JMT Day 1 / August 31, 2010 - Yosemite Valley to Sunrise

stats: 13 miles, 5320' gain

Time to finally start hiking! We got up at 6am and were all packed by 6:45. We walked over to Curry Village, the restaurant/store hub in Yosemite Valley and had our final ‘real’ cups of coffee and pastries then it was off to the trailhead. Becky wanted to walk the mile and a half to the trailhead, but fortunately a shuttle bus stopped right next to us, so we hopped onboard and got a quick lift to the end of the road.
We got our picture taken at the trailhead sign that lists the mileage to all the major landmarks, the last line of the sign reads ‘Mt.Whitney summit, 211 miles’….guess we have our work cut out for us.
The trail past all the various waterfalls went a bit slower than last year as we were now loaded down with overnight gear and our first week’s supply of food, but the weather was sunny and pleasantly cool.
Originally, we were unable to get a permit to start from the traditional beginning of the JMT in the valley bottom, the Happy Isles trailhead, and we could only get a permit to start from Glacier Point, but there were enough first-come first-served permits the day before that we were able to switch things around and start from Happy Isles. The good thing was that we could then hike the full JMT, start early in the morning, and save $25 each for bus ride up to Glacier Point…the only bad thing was starting from the valley bottom added 3200’ of climbing to our first days travel.
The Happy Isles trailhead is also the starting point for day hikers heading to Half Dome, probably the most popular big hike in the park, and we shared the trail with a sea of humanity until we reached the Half Dome turn-off….from there on out, we largely had the trail to ourselves.
By late afternoon we were grinding up the last of the 5300’ of climbing and our pace had certainly slowed as our lungs weren’t quite used to hiking at 9500ft just yet, but we reached our first camp, Sunrise, at 3:30pm and spent the afternoon doing lots of stretching and rehydrating. The backpackers camping area at Sunrise was pretty full by evening and some stragglers were still rolling in after dark.
There were lots of friendly backpackers staying at Sunrise, a big group of folks from Colorado, some well into their mid-70’s…it was a kick to see folks of their age still hefting packs and running around in the alpine.
Sunrise has seasonal tent-cabins and provides catered meals for those with big budgets… we tried not to think about the fancy food others were eating nearby as the cook rang the dinner bell and we ate our simple one-pot meal.
Off to bed early and looking forward to our next day of hiking.

Day 2...
Link to the photo album

Becky and I at the Happy Isles trailhead...the last time we'll be clean for a while

Leaving Half Dome behind on the way to Sunrise

John Muir Trail: planning, logistics, gear, getting started

The John Muir Trail is a 211-mile high route that travels through the heart of the Sierras from Yosemite Valley to the summit of Mt.Whitney (the highest peak in the lower 48)...add in the 10.5 miles to get from Whitney's summit down to your car, and you've got an epic 221.5 mile thru-hiking trip!

Last summer while working in San Fran, I did a weekend trip out to Yosemite to hike Half Dome and Clouds Rest.... I'd certainly heard of the Pacific Crest Trail before, but the JMT was new to me. The JMT shares much of its route with the PCT, but unlike the PCT in Oregon and much of Washington, down in California, the trail runs high above treeline quite a bit, crossing numerous mountain passes above 11,000ft.

After my weekend day hike in Yosemite, seeing folks with tiny lightweight backpacks heading out for 2-3 week long adventures, wearing little more than running shorts and sneakers, the idea of checking out the JMT really got stuck in my brain.

Fast forward to this year, Becky and I were able to get away from work for three weeks, and we were eager to get down to the Sierras to hike the Muir Trail.

For a trip of this duration in the northwest, we'd have brought all sorts of foul weather gear, a waterproof tent, a white gas stove, all sorts of insulation, and waterproof boots...but for this trip we got to keep our packs fairly light and simple, which made high-mileage days feasible. We used an Epic fabric single-wall tent, a butane canister stove, 40-45 degree sleeping bags, and wore low-top trail running shoes.

Over two days we drove from Seattle to Mammoth Lakes, where we stayed for two nights taking care of all the final logistics. We had expected the weather to be sunny and warm on the east side of the Sierras, but we had also seen the latest forecast calling for an unseasonably strong low pressure system to hit the area during our first day in Mammoth…we had a few worries about the weather and our lightweight gear our first morning in Mammoth when we went out for breakfast and there were snowflakes falling from the sky. It looked like the weather was to return to normal by the time we started hiking though, so we tried not to worry about our water-resistant tent (not water-proof) and summer-weight sleeping bags.

Getting our car to the Whitney Portal trailhead and then getting ourselves 200 miles north to Yosemite took a little time. For those with an unlimited budget and no time, its possible to hire a private shuttle to take you up to Yosemite after you've dropped your car off at the southern terminus of the JMT, or for those with no budget and lots of time, its feasible to hitchhike your way back to Yosemite...but we didn't quite fit into either category. Public transit does exist on the east side of the Sierras, and lots of folks take a ESTA bus from Whitney's closest town, Lone Pine, to Mammoth and the the next day take another bus from Mammoth to Yosemite. We were eager to get the hiking started as fast as possible, but didn't want to fork over the money for a private shuttle, so our compromise was to pick up a rental car in Mammoth, then we drove both cars down to Whitney, left Becky's car behind and returned to Mammoth. The following day in Mammoth we hopped on the YARTS bus and for $15 each got a nice bus ride on into Yosemite Valley. The rental car/bus combo was a bit more spendy than the bus only option, but saved us from having to spend an extra day kicking around Mammoth.

Once in Yosemite Valley we picked up our permit, set up camp for the night, and spent the rest of the day being tourists...walking to the base of El Cap, taking lots of pictures, doing last minute gear checks, and generally being rather nervous about what exactly we had in store over the next two weeks.

Day 1…

Link to the photo album

Here's an elevation profile of the trip...the first day is a biggy, 5600 vertical feet, then a series of small passes and climbs for the first week. The second week things get a little higher and the ups and downs get a lot bigger.

Becky at the Mono Lake overlook on the drive down to Mammoth

Hanging out in Yosemite Valley…the start of the JMT is just right over there.

Becky at the base of El Capitan