High Sierra Trail - Day Three

Once again I started the day feeling sore everywhere, but my body was slowly starting to acclimate to the elevation. I was also motivated by the fact that we had another downhill section in front of us. As we packed up, Moraine Lake was beautiful and still, reflecting the surrounding mountains.

Our morning hike consistent of switchbacks down into the Kern Canyon to one of our lowest elevations of the trip. The next section was a gradual uphill all the way to our campsite at the top of Kern Canyon. However, part of the way up we had my favorite lunch stop of the entire trip: Kern Hot Spring. I wasn’t sure what to expect but we came across a bathtub-sized stone pool enclosed by a wooden fence. There was a drain plug to control the ratio of hot spring water to cold river water, and next to the river was an intermediate pool of tepid water. My legs felt INCREDIBLE relaxing in the spring! It was also nice to wash up a little bit because the lake water on previous nights was way too cold for me to go all the way under.

We spent a little too much time at the hot spring and it was difficult to get back on the trail! The last stretch seemed like it would never end but we made it to Junction Meadow. I have to admit that this campsite was pretty underwhelming. It’s in a decent forest near a river but it wasn’t quite as great as the other lakes and we were attacked by mosquitos at night. Jason convinced me to do some stretching before bed which made an enormous difference the next morning.