We kept seeing signs of the desert, but they became fewer and fewer. Yucca and cacti were dwindling, pine trees were taking over, and water was sometimes abundant.
We saw an actual river, too — that’s something we weren’t used to in the desert. It was just a small one — the south fork of the Kern River — but it was a whole lot more water than we were used to.
Camped next to the river, in the early afternoon, we ran into Bobber. He was taking it slow up to Independence, where he was scheduled to meet family. We talked about resupplies, Wonky, and what to do about the snow that remained in the Sierras. There had been some late-season snowfall, apparently, so getting through the high passes could be hard.
We wanted to get to the Kennedy Meadows General Store today, so we moved on. Kennedy Meadows is a small town that’s the traditional last resupply before the Sierras start.
On the way, we reached mile 700, which most people consider the approximate end of the desert.
Late in the day, we got to the road to Kennedy Meadows, and were talking about which way the store was, when Sprout showed up. He was walking down the road, coming from the store.
“It’s closed” he told us. “And, they turned the water and electricity off for the night, and their outhouses are full. So there isn’t much there until tomorrow morning, unless you really want to sleep on their porch with 30 other hikers. If you need water, you should get it from the Kern river before you go to the store. I’m going to sleep about a mile upstream.”
We set up on the banks of the Kern River, just off the road. It was getting dark. Hopefully, we can make the pancake breakfast tomorrow.
