I seem to be fairly close to staying on my tentative schedule, and having left the border on May 19th, and arrived here in Kennedy Meadows on June 19th makes this first month out on the trail a rousing success! It has been nothing like any hiking I've ever done, but it has been amazing to have experienced none the less. There are certainly days where it is more of a type 2 (hard to do, fun to talk about later) kind of enjoyment rather than a type 1 (fun to do, fun to talk about), but that is all part of the experience - the great, the good, the bad, and the very ugly. Without a single drop of rain since I've landed in California, I have enjoyed many a great night sky.
My Yama Mountain Gear Cirriform I SW tent has been my second favorite item thus far (my pillow still takes the number one spot) and I've slept in it about 20 nights thus far. No condensation issues and it is very roomy for a single person that likes to toss and turn around at night. I've been using a single trekking pole for the front support, and have found that my trekking umbrella (Euroschirm/Golite chrome dome) fits the rear support perfectly. Little bit of wear on my backpack, but thus far have been very impressed with how well all my gear has worked out. A big thanks to the customer service at Sawyer Filters for getting back to my quickly and sending me out a free replacement seal for my filter after I lost it a couple weeks ago.
After a day of rest, my body feels just like when I began this journey, healthy and ready to go. I have lost about 12 lbs from when I began, but I anticipated that and sent larger food boxes to myself during this next stretch of trail. BIG thanks to the many trail angels who have been so amazing along this journey - To Ziggy and the Bear and the Saufley's for an amazing setup for hikers, for trail angels shuttling me into towns, to Layney for home-baked cookies, to all the postal employees for putting up with this smelly crowd, to Richard for the generous use of his very nice bear canister, and to the people who maintain hundreds of gallons of water in the middle of the desert so that hikers like myself don't die trying to find water. You all make this trail possible - and I appreciate it very much! Cheers from the PCT, "Naturally Caffeinated"