JMT was M's idea. I didn't think I liked hiking. We wanted a minor sufferfest that would make us happy to see the car. Eleven days for 220 miles sounded like it might achieve that. It didn't. It didn't come close. Words don't describe how awesome this trip was. Go hike the JMT, you'll see. Go.
Light, slow, and far was our plan.
Gear
Tent: BD Betalite (20oz)
Sleeping bag: 20 degree down (2 lbs) + simple foam pad
Stove: MSR Pocket Rocket (3oz) + one pot, two collapsible bowls
Pack: Golite Jam 2 and Gust
Clothing: Silkweight top, Capilene top and bottom, nylon pants, puffy jacket, rain jacket, hat, gloves, sun hat
Bear Canister, two gatorade bottles, no water filter.
Food, fuel, and moleskin.
No more, no less. Seems minimalist, but dry pack weights were 10 pounds and every additional pound was noticeable. No water filter in the high Sierra is justifiable, UC Davis studies found no giardia in the water and concluded that giardiasis is contracted via poor sanitation. We took hand sanitizer instead of a filter.
We had one resupply at the Muir Trail Ranch, keeping our packs under 20 pounds at all times. Worked great.
The long drive up to Lone Pine; that's M in the Integra in the mirror.
More of the same; on the 395 North.
M at the start of the trail. Almost there, really.
Heading up the steps to Nevada Falls.
Falls.
Possessed ground squirrel.
Up up up.
Above the falls.
Agua.
More.
Falls.
Scenery.
More scenery.
More scenery.
A rock.
M at the river, heading up to the Half Dome junction.
Half Dome.
The junction! Only 18 miles to go until we sleep.
High country.
A proper rest break.
Chipmunk impression. I didn't take that shirt off for eleven days. It's clean in this picture.
Scenery.
Half Dome receding in the distance.
More high country.
M walking.
Blurry deer. We saw lots of deer.
Relief, having crossed the pass. What, eight miles to go??
Crabtree Meadows. They didn't suck.
Keep going, it's getting late....
Matthes Crest.
High Sierra!
Getting dark, still five miles to go...
Cathedral and Eichorn.
Dusk...
Cathedral Lakes, finally.
The next morning. Tuolumne campground. Very late start.
Up the canyon. Low water.
I wasn't joking.
Pretty creek.
Meadows.
Looking back at Tuolumne.
Looking up at the pass.
Ditto.
Creek right as we start to climb.
Lyell Canyon.
Lyell Creek.
Looking uphill.
More of the same.
Closer to the pass as the sun sets.
We bonked, so we cooked dinner close to here.
Here we are now, going to the east side...
Ptarmigan on the pass.
M loves the feathered feet,
and asked for a photo of them.
Eastside.
Straight outta Lyell.
We spent a night high above Garnet and got going early on Day Three.
Ritter was pretty.
As was Thousand Island Lake.
And Garnet. We're only six hours behind schedule.
Pretty. Lots of rough terrain slowed us a lot.
Heading down through pretty forest.
Crossing the creek toward the Postpile.
Here's the creek. I was getting tired and pissy at this point.
POSTPILE, and dinner! I could have eaten three times as much as we had.
M impersonating a blueberry.
Here's the postpile proper. We ate dinner and headed up through Red's Meadow by headlamp. At some point I balked and insisted on camping. The water bottles froze, as did we. The next morning we hiked in puffy jackets through frozen meadows until the sun showed up.
Massive porridge/chocolate/fruit fiasco for breakfast.
Up and up the ridge.
Scenery.
We got annoyed when Duck Creek wasn't closer.
Then we got to Purple Lake and were annoyed how far that was.
Lake in the background.
Lake Virginia?
Damn pretty.
We headed down to Taboose Pass Trail. M's leg freaked out on the descent. The creek made me want to built a lean-to and live off the trout in the stream. Forever.
Just beautiful. Do we have to go home?
Looking up our next climb: Silver Pass.
We had dinner and continued.
Getting there.
Gorgeous. Did I mention how pretty it is out there?
Sunset, and we're not at the pass yet. It's good to have a routine.
Blurry lake. We headed down the other side and camped high. Great campsite.
The next morning I was starving, and grumpy. The aspens were bright yellow.
Seriously.
Mono Creek Bridge.
Up Bear Ridge.
Pretty.
And down....
Woods.
Up to Selden Pass.
Getting late, of course.
No more photos. We got over the pass late, camped, and the next morning hoofed it toward our resupply. I was worried about impending starvation at this point and was contemplating taking out a deer with a ski pole.
It was heaven. M loved the kitten.
Seriously liked the kitten. I was happy about the food as well as the cat.
Over the river and through the woods, to
the hot springs we go...
Smokey river.
Easy walking toward Kings Canyon. Gorgeous, and we had lots of curry!
Kings Canyon sign. Whee! Gorgeous terrain, flat walking.
Up up up toward the Evolutions.
It was an incredible valley.
Up in the Evolutions. Our campsite was great, with a mouse and lots of food.
Next morning. I had washed my pants the previous evening, so I hiked in polypro. I was dropping insane amounts of weight, more than a pound a day.
The beard is pretty nice, too.
Heading up toward Muir Pass. The first lake was wonderful.
So pretty.
Pictures don't do this trip justice.
More lake.
Up the gentle trail toward Muir Pass.
JMT, you're the one for me.
More more more.
Palisades are back there somewhere.
Closer to the pass.
More lakes!
Some clouds moving in...
The Pass in sight!
Moonscape.
The hut on the pass.
It was extremely windy; we hoofed it downhill.
So we could relax in the sun.
Pretty lake.
Yawn.
Sigh.
Boo.
Oh, look, elk!
More beauty.
Down four thousand feet. My knee decided to hurt. Just bruised, but unpleasant.
M being eaten by a large boulder.
This valley defies description.
The granite citadels were as impressive as Zion, minus the tourists.
Glacier-carved, what?
Granite granite and granite.
Moar!!
We hiked into the night, again. Camped at the head of Palisade Creek.
In the morning we headed toward Mather Pass.
Looking down at the valley.
Up toward the basin below the pass.
Valley again.
Lakes below the Pass, which is on the right edge of the photo.
Yet another beautiful lake.
With trout.
Into thin air. Thinner, anyway.
Lawrence of Sierra.
Mountains.
M on the pass. Now down toward Pinochet. Onward, pagan soldiers!
Easy descent, Mather is on the extreme right.
We're going way down there today. Then back up, of course.
Same, but with hat.
Down down down.
And up up up. We could see only half the day's travel.
Sunset was gorgeous.
We camped at 11,000 feet next to lake Marjorie.
Climbed Pinochet Pass first thing the next morning.
The view down the other side.
More.
And more.
The South Fork Trail was our least favorite part of the trip.
Even though it looked like this.
Down.
Scary suspension bridge.
Up toward Glen Pass, looking back.
Much the same.
Dollar Lake, before Glen.
Up.
Rae Lakes. It was not ugly. We cooked dinner in the lee of a boulder.
M wondering where the trail goes.
The trail builders are nuts. M on Glen Pass.
Rae Lakes.
The other side.
Down, and into the night. Slept at Bubbs Creek.
The next morning we saw a deer.
Looking down at the Bubbs Creek valley.
Hauling ass up to Forester Pass, at 13,000 feet.
Forester.
Up.
Me on the pass. We felt great.
We go where?
Poser.
Pretty.
Below the pass.
Super easy travel.
Looking back at the pass.
Onward to Wallace Creek!!
WHAT? Only 16 miles to Whitney? We were quite seriously unhappy to see this sign.
It sprinkled on us, the first bad weather of the trip.
Spectacular views.
Our first view of Whitney. The end is in sight. Damn.
We camped and it rained. The next morning was cold and windy. Guitar Lake.
It snowed up high.
We headed up Whitney.
And found snow.
And hiked to the top in a snowstorm, passing everybody.
M: "We're done? Awwww. "
M: "Ommmm"
Hairy. We only smiled for the camera; this was our last day and we were sad.
Clouds.
Yep.
Sigh.
Trail.
More trail.
Whitneyish granite.
The end is nigh.
Sad to see the car. Sad to go home.
We spent the night in Lone Pine. The shower, pizza, and beer were the best I've ever had. We weren't sore and didn't want a rest day, just wanted to hike more. Seeing cars was surreal. Ten days later we both wish were still on the trail.
M and I both feel like eleven days was perfect. Our bodies and minds could take it perfectly. The only things we wished for on the trail were warmer sleeping bags and more food. I lost ten pounds; she lost eight, despite allotting 4000 calories per person per day. The gear was perfect, we wouldn't change our strategy.