A Wrapup of Our 2007 John Muir Trail Attempt
As I blogged about over several previous blog entires (enumerated below), in August of 2007 my in-laws, a family friend, my wife, and I all tackled the John Muir Trail, a ~220 mile trail stretching from the Happy Isles trail head in Yosemite and to the summit of Mt. Whitney, which, at 14,505 ft., is the highest point in the contiguous United States. We tackled the trail from north to south, starting at Yosemite. Unfortunately, we did not complete the entire length of the JMT; we bailed out about half way through the journey due to some severe blister problems.
Our initial plan was to hike the distance in 23 days, with 21 of those days being hiking days and two of them being rest days (one at Reds Meadow, the other at Vermilion Valley Resort. We ended up spending 14 total days in the wilderness, with 13 hiking days and one rest day (at Reds). We departed from the JMT shortly after Muir Trail Ranch (the half-way point), winding up Piute Creek and exiting at the North Lake trail head.
Even though we didn't meet our goal of completing the JMT, I am glad we made an attempt. Hiking the JMT requires a lot of planning and effort up front, from securing the appropriate permits to determining the necessary supplies and mailing or physically dropping them off at resupply points. Any sort of backpacking trip is physically trying since it involves carrying anywhere from 25-50 pounds on your back, and the trails in the Sierra Nevada are not without a degree of difficulty. The JMT starts at a mere 4,000 ft., but quickly elevates to 9,000 feet and then only drops to 8,000 ft. at a few spots (Reds Meadow, Lake Edison / VVR, and Muir Trail Ranch). 95% of the trail is between 9,000 and 12,000 ft., and three stretches in the southern half of the JMT exceed 13,000 ft. There's a lot of up and down each day, and terrain ranging from soft, yielding dirt to steep granite steps that are hard on the knees.
The hardest part of backpacking, though, is not the physical exhaustion, but just being removed from the creature comforts that we take for granted each day. Going to the bathroom means digging a hole and squatting over it. Dinner means dehydrated meals or trail mix or beef jerky. A shower means a quick dip in a mountain stream or lake sans shampoo or soap where the water temperature is in the 50s. What's surprising to those who've not done a lengthy backpacking trip is the amount of damage your hands receive. They are out in the sun and dirt all day long. They dry out, and crack, causing small nicks and cuts to form, and those sores can quickly develop into infections if you don't take care of them. What I've found works best is to wear lightweight glove liners day-round. You'll still get injuries, because there will be times the glove liners are off and you need to do something with your hands, but they help. When a cut forms, put some antiseptic on it and bandage it up; alternatively, you can encase any developing wounds with climber's tape, which will stay in place and protect against further damage for days.
Despite these hardships, backpacking is a lot of fun and definitely an activity I would encourage all to try. It's nice to get out into the true wilderness, where the nearest road or cell phone or computer or microwave is literally 25 miles or more away. Nothing clears the mind like hard, unceasing physical effort. After a day or two in the wilderness, thoughts about work or stresses from the everyday life are no longer a concern. They have been pushed cleanly from your mind, leaving one's consciousness unpolluted and in a meditative-like state. At night, the stars dance in the sky, and in the day the mountains and trees and meadows and lakes and streams provide an unspoiled scenery too few today get to enjoy.
If you'd care to learn more about our 2007 JMT attempt, you can read about the planning and the various days of our joinery at the following posts:
I'll close with some interesting statistics and links.
- Pictures from all 14 days
- Estimated Total Mileage: 140 miles
- Estimated Total Vertical Ascent: 26,600 ft.
- Estimated Total Vertical Descent: 21,300 ft.
- Highest Elevation: 11,423 ft. - Day 14 (Piute Pass)
- Lowest Elevation: 4,040 ft. - Day 1 (Happy Isles trail head)
- My Starting Weight: 165 lbs.
- My Finishing Weight: 158 lbs.
Since our JMT bid we have yet to take on any new backpacking trips, although we'll likely pick back up in Spring of 2008. We have, however, done two interesting day hikes. In October we drove up to Yosemite and hiked from Happy Isles to the top of Half Dome. Then, in November, we drove to the Grand Canyon and hiked down to the floor of the canyon and back. I'll blog about those trips in future posts...