MP 702   -   I am back to where I was nearly a week ago but getting ready to hike out this evening.     Staying in a motel room in Ridgecrest was incredibly depressing but I started to feel better immediately after arriving back at Kennedy Meadows.   To my surprise there were a lot of hikers here whom I know.   I had expected everyone I knew to be far ahead by now.  Everyone I know hiked out today and I don't k now any of the hikers who are still here.

I am writing this from Tom's Internet Cafe, an idiosyncratic community down the road from the general store.    There is  a cluster of trailers where thru-hikers can stay; internet access; a shady porch for people to gather; an outdoor movie theater and breakfast offered every morning.   There is  a hiker box of  discarded shoes which now is about 3 feet high.    If you take the time you can probably find yourself a good pair of shoes.    Other items in the hiker box  include, amusingly enough, a big can of bear spray.   

This evening I am going to hike out to the Kennedy Meadows campground about 2 or 3 miles up the trail.    I will then be positioned, on trail, to start early tomorrow morning and get my 15 miles in.    There is another hiker here, Border Patrol, who has the same problem that I do with the shin splints.   He hiked out yesterday evening but was back this morning because  he was still feeling a lot of pain and wanted to continue to recuperate for a few more days.    I am tremendously impatient to start hiking again and hope I have the discipline that he did if it appears that I need a few more days of rest.    All of my friends having disappeared up the trail, I am sorely tempted to try to catch up with them which is probably not a good idea.

Tom's Internet Cafe: 

 Hiker Box:

Dining Room.   Breakfast served to hikers here: