First Things First

Hi everybody. My name is Mark, and this summer I was lucky enough to go on a backpacking trip with my father and brother. We hiked what is known as the John Muir Trail (JMT for short). Starting in the Yosemite Valley floor, it runs South through the Sierra Nevada Mountain range in California and ends at Mt. Whitney at approximately 220 miles. We finished in 13 days and had an amazing time.

I have two main reasons for writing this blog. First, I want to share the experience I was lucky enough to have with my family and friends. I have a couple of friends who used this site to blog about their study abroad experiences, and I think this blog will be a better way to share than to upload a hundred photos to facebook with little to no context, or to simply say that the hike was "Great" when asked "How was your trip?". I will try to include some of the better photos, my hiking journal entries for each day and not much else. Short and sweet.

Secondly, I want to share our experience with other people interested in hiking this trail. Our hike took months of planning (lucky for me this was mostly done by my retired father), and one of the best guides we could find were the online hiker journals and blogs. Hopefully the descriptions of trails and campsites will be useful.

Lastly a few quick things: At the start of our hike I was 21 and weighed 170 lbs. My brother, Nick, was 19 and my father, Clint, was 57. Nick and my father hiked the JMT in 2010, but this was my first time. I had done several long distance backpacking trips in the past starting in 2007, but this was my first time hiking exclusively with my dad and brother. We hiked starting in September 2011, which is late for the Summer hiking season. 2011 was a record year for snowfall in the Sierras, so there was plenty of water in the streams and lakes on our trip. This also meant that there were plenty of mosquitos, but more about that later. Alright, here goes. 

From left to right: My father Clint, me (Mark), and my brother Nick

Day 0: Home to Oakhurst

We will start our hike tomorrow morning on a Monday so today my mother drove us to Oakhurst, a town near Yosemite. We ate our last real meal, enjoyed our last showers, and are going to bed early. I'm pretty nervous about our hike, especially starting off with Half Dome. Dad and Nick recall that Half Dome is kind of sketchy and that last year the people at the top dropped a water bottle which exploded when it hit the ground next to them at the bottom. Yosemite reports that 15 people have already died in the park this year, nearly tripling their annual average of 6. Most of those deaths have occurred on Half Dome. Humans are something like 75% water, I can't help but wonder if the people who fell exploded like that water bottle. Sweet dreams.  

Day 1: Happy Isles to Sunrise Camp-18 Miles

"Introductions"
First day on the trail. I couldn't sleep, but my family woke up at 4:00am and were on the road by 4:30. We drove into Yosemite Valley and started hiking at 6:00am at Happy Isles Trailhead. Base weight my pack is 25 lbs, 35 lbs with food and water.

Nick and I at the Happy Isles Trailhead. Note that the last distance listed is 211 miles to Mt. Whitney. 

We reached the base of Half Dome by 9:00. The climb out of Yosemite Valley floor is fairly steep but the trail is wide and well maintained.The last climb up from the base of Half Dome is everything I had imagined it would be: straight up.

Standing at the base of Half Dome looking up.

I don't know why I was so worried about falling to my death. The climb up was actually fine, and the view from the top was amazing. You can see the entire Yosemite Valley and the back side of El Capitan. 

At the top, El Capitan in the background

We met two new hiking buddies who are also doing the JMT. First is Fred the Dutchman, a solo hiker from Holland. He is close to my fathers age and runs marathons and centuries (100 miles) for fun. He has huge calves and is a hiking machine.
Next we met Tom the Englishman. You guessed it, he's from England. He is also a solo hiker, and is in his mid twenties. He has a lightweight pack and also hikes fast.

They are both hiking the JMT and started today, so we hiked with them for the afternoon. The first day was hard on all of us, nobody is acclimated to the elevation yet and even worse our stomachs haven't shrank so we are starving. We got into Sunrise Camp around 5:30pm. I had Mountain House Lasagna with Meat sauce for dinner with Razz berry Crumble for dessert, all freeze dried of course. It wasn't that bad, maybe two weeks of this won't be so horrible. We had a nice campfire and compared first day blisters. First equipment failure: my digital watch smashed when I dropped my pack on it. Tragic. 

From left to right: Dad, Tom, Nick, Me, Fred.

I'm laying in my bed listening to this crowd of 50 year old women's bursts of  shrieking laughter. Sunrise Camp has a full ranger station, and for a fee the rangers will cook real food for you and even rent you a cabin to sleep in. This group of women have a cabin next to our campsite and hiked in today with a bunch of vodka and gossip, and are intent on sharing both with each other. Ear plugs were a good choice. 

Day 2: Sunrise to pre-Donahue Pass-16 Miles

"Fishing Attempt #1"
Woke at 6, slept fine, my inflatable pad had to be re inflated twice. We got on trail by 7:15, leaving Fred and Tom still packing up. We hiked to Tuolome Meadows and bought a cheeseburger and fries at their restaurant. We picked up our resupply bucket that contained food and other supplies that we mailed to ahead Tuolome several weeks ago, distributed it between Nick and myself, and left.

Nick and I leaving Sunrise Camp 

We hiked next to a stream and stopped after about 6 miles when we passed an especially beautiful wide spot. This year my dad bought collapsable fishing poles because the steams and lakes are full of fish, and according to fisherman "The trout practically jump into your arms." I normally don't like the taste of fish, but after a few freeze dried meals I bet I will have a change of heart. Just catching and releasing could be fun and is less messy then having to clean and cook a whole fish. 

Trust me that water is cold

We went swimming in the river (dipped in and ran out of the water) and fished for about an hour but did not catch anything. Fred and Tom caught up to us while were were fishing. We finished a few more miles down the trail and had a big campfire. 

Nick and Fred fishing

Day 3: Pre Donahue Pass to Shadow Creek-19 Miles

We woke at 6 today to a hard freeze. All our water bottles were completely frozen, and our tent had a thick layer of ice on the inside from the condensation from our breath. It took until 7:30 to thaw out and get on the trail.

Nick and I thawing out our gear

We left Fred and Tom packing up again and didn't see them for the rest of the day. 

Missed you guys.

We started up the trail and powered over Donahue pass which peaks at 11,000 feet. It was a good trail that was well maintained. We passed a trail crew that was busting up granite and working on the trail close to the top that included several women. Try not feeling completely emasculated after struggling for breath while walking next to girls who are basically the same age as me swinging sledgehammers. Whatever, they're acclimated to the elevation. 

Sure, they can swing sledgehammers at 11,000 ft, but can they do this?

After Donahue pass we descended to 1000 Island Lake, a large beautiful lake peppered with small islands.

Nick resting and me sitting on a bridge at 1000 Island Lake

This was the hardest day so far, we continued hiking until 6:30pm and set up camp at Shadow Creek. We were attacked hard by mosquitos and retreated to our tent quickly after dinner only to find our tent was full of them. 

Nick enjoying making some new bloodsucking friends

We are all tired and going to sleep, we have another long day tomorrow. Goodnight.

Day 4: Shadow Creek to Deer Creek- 17 Miles

Dad and I slept hard from 9-6. Nick did not sleep well at all, he dreamt of mosquitos biting him and tossed and turned all night. I know because he tossed and turned into the guy sleeping next to him (me). We need a bigger tent. We are getting faster at tearing down camp and getting on the trail, today it only took us 30 minutes. 

A New Record!

Hiking to Reds Meadow and picked up our resupply we saw the Devil's Post Pile National Monument which was a neat rock formation that had regular hexagons growing vertically out of the ground.

We picked up a 3 day load of food, which brought my pack up to around 40 lbs. All of this was made worth it because there is a restaurant at Red's Meadows. Nick, Dad, and I each ate a double cheeseburger and had a shake. I won't bother describing how delicious it was but trust me we were much happier this afternoon than in the morning. Trying to get our food to fit into our bear vaults (bear proof canisters) took awhile.

Like Tetris if bears could eat you if you lose

In the afternoon we completed the long climb out of the Red Meadow Valley floor, which snaked through a burned area that offered little cover from the sun and not much wind. We got to Deer Creek early, before 5 pm, and set up camp. Lots of mule deer around us. What a surprise. Lots of mosquitos too. We are going to bed early, we need to cover some good distance tomorrow, probably 20 miles. Lasagna with Meat Sauce for dinner. Again. 

Mountain House Freeze Dried Dinners, you make the world taste better

Another equipment failure (Nick broke them): R.I.P. Aviator Sunglasses. You served me well, I will have a hard time pretending to be a cop without you.

You will be missed.

Day 5: Deer Creek to Pocket Meadow-18 Miles

"What Goes Down Must Come Up"
Woke at 6:20 to a soft freeze. Out of camp by 7. Long slow climb up to Duck Creek, then downhill for miles. We crossed a beautiful bridge and then had to gain back up all the elevation we spent the morning losing.

Hike down into the creek. Now hike back up out of the valley and over the mountain on the other side . 

My left knee started to hurt in the afternoon, probably from the heavy resupplied pack combined with all the steep downhill. We started back uphill for the climb up to Silver Pass.

On top of Silver Pass

Several people we passed had dogs with them and most of they were very friendly. We crested Silver Pass at 3pm and finished the 4 miles down to Pocket Meadow, but camped above the Meadow itself to avoid the mosquitos. There was really only 1 campsite above the meadow itself and water was 100 yards away but I highly recommend it to anybody who doesn't want to be bug food. 

You can't see them, but there are about a gazillion mosquitos attacking Nick and I

We met Chris and Deborah, a friendly couple from Lake Arrowhead who are close to my Dad's age. We shared our campsite and enjoyed their company for the evening. They plan on taking the ferry across lake Edison tomorrow, like us, and spending a day at Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR from now on). Chris and Dad set the alarms on their watches to wake up at 5:30 so we can hike to the ferry which arrives at 9am. We had a nice dinner together and are all looking forward to flushing toilets and showers at VVR.

From Left to Right: Back of my big dumb head, Nick, Chris, and Deborah

Day 6: Pocket Meadow to Ferry Pick Up-5 Miles

"Fishing Attempt #2"

Up early to catch the ferry

Up early at 5:30 am. Hiked down to the VVR ferry pick up, we easily made it there at 7:45 am hiking 3 miles an hour with easy downhill. Fished and swam in lake Edison until the ferry arrived at 9.

Nick and I waiting to board the ferry

The lake was packed with fish, problem was the biggest ones were only about 4 inches long and wouldn't bite. Trout eat mosquitos and bugs on the top of the water, so fly fishing is the ideal way to fish for them, not bait and hook. It was kind of fun to try to catch them, but relying on fish as a source of food would not be a good idea for us. Maybe somebody who knows what they are doing could make that work, but I'd rather carry my food and know that I can eat anytime anywhere than gamble on catching fish. Plus that would restrict you to camping next to lakes and streams, which wouldn't be impossible, but it would be a pain to hike all day and then have to catch your dinner. The ferry arrived and we rode it across the lake to the VVR resort. 

We spent the day fishing, eating, and hanging out with Chris and Deborah. I took a bath in the lake and washed my clothes in the bathroom sink. For lunch I had a double bacon cheeseburger. Delicious. On Saturdays at VVR they have a BBQ, so we decided to spend the night and bought a couple 6-packs to help kill time until dinner. One of our least favorite new people was Olive, one of the 3 people who worked at VVR. She was combative and annoying to everyone pretty much the whole time, but she can get away with it since she is best friends with the owner of VVR. After a few beers we stopped caring about anything she said or did. The highlight of the day was when Tom and Fred arrived at VVR on the 4pm ferry. Reuniting with them was great, we thought we wouldn't see them again. They both said they were doing well and loving the JMT. We stayed up kind of late sharing stories around a campfire. 

At 2am I was re-inflating my sleeping pad for the second time that night when I heard the first of many loud cracking noises. Every couple of seconds there was a loud CRACK. We figured out it was a bear tossing a bear canister around, so I got up and checked on our bear vaults. They were fine, but we heard people yelling to scare the bear off around 2:30am. I slept like garbage the rest of the night, being mauled by a bear was a childhood phobia of mine and I wasn't about to let that happen. We didn't take many pictures today, it would have interrupted our busy schedule of eating and doing nothing.

Day 7: Ferry Drop Off to Sally-Keys Lake-17 Miles

Up at 7 and ate a big breakfast at VVR. I went swimming after breakfast and we waited for the ferry to leave at 9 am. We said goodbye to Chris and Deborah, who were taking another layover day at VVR, and rode back across lake Edison with Fred and Tom.

From Left to Right: Guy in green trying not to laugh at me, Me being a tool, Tom laughing at me

After the ferry drop off we started the long climb up Bear Ridge. 2000 ft elevation gain over 4 miles. The switchbacks were nice and well maintained, just never ending. We ate lunch with Tom, but continued hiking at a quick pace and didn't see him again. We summited Seldon Pass late in the afternoon and dropped into Muir Canyon.

Pretty river on the climb up to Seldon

We camped off trail and will be going to sleep soon, we are above 10,000 feet and therefore can't have a campfire so there is no point in staying up late. We felt great and hiked fast today, I worried that the climb up Bear Ridge and Seldon Pass were going to be too much for one day. Having a rest day yesterday made a big difference. Looking forward to tomorrow, goodnight.

Day 8: Sally-Keys to below Evolution Lake-18 Miles

Slept poorly, I had to re-inflate my sleeping pad 4 times last night. I dreamt of Jennifer Garner though so no complaints here. Woke up to a soft freeze this morning, not surprising given that we are camping above 10,000 ft. We hiked about 5 miles down to Muir Ranch and picked up our last resupply buckets. We are now carrying a 6 day loadout of food and supplies which should get us all the way out. It also basically doubled the weight of Nick and my packs.


Fun Fact: Muir Ranch is the unofficial halfway point of the JMT. The last half of the trip has no staffed camps or places to eat. Just miles to hike and mountains to climb.

Resupplying at Muir Ranch

We spent about 2 hours at Muir Ranch picking through their buckets of extra food left behind by hikers. I've never seen so many Cliff Bars.

Those 5 gallon buckets in the distance are all about half filled with Cliff Bars. Nobody likes those things.

We realized that we are hiking faster than the pace set by my Dad and Nick the previous year (they finished the JMT in 13 days last year but did not take a rest day at VVR), and that if we keep it up we can finish a day early. Also we met Pat, the 87 year old who runs Muir Ranch. She is a boss. 

Be nice or she won't give you your resupply bucket

 We left Muir Ranch at 11 and made good time the rest of the day. We were exhausted at the end of the day and accidentally overshot our planned campsite. 








We wound up camping off trail again on the trail to Evolution Lake. It started to rain on us the last mile or so and drizzled on us while we set up camp. 

"It could be worse, at least it's not raining"

It seems like every night we are exhausted and tonight is no different. Having a 2 hour break in the morning at Muir really slows us down so we had to hike late into the day. Tomorrow will be better, from now on there are no more resupplies to pick up or restaurants to eat at, just about 110 miles to hike.

Day 9: Below Evolution Lake to Colby Meadow- 19 Miles

We treated ourselves and slept in to 6:30 today. My sleeping  pad officially sucks, I woke up on the cold ground and re-inflated it 5 times last night. It sprinkled all night and it took us awhile to pack up. We were soggy and cold but on the trial by 7:30 am. Long cold switchbacks up to Evolution Lake, but we finally got into some sunlight and warmed up.

Neat river crossing

Muir Pass is a long climb above the tree line with lakes every half mile or so. The lakes are pretty desolate except for these little black frogs that line the shore and jump into the freezing water any time you get close.

See the frogs! They're all over the shores of those lakes

After crossing a few large snow fields we reached the hut at the top of the pass which was really cool.

Brrrr

It hurts to think somebody carried cement and rebar all the way up there to build it but I'm glad they did. (Now that I think about it some unlucky mule probably had to carry it). The hut used to be furnished, but the story is a hiker got caught in a storm and burned all the chairs and table to not freeze to death. It seems possible since the last couple of miles to the pass are above the tree line and completely exposed.

Muir Pass Hut

The great White Whale strikes again

The long decent is on a trail that is mostly steep shale sections that were flooded out from snowmelt. We set up camp early around 5 pm and Nick and I took a bath in the river. Ice cold haha. 

Me happy to get the good sleeping pad

We set up a nice fire to dry out and warm up. We realized that both Dad and my inflatable pads leak pretty bad and have to be re-inflated several times per night, but Nick's stays inflated all night. I get the good pad tonight and am looking forward to finally getting a good night of sleep.

Day 10: Colby Meadow to Marjorie Lake-19 Miles

Today started wit ha long slow climb out of Deer Valley up what hikers call the "Golden Staircase". The trail was poorly maintained and overgrown in many sections with steep uphill and shale in most parts. We fought mosquitos all morning until we got up out of the valley. We summited Mather Pass at 1 pm, so we managed 2 mi/hr uphill which was better than I expected.

Hiked down to South Fork Kings River with no problems, the trail was much better after getting over the pass. We hiked up to Bench Lake, which was beautiful, and then up to lake Marjorie.

Bench lake skyline

Set up camp and looked at the maps. If we can get around 20 miles tomorrow we can finish a day early. That would mean summiting both Pinchot and Glen Pass tomorrow, which would suck, but getting hot showers and real food a day sooner will probably be a good enough motivator. Going to wake up early to try and get a start on what will be a long day. 

Day 11: Marjorie Lake to Charlotte Lake- 21 Miles

Up at 6 and were on the trail by 6:30. 

Grumpy Mark is grumpy

We were eager to start this morning and finished Pinchot Pass within an hour of being on trail. 

One pass down, one to go

Decended down towards Twin Lakes, and in the afternoon crossed an awesome suspension bridge. After crossing the bridge we started the climb up to Rae Lakes, so we had to gain back all the elevation we lost in the morning coming down off of Pinchot.

Dad was pretty dehydrated and having a hard time keeping up so Nick and I took all of the crew gear out of his pack and force fed him gatorade and water. About 30 minutes later he was feeling good again. He let us carry his crew gear for the rest of the day though. We made it to Rae Lakes mid-afternoon and ate a 2nd lunch at the base of the last 2 mile climb up to Glen Pass. Hands down Rae Lakes is the prettiest country we've seen all trip, we debated camping there and enjoying the scenery but it was too early in the day. We trudged up the muddy switchbacks and then down into the Kearsarge Basin. We made a new friend, Terry, at the top of of the pass and he hiked with us for the rest of the day. He is a solo hiker also doing the JMT and is about my Dads age. 

It started sprinkling on us as we descended. We finally set up camp, Nick and my feet are pretty badly blistered. We are hiking in Merrell trail runners, which work great until you put more than about 40lbs on your back. We both got blisters in strange places every time that happened. We ate a big dinner, I had Beef Stroganoff with Razzberry Crumble for dessert. Yummy. Forester Pass is the last pass left before Whitney, looking forward to knocking it out tomorrow.

I want to warn you about that dinner so badly. Yet tragically, I cannot

Day 12: Charlotte Lake to Twindall Creek- 14 Miles

"Yay Pepto-Bismol"


Bad Beef Stroganoff, I have food poisoning. I'll spare the details but being food poisoned with no toilets around is a new form of hell. All I can say is thank god for Immodium. I don't have a really intense case so we were still able to hike a bit today. We took our time up the long climb up to Forester Pass (13,000 ft), but it was quite impressive once we made it to the top. I enjoyed the view despite feeling like crap. Ha. Ha.

Left to Right: Dad, Terry, Me, and Nick

It was very cold and windy on top of Forester so we didn't stay long. The hike down the back side is pretty trecherous and steep, plus it started raining and snowing us a little during the decent. We stopped early because I was sick and set up camp. I crawled into my sleeping bag and rested and tried to get warm while Nick and Dad cooked dinner.

Nick making dinner. I'm in the tent bundled up

Hopefully a better digestive tract situation tomorrow. If I had been feeling better we might have made it all the way to Guitar Lakes today which would mean coming out another whole day earlier, but I was so drained after Forester I don't think it would have been a good idea. Glad Nick and Dad are here to help, I was pretty worthless by the end of the day. 

Not a happy camper

Day 13: Twindall Creek to Guitar Lakes- 12 Miles

Felt good in the morning, thought my worries were over. We hiked over to Wallace Creek where we met Buck and Annie, a father and daughter duo. They had been stopped for a few days because Annie had a really intense case of food poisoning and was unable to move. I feel like I dodged a bullet with my digestive problems, that girl was truly sick. Luckily an emergency room doctor happened to be hiking the JMT and had given them some stronger medicine that had cleared up her problems. Good thing, because we met a ranger a bit later down the trail who said that they had a helicopter ready to come take her out if her symptoms didn't subside by the end of the day. Even here, so close to the end of the JMT, it's still a day or two to hike out. We slowly hiked up to Guitar Lakes and set up camp by 2 pm.

Pretty desolate and cold. So cold.

Guitar Lakes is above the tree line so there is no cover. It's also around 11,500 ft, which makes it the highest elevation that we camped at. This also means it's pretty cold, and the wind that comes down off Whitney is freezing. I felt drained and weak all day, I don't have any electrolytes and we are saving the last of the gatorade for tomorrow when we hike up Mt. Whitney.

Nick hiding from the wind 

A huge energy and morale boost is that we can finally see Whitney between the broken clouds. The weather is overcast and ominous, with dark storm clouds looming in pretty much every direction. The ranger said the forecast was 60% chance of rain tonight and 70% tomorrow. Our plan is to do Whitney tomorrow morning when the weather is better, but this storm could ruin that. Sitting in the tent now, it started snowing on us around 7pm and hasn't stopped since.

A second wave of symptoms for me kicked in near the end of the day.The tent is slowly dripping on me and my stomach hurts but whatever. Even if we can't summit Whitney tomorrow we will hike out. We ate our last dinner tonight and have one more breakfast and lunch so we better make it.