PCT 39 – Independence

Daily miles: 11 (4 PCT Miles)
Total miles: 789

Long night of sleep for us, even with waking at 5:30am. It was cool when we went to bed, but it seemed to get slightly warmer as the night went on. We’ll take it.

Had a few miles of downhill and a stream ford before we came to the junction with the Kearsarge Pass trail. Had a good climb up and over the pass with lots of wonderful views of the Owen’s Valley to the East and big craggy peaks of the Sierra to the West. Met another hiker from New Hampshire, Burnside… He lives in Portsmouth.

We took the Kearsarge Pass trail so that we could resupply in the town of Independence. When we arrived at our walking destination (the Onion Valley Trail head), Proton had already secured a ride with HighWalker, who had shuttled a couple of other hikers back up to the trail. What great luck, as it can be difficult to get down to town (14 miles away). We got down to town and our luck continued as the Taco Truck was open! We had some great tacos and then headed to the Courthouse Motel, where Mountain Man had reserved a couple of rooms. Really smooth day 🙂