Here we are again! Same place we left the trail last year, the Vermilion Valley "Resort", Chris contemplates the 131 remaining miles, while drinking a beer and resisting the urge to throw some rocks & sticks for the dogs.
Chris with Thomas, an affable Fresno native who drove us up to the VVR - 3 hours and over a 9,000 foot pass, the last 15 miles took an hour.
The mighty VVR navy docked on Lake Edison. The lake was much, much higher than last year. Last year the lake was so low they had to drive about a mile from the resort to get people to/from the ferry.
Hikers at the other side of the lake waiting for the ferry.
Our campsite at elevation 7870 feet on the night before we start the actual JMT - we hiked 1.4 miles from the ferry to rejoin the trail. We decided this year to remember to take a photo of each night's campsite - last year we were too tired or forgot to do this, but then its hard to remember the sites later.
View down the trail from the campsite
Ah, fire - you are allowed to have fires below 10,000 feet.
The hike begins! Making our way up Bear Ridge.
View from the top of Bear Ridge, the last place we would have cell service until Mt. Whitney
View from a resting spot - really enjoyed the sweet, dry smell of the wind running through the pine trees.
View of the last sun rays hitting a mountain behind our campsite at the end of Day 1. We took it very easy the first day this year - 8.3 miles and 1500 foot net elevation gain versus 28+ miles and 5000 foot net elevation gain last year!
View up the valley from our campsite
Day 1 campsite at 9320 feet along Bear Creek. I have the droopy tent on the left, Chris has the smaller one on the left.
My Tarptent Squall Classic tent - one of the lightest tents around, about 1.5 pounds. It uses a trekking pole in order to save weight.
Marge Lake, Selden Pass (the big objective of Day 2) visible in the background.
Marge Lake
Looking back towards Marge Lake as we approach Selden Pass.
Selden Pass 10,900 feet - the first and lowest of the many passes on the way to Whitney
Chris jamming down a massive switchback - really cool open & massive views here, but hard to capture on camera.
Checking in at the John Muir Trail Ranch - this is where we (and most backpackers) picked up a resupply. Its a rather fancy "resort" for being in the middle of the wilderness. They had an extra cabin available and good home-cooked meals, so we decided to splurge - what the heck, we are still in the early acclimatization stage of our hike. However not one of my proudest wilderness adventure shots!
Hot tub / bathhouse at the JMTR. Very nice after 2 easy days on the trail, but it would have been better if we could have enjoyed this later in the trip!
Chris with the sat phone from our balcony. Great view of the mountains, and a nice river visible through the trees.
Our "Treehouse Penthouse" accommodation. On Day 2 we hiked 12.2 miles.
After a few miles trudging along from the JMTR with our now much heavier packs, we entered Kings Canyon NP.
Lots of really old & thick redwood pines growing out of the granite. Our packs were at their heaviest at this point due to the resupply, probably around 35 pounds. Excluding food & water (but including 20oz sat phone & 2 pound bear cannister), around 17 pounds.
It became immediately obvious why this is Kings Canyon as we hiked through the narrow canyon surrounding the San Joaquin river.
Afternoon siesta time - most days we took a 1-2 hour siesta at midday when the sun was strongest.
McClure Meadow - the lush green meadows are rather startling to come across after spending most of the day hiking through arid granite-lined canyons.
McClure Meadow
We hiked 13.0 miles (all uphill) on Day 3 to arrive at this campsite at 9960 feet with nice views of the The Hermit in the background.
The Hermit towers 2300 feet above our campsite.
As the sun started to go down I enjoyed walking all over these slabs of granite surrounding our campsite.
Several more hikers ended up near us - an especially attractive spot since it was just below 10,000 feet so we could have a fire. Here Chris sits with Brock from Indiana, who was subsisting on a diet that seemed to entirely consist of junk food & vitamins. He rattled off the impressive # of calories in a package of twinkies, can of pringles, etc. He would smoosh the food and repackage into ziplocs in order to save space in his bear cannister.
Trying to smoosh my food to fit in my own cannister - all our food for 7 more days had to fit in there! But actually I had 1-2 extra days in case we encountered problems and needed to slow down.
The next 3 photos show how the setting sun produces an "alpenglow" effect on the mountains for which the Sierras are famous.
One of my favorite photos from the trip - you can see why the Sierras are called "The Range of Light"
We woke up at 5:30 AM on Day 4 and started hiking before 6:30 since we had a long day ahead of us getting over Muir Pass. Chris enjoying the view on switchbacks that began right after camp.
Evolution Lake - still early in the AM, we were passing people still sleeping in tents!
Posing by Lake Wanda - named after one of John Muir's daughters.
Look how clear that water is!
Up in the "moonscape" by Muir Pass
The stone hut at Muir Pass, our highest yet at 11,955 feet - still feeling the altitude this high, but even so feeling stronger today than any day up to this point yet, starting to get our trail legs.
Chris getting ready to descend from Muir Pass.
NIce big mid-August snowfield.
On the way down from Muir
A rare flat section.
Check out the waterfall, and the smooth granite to the right, and imagine how big it must be during the maximum snowmelt season!
A meadow on the way down from Muir - this actually ended up being one of our toughest days, we had over 10 miles and 4,000 feet of downhill from Muir to where we wanted to camp, it was hot and the afternoon dragged on seemingly forever!
Our 19.0 mile Day 4 finally ends at a camp at 8070 feet, the lowest elevation we'll reach until we get to Whitney. Check out the nice waterfall behind our campsite.
John O'Neal is to the left - we actually camped by him on Day 3 and talked by the campfire, and were happy to find him at the same campsite on Day 4 - he has hiked the JMT more than 12 times, and knows it so well he doesn't even carry a map! He had many stories, and after several nights of camping together Chris & I decided he was our "Obi Won Kenobi".
Around 10am-ish on Day 5 - Chris along the "Golden Staircase", a 1500 switchback straight up the side of a mountain. It was one of the last sections of the JMT to be completed, with the help of alot of dynamite.
Did I mention that the JMT features some really charismatic pine trees?
Cool curvaceous tree......
Hey, here comes John up the Golden Staircase. This guy starts later than us, but catches up easily because he is so damn strong!
John chillin' on the Staircase - does this guy look 60 years old to you? Hiking keeps you young!
Mather Pass, Day 5's major obstacle, is visible in the background. We dipped our feet in the Palisade Lake below for a nice break.
Looking back to Palisade Lake.
Palisade Lake way in the background - this is close to the top of Mather. Unfortunately we were going over this pass during the strongest sun of the day, around noon, and the altitude of 12,100 feet made this task not quite easy.
View down the other side of Mather Pass
At Mather Pass, 12,100 feet
Switchbacks chiseled into the mountain on the way down the other side of Mather
That's Chris, way down there. He was a big fan of cruising on the downhills at maximum speed. I had to be a bit more careful with my foot placements since I had trail running shoes instead of boots.
Upper Basin, a big plain above 11,000 feet below Mather. It must be incredible to camp up here watching the 360 degree alpenglow on the mountains.
Aptly named "Striped Mountain".
John told us that these are rock glaciers - one of the few places in the world where they exist (there is slowly flowing ice under the rocks in the foreground).
John hikes with an old school pack, and instead of trekking poles carries an ice axe behind him - not necessary for the JMT, but he was planning to go off-trail over some high passes after a couple more days.
Still in the Upper Basin, like the look of this "infinity pool".
Camp at 10,040 feet after a 15.7 mile and 4,000 foot climb Day 5. Not quite the altitude for legal campfires! Feeling strong today, trail legs solidly attached at this point.
Working up our way to Bench Lake early on Day 6 (get that climb in before it gets hot!), Mather Pass and Upper Basin visible quite a few miles in the background.
Nice to see a brown mountain on our way up to Pinchot Pass, something other than the granite moonscape of Muir & Mather!
Wildflowers growing in a rather inhospitable environment at 12,000 feet.
On Pinchot Pass, 12,130 feet.
Chris calling his honey from altitude.
Chris starts motoring down Pinchot - see him down there?
Scenic little trail after the initial stitchbacks down Pinchot - see Chris down there?
Waterfall along Woods Creek on the way down from Pinchot - we couldn't wait to get to the bottom of this downhill and take our siesta, it was getting hot....
Some wildflowers along the trail - there were actually quite a few wildflowers along the way, especially for mid/late August. The High Sierras, similar to the drenched East Coast, received a fair amount of rain in June / July.
Chris crossing the "Golden Gate of the Sierras" - we've reached our siesta! It was nice soaking our feet in the river below.
Our camp by Arrowhead Lake after a 16.2 mile Day 6.
Ah, dinner time! I ate this combo for 4 nights in a row. Dried berries, almond butter & salami on a wrap. Around 1500 calories, boo-yah! This night I had a special treat of a little parmesan cheese garnish borrowed from John. In order to maximize the calories I could fit in the bear cannister, I just ate raw foods after JMTR since the de-hydrated backpacker meals took up too much bear cannister space relative to their calories.
Josh (aka Joker's brother) who we met this night camping next to us. Right here he is in the process of catching quite a few 6-9 inch trout which they poached up for dinner - they shared some and it was great. Joker is a really gregarious guy (same personality/looks as Vince Vaughn) who thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, we thought it was very uncool that JMT hikers generally didn't use "trail names", which are common (mandatory?) on the AT.
Nice colors as the sun went down by our campsite - Chris & John actually went swimming in the Lake here.
John fixing up some breakfast.
The morning views by our campsite.
Very unique "Fin Dome"
The very popular Rae Lakes, just about a mile beyond our campsite from the prior night. The large mountain is Painted Lady, named so because of the alpenglow effect here is apparently quite incredible.
Incredible amount of fish in the clear waters of Rae Lakes
Painted Lady
Looking back at Rae Lakes on the way up to today's primary obstacle, Glen Pass.
Another high altitude late. Joker told us about a guy he met who has a project to swim every lake along the JMT, naked, wearing a purple hat. Supposedly he's making a book called Purple Hat's Sierras......some interesting folks in the mountains!
On the top of 11,978 foot Glen Pass. Like my duct-taped homemade glacier glasses? My eyes were getting fried by the high-altitude sun reflecting off the granite, this was my attempt to limit the amount of light reaching my corneas!
Whitney you asked? Its that way! We're cruising now, and can taste our objective......
On the way down Glen
Where's Waldo (Chris?). Once again, a stunningly scenic shot of my compadre cruising down the switchbacks.
Whoa, what is this? We saw our first cloud on Day 6, but now on Day 7 they are starting to move in "big time".
Vidette Meadow
A marmot - we saw a few dear, but this was probably the most interesting wildlife....
What kind of storm caused these trees to bend like this?!?
Our campsite at 10,920 feet after a 12.6 mile Day 9. This was one of the last stands of trees before breaking above treeline on the way up to mighty 13,180 foot Forrester Pass. We were hearing quite a bit of thunder at this point - afternoon thunderstorms are supposedly quite common in the Sierras, but this was our first experience with them so far.
Stormy clouds passing over - it actually ended up just sprinkling on us, but still we were surprised when Joker & Josh, and another hiker (Eric) passed by our camp on their way up & over Forrester despite the stormy conditions.
As evening approached the storm passed over and the clouds started to clear. You can go ahead & click through the next several pics quickly, I hung out on the granite for a long time and was playing around with the camera and the changing light.
Morning on Day 8 - OK, this is wierd and somewhat ominous, clouds in the morning!
The speck up there is Chris working his way up Forester Pass - although we are pretty well aclimatized at this point, we can still feel that this is higher than any pass we've been over at this point.
Another high altitude lake.
Lake 12,250 Feet - nice reflection!
Chris waiting for me at the top of Forester
Set the camera down on top of Forester for this one.
View of the other way down Forester.
On top of Forester
Wow
The section after Forester was rolling hills, and the topography reminded us of the wild west - maybe Montana or some palce like that.
We were really cruisin' here - able to crank out the miles in the cool, cloudy weather
Green meadows juxtaposed right next to arid vistas, cool & varied landscape......
Guitar Lake's our goal for the day - its the classic base camp from which to start the Mt. Whitney climb. From this point on (Crabtree Ranger station), everyone has to pick up "Wag bags", which need to be used to pack out ALL human waste. This is due to the huge number of people climbing Mt. Whitney and the related waste problems. We also heard from one hiker that he takes Immodium to avoid having to use the infamous Wag bag! I'm looking a bit skinny here, I think I've lost a bit of weight......
Chillin' in my tent at Guitar Lake at 11,500 feet - it really started to rain in earnest right when we arrived here around 3pm after a 19.7 mile Day 8 (!!!) Note the rain drops on the tent fabric - our ultraweight "tarp tents" are far less than ideal for dealling with sustained rain, and it proceeded to rain from 3pm to 3am! This was one of the most challenging points on the trip, when the wind would pick up some moisture would get whipped in from the sides, and eventually our nylon tents started dripping at the seams onto our sleeping bag. Like most nights it got down to about 40 degrees, and although our sleeping bags kept us warm, we were slowly getting drenched and knew our lightweight gear probably couldn't take another night of pounding rain, although it would also be inadvisable to go over the pass and up Whitney (the only way out of the wilderness at this point) in a storm......
Morning at Guitar Lake - and its not raining! We quickly packed up our drenched tents and started hiking
Sunrise - still quite cloudy, hoping the rain will hold off until the typical afternnon thunderstorms, allowing us to get up & over Whitney.
Just above Guitar Lake
From much higher up, Guitar Lake looks much more "guitar-like"
Sun poking through the clouds, on our climb up "the big one"
The famous pinnacles close to the Whitney summit - this is Eric in the foreground, and adventure racer / ultra marathoner who was doing the entire JMT in 11 days. He hiked with us the whole last day.
Joker & bro caught up with us close to the summit - note the snow from the night before, which only started around 14,000 feet. We left our packs where the spur trail to the summit starts at 13,484 feet, which helped us move pretty quickly for the last 2 mile climb to the top, despite the altitude.
We did it! On top of Mt. Whitney (14,495 ft), the highest point in the continental US at 9:30am. Chris was actually the first person to the top (fresh tracks!) out of over 200 people who would summit that day. It was cool that Joker & bro, Eric, Chris & I were initially the only ones at the top.
Hut right below the Whitney summit.
View from the top.
Another view from the top.
Chris trying to stay out of the wind before we head down.
Back down 1,000 feet below the summit where we stashed our packs.
Nice views on the way down - but the smell was a pretty awful urine stench. Of the hundreds of people who summit Mt. Whitney each day, the vast majority are not JMT thru-hikers, but start from Whitney Portal at 8,365 feet. Its a heavily used stretch of trail, but I guess it must have been even worse before the advent of the Wag bag era!
Interminable switchbacks on our 6,000 foot descent to Whitney Portal. We were pretty tired, but the promise of burgers & beer kept us motivated. The people hiking up Whitney, however, looked miserable!!! Most people came straight from sea level, with 0-1 days of aclimatization before heading up. I would not with a non-aclimatized hike up Mt. Whitney upon my worst enemy, but still demand is such that permits to hike up from this side are ridiculously difficult to get.
The hike down to Whitney Portal follows one long, scenic canyon.
A view down the canyon we were hiking down to the flat desert below at 3,000 feet.
We're down! Chris's wife Michelle met us, along with her parents - they drove 5 hours from LA to meet us!
Final victory photo - the tally, 131 miles in 9 days (and lost 10 pounds!)
My pants actually had a huge gash in them for the past 4 days!
Beer! Michelle's parents rock!
