[pct-l] Kennedy Meadows to Mt Whitney

>>By the time I reached Kennedy
Mdws., I was so excited about getting to/being in the high sierra that I
experienced the section of trail immediately north as marvelous and
breathtaking, although in retrospect it wasn't quite as scenically awesome
as the John Muir Trail further north.  <<

Yeah, in retrospect this stretch is basically a giant foxtail pine
plantation, a subalpine desert, what the Mojave looks like when you push it
up an extra 5000 feet into the sky. Yet this sandy, piney precursor to the
true Sierra nonetheless offers a number of true Sierran trappings:
sun-cupped snow, hungry mosquitoes, fiesty Clark's Nutcrackers, and meadows
so green and flat as to evoke images of beautifully manicured golf courses,
yours and yours alone.

All things considered, though, this stretch of trail is a wonderful lesson
in geological and biological transition: it isn't quite Evolution Basin, but
it's still a far cry from Tehachapi. And the foxtails are a wonder to
behold.

- blisterfree

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To:            "'mkdixon1@excite.com'" <mkdixon1@excite.com>, pct-l@edina.hack.net