In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. - John Muir
JMT
AUGUST 1-12, 2020
Location: California, United States
Length: 210.4 miles (338.6 km) Trailheads: Happy Isles (Yosemite) and Mt Whitney Duration: 2 weeks Difficulty: Moderate to strenuous Challenges: Snowmelt, altitude, animal encounters Best season to Thru-Hike: July - Sept The John Muir Trail (JMT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. From the northern terminus at Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley and the southern terminus located on the summit of Mount Whitney, the Trail's official length is 210.4 miles (338.6 km). For almost all of its length, the trail is in the High Sierra backcountry and wilderness areas. For about 160 miles (260 km), the trail, named for naturalist John Muir, follows the same footpath as the longer Pacific Crest Trail. 
|
Time to get back on the horse!
It’s July 30th, 2020 and my son Damien and I are about to embark on a flight to Fresno, CA for the beginning of our JMT journey. It has been a long process for him, after finding out about JMT on a google search in 2016 during his French(!) class in 10th grade, and a frustrating wait for me after my bike accident in 2017. I had recovered pretty quickly at first, but each time I would start training, whether swimming, biking or running, I would develop nagging pain that would last weeks. My training was basically stop and go for almost 3 years. I even attempted (and finished!) the IronMan triathlon in Texas in April 2019, but I had to walk the entire marathon. Read more.. First 3 days: A Trial by Fire
Because of some neighbors being very “awake”, even after quiet hours, we couldn’t fall asleep. At our supposedly 1am wake up call, I decided to give us a bit more time and we finally woke up at 3am, after a miserable night. I could see that Damien was upset. He barely touched his breakfast, and it got me worried, especially knowing what would come on Day 1. But I didn’t say anything and at 4am, we were out of the door, backpacks and headlamps on, ready to walk along the Happy Isle loop road to the official start of the John Muir Trail. Read more... Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
After a good night sleep and a delicious breakfast, doing laundry, filling up our BV with our resupply food and repacking our backpacks took a lot of time. That would be our last luxury respite and we were in no hurry. We were finally back on the trail by 11am. Our next goal was to reach the Muir Trail Ranch, site of our last resupply, some 50 miles away. MTR is at the half way point of the JMT and it took us 3 days to get there. Because of our late start, Day 4 was our lowest daily mileage (13.5) of the entire trip. Read more... |