Today has been the best day ever. It's probably my happiest day on the trail. It's partly due to the grandeur surrounding me. But it's also because I felt more free and unconstrained. Unconstrained by heat, lack of water, mileage or pace. I have a great hiking partner too. It's been nice to share the Sierras with another person because its all so big, beautiful, epic, overwhelming, and awesome. Pinch me. All my hiking partners have been great. First Black Snake, then Easy Miles, Fig & Backup, Hee Haw & Malpractice, Argentina, & now That Guy.
The last two days we've been hiking in the Inyo National Forest/Golden Trout Wilderness. Today we entered Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Park. It took us awhile to hike the 17 miles to Crabtree Meadows because we kept stopping to take pictures. There were deer grazing in a meadow and a Marmot who posed for a picture before scampering off. The upper Crabtree Meadow near the ranger station is dotted with small tents. It's been reunion time. This is the base camp for climbing Mt Whitney. Mt Whitney is 14,505 feet and the tallest mountain in the US outside of Alaska. From Crabtree its an 8.5 mile climb. I'm really excited to be here. We'll be climbing it in the morning. The hikers who summited today said the views & hike was really awesome. I'm feeling strong and acclimated to the elevation. We will leave our tents set up & just carry water & snacks up so our packs will be super light!
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