Day -3 of our JMT2 Trip

Aug 8: Hot drive to KC -- Leg stretching along Hotel Creek -- Power & food outage

I drove to King's Canyon a few days early to get acclimated to the altitude and break up the driving to our trailhead at Lake Edison. I arrived in the Cedar Grove area at about 3PM and proceeded to test out my gear and stretch my legs by heading up the Lewis Creek trail...

... to the valley overlook, then down the Hotel Creek trail, looping back via the road.

It was great to be back at the valley overlook, and the lighting was more subtle this time. All my gear worked as anticipated, except the borrowed cellphone did not receive any tower signals anywhere in the King's Canyon valley or on this loop.

I missed the dinner cutoff at Cedar Grove's only restaurant by 5 minutes. Who knew they closed so early? The store was closed too. I ate what scraps I could scrounge up from my supplies and reviewed my notes on the John Muir Trail/Pacific Crest Trail.

A good rest was not easily had: there was a long-running power failure which meant a generator was making a lot of noise behind the hotel, while a family next door was having a loud discussion. And it was still pretty warm even at 5000 feet elevation.

"The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild; and what I have been preparing to say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of the World. Every tree sends its fibers forth in search of the Wild. The cities import it at any price. Men plow and sail for it. From the forest and wilderness come the tonics and barks which brace mankind."

--Henry David Thoreau

Cedar Grove

Unlike Yosemite, the valley floor at King's Canyon has very few facilities--basically one store/motel/restaurant.

Equipment

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