MP 558    I have been in Tahachapi since yesterday.    Took a zero today which was much needed.   The zero days are ostensibly days of rest but actually most of the time is spent with resupply, running around doing errands and solving sundry problems.   Not very restful.    Blackhawk, Atlas, Hee Haw, Malpractice. Argentina and the Three Caballeros are here, among others.  We all went out to a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet for dinner.  

Even though not getting much rest, I'll be hiking out early tomorrow morning and it will feel good to be back on the trail.   I have 140 miles to Kennedy Meadows which I need to do in 6 days.   Kennedy Meadows is the gateway to the high Sierras.   The trail will take me up to Forrester Pass at about 13,000 feet and then to the John Muir trail which runs through Kings Canyon Sequoia National Park on to Yosemite Park and Tuolomne Meadows for about 250 miles.    I intend to climb Mt. Whitney which is the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States at 14,500 feet.   If I get the timing right I will climb Whitney on my birthday.

The hiking is getting easier.   I can walk all day now without getting tired.   Coming down from the San  Gabriels my pack felt so light I was worried that I might not have packed all of my gear and had to stop to check.