The next section is hard to describe. When reading my daily notes, I just kept saying “beautiful.” It was that, but also difficult, stunning, terrible, and amazing, depending on the moment. It started at the General Store in Kennedy Meadows, where we received a round of applause and cheers from the hikers outside. This is a long Standing tradition, given for surviving the desert section. There was a nearby restaurant for cheeseburgers and WiFi, as there was no cell service at all in the town. I also received my bear canister, sent by my lovely and obliging family. It’s a big plastic container, which looks almost like a water cooler, but with a screw top lid. It felt heavy, even without the entire section’s food inside.

Just after I got out of my tent in the forested area behind the general store where we camped, I was inexplicably surrounded by chickens. We spent some time playing with them and watching them explore our tents. Afterwards, we passed most of the day showering, doing laundry, and planning for the upcoming, mountainous miles. We also went back to the restaurant, driven by a guy who played pretty fast and loose with his cargo in the truck bed, speeding around corners and almost backing into people twice. I’d have gone through worse to get to those pancakes. We also ate lots of ice cream and drank beers in the evening, playing games at the general store. We stayed up too late playing a game called Mafia, or Werewolf. It’s a game where you have to guess who was assigned as “bad guy,” without knowing you won or lost until the game was over. It degenerated into a group of hikers pounding the table and yelling “RA RA MURDER” as the rest of the hikers slept in their tents, probably thinking we’d started a mob, or a cult. It was hugely fun.

The next day we set off with very, very laden packs. One thing I didn’t carry a lot of, though, was water. There was a river along the trail! Huzzah! In the desert, all planning revolves around water- how far can we go, how much do we have to carry, where should we sleep, is it next to water? It’s a huge mental relief to know you’re not going to die of thirst anytime soon. That river was the first beautiful sight that day. In quick succession followed a beautiful meadow surrounded by beautiful mountains, beautiful pine trees among beautiful strewn boulders. You get the picture. It was just nice to have a change, and this was definitely a change.

Another beautiful thing the Sierra has brought is another beautiful step in friendship. Daisy Dukes and I are now openly farting, and even have “pull my finger” time at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I also almost made Tinkle wet herself when I came out from behind a tree after using the toilet (everywhere is a toilet). She screamed so loudly and we laughed about it for at least ten minutes.

I realized on that second day that food was going to be an issue. I definitely didn’t have enough breakfast, lunch, or snacks. I had completely forgotten a couple things as well, like peanut butter and candy. So started the rationing… that is not a fun thing to do when you’re walking up and down mountains every day. It was a constant worry, knowing that I had no leeway if I needed more time for the section. Luckily, my amazing trail family had my back. Tinkle shared her Nutella every day, which should probably get her a sainthood. Daisy Dukes gave me a couple bars, I think when he noticed I wasn’t snacking during breaks. I got miso soup from Queso, which was unexpectedly delicious. I told myself every day that no matter how heavy my pack got, I would never go short on food. I felt like Scarlett O’Hara, vowing that I would NEVER be hungry again.

Let’s talk more about the trail, though. We soon climbed to above 10,000 feet, and rarely dipped below 8,000 for the next week. Every climb led up to a new, amazing view. The mountain tops looked harsh, gray and covered in snow, while our descents into the valleys were lush, green, and peaceful, with sun streaming through leaves overhead and water trickling everywhere.

This brought us up to the foot of Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the lower 48 states. Since we planned to summit in the morning, we had an afternoon free by Guitar Lake. Queso and I did yoga and we all laid in the sun, had a leisurely dinner, and went to bed early. The next morning was an early start, though not as early as people trying to summit, some of whom started walking at two in the morning. No thanks. I liked our summit experience, leaving at seven and summitting around 10:30.

On the way up, we had some of our first snow crossings. They made me a bit nervous, but we got over them okay. At the top, I realized that this would be one of the most impressive experiences of my entire life. I was surrounded by blue sky and mountaintops and I had walked up a 14,505 foot mountain. It’s a strange feeling, to realize that, but this journey has been and I think will continue to be full of moments like this one.