d been in since San Diego.

The eat-as-much-as-you-like Chinese buffet was very welcome, and we got a cheap room at the Motel 6 for a couple of nights. I need to fix my sleeping pad before I go mad….

The day started cold and for the first half we avoided the rain, and even had some sun. The wind was always strong though.

In the afternoon we were caught by horizontal driving hail and snow (yes, this is still the desert !)

We headed for McIver’s cabin, a small bothy and found it empty. Freddy found some firewood and lit the stove while I made coffee to warm us up.

We were just wondering whether we’d have any company when a knock came on the door and a wet and bedraggled couple came in. After peering at each other I remembered it was Henry and Melinda, last seen at Apache Peak! We put them by the fire and made more tea. Then Pocahontas arrived and was served tea too!

The cabin was a little haven from the weather and we all managed to fit.

Fiftieth day on the PCT in my 50th year!From the moment I emerged from my tent it was clear the weather wasn’t like yesterday’s. It was a pretty cold night, near freezing, but now the sky was clear and the sun starting to emerge.The inimitable Support Droid got us fresh coffee and eggs with potatoes which we gratefully demolished. He is a hero.By the time we eventually set off it was sunny and we enjoyed a pleasant walk through the high desert. The only issue today was water, so later in the day we took a detour down a dry creek bed (scrambling in places) to Willow Spring. The water trough was pretty empty, so we hunted about and eventually found a small pipe emitting a little flow of decent water. We ate dinner there (to preserve whatever we carried out). There is little water tomorrow too.The clouds just started rolling in shortly before camp. May well be rain tomorrow.

After a windy night, the morning was cold and indeed was the first time I started hiking with my down jacket. Flakes of ice were being blown off the trees and even the flowers were covered.

We made for the next water source (Robin Bird Spring), about ten miles distant. We didn’t really stop much due to the cold but by the time we arrived the wind had eased. In doing so, we passed 600 miles.

After our stop, when we crossed to the other side of the ridge, the sun started to come out and by mid afternoon it was a glorious sunny day!

On approaching Landers Meadow Camp, our destination for the night, we were delighted to see that Support Droid was here tonight, a week after we last saw him at Sawmill Camp! So a wonderful vegetable chilli was provided.

The temperature soon dropped and we disappeared into our tents. Some others there had a big campfire, and they said this time last year they were in shorts and t-shirts – this is really unusual weather.

A chilly and wet day today, woke up to the sound of rain on my tent. Ironically there is little water on this stretch and I was practically out. So after a quick cup of tea we set off on the 6 miles to Golden Oaks Spring. On arrival it was still raining and we joined Little Red, the Chairman and two others hiding in a little shelter that had no doubt originally been cobbled together to shelter from the sun!

With water available I had porridge, coffee followed by noodles to keep warm – it was only about 5°, windy and wet. Freddy and I stayed until we couldn’t keep warm then set off.

With no hurry to the Sierra (still snowbound) we are doing relatively short days for the moment, but still around 16 miles.

During the afternoon the rain cleared and we got some sun, but the wind didn’t abate. Thankfully we have a idyllic little sheltered campspot.