Day 80 : Kennedy Meadows North

8th July 2013
Mile 1004 to mile 1018 : Long Lake Trail to Highway 108
Mileage : 14 + 1

The mosquito were mostly absent in the morning when i got up thankfully, and that made for a much more pleasant start to the day. Today was a short day as the plan was to get to Highway 108, which is right on Sonora Pass, and hitch down to Kennedy Meadows North on the west side of it. By mid morning Pan, Hoopdreams and i were standing on top of the 2000 ft climb we had just done surveying the landscape. From our vintage point we could see the  granite Sierras stretching away to the south, and a much more volcanic range to the immediate north. The change in rock was almost instant, one minute walking on granite and one minute walking on something else, bizarre. An hour or two after that the three of us had made it down to the road and were looking for a ride. As luck would have it, a young couple were just heading back to their car as we turned up. I asked them straight up which way they were headed and uf they wouldn't mind giving us a ride. A minute or two later we weree on our way down the pass. When we arrived 2 other hikers were waiting for  a ride, but i didn't feel bad about taking the first hitch. If you don't ask you don't get, we asked first and got the ride first, they didn't. Jessica and Matthias, our ride that day were US nationals living Zurich on he last stretch of a coast to coast road trip, a distance to rival what we're doing although being able to travel at 70mph means it takes a bit less time. We got out at the road junction to KM and covered the last mile on foot up to the resort, i at least not quite knowing what what was in store for us there. I have to say i was  expecting an equivalent to he hiker haven that is Kennedy Meadows South, and was sorely disappointed. KM North turned out to be a campground store and cookhouse charging a lot of money for mediocre products and food. I was less than impressed. In its heyday a hundred years ago it had been an important part of the local logging industry.