JMT trip 1: Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley- 27 miles
Day #1
Upper Cathedral Lake 9,500ft elevation
"As I sit in the sun on the shore of this alpine lake I bask shirtless at the surreal landscape that surrounds me. And I thank God for all that I have."
6 miles, 1,000' elevation gain
our adventure begins- trailhead @ Tuolumne Meadows
wild columbine
our campsite
Day #2
John Muir Trail @ Cloud's Rest trail junction 7,200ft elevation
"12 full miles today and we feel GREAT! It's considerably hotter and at this elevation and tinder dry. We aim to crash early and rise at 5am to summit Half Dome before the crowds start coming up the cables. That's about 2.5 miles and 1800ft gain to the summit. It should be fun with fresh legs. After that it's down to John Muir's home away from home- Yosemite Valley."
12 miles, 400' gain, 3200' loss
view from Cathedral Pass
Long Meadow- one of the most lovely meadows I've ever seen
Western Hemlock (see characteristic droopy top)- resistant to Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
What we came to call "perma-dirt"- shows up after the 1st day!
Sugar Pine- tallest pine in N. America- cones can be nearly 18" long!! It would suck to have that drop on your head!
Sunset on Half Dome
Day #3
Yosemite Valley, 4000ft elevation
"Today was a BIG day. Our plans to rise at 5am were foiled by a faulty Timex. Luckily my internal clock is fine and I was putting in my contacts by 5:20am. Soon afterwards we were on the trail to Half Dome. The first mile was rather easy... then we hit the granite dome. Stairs chiseled from rock and a vertical cable skyway where we used gloves to grip and pull ourselves to the horizon. Dylan was especially slow going and I was getting nervous. When we finally summitted though we had the peak to ourselves (or it had us) for a good 15 minutes. Heavenly.
Going back down was quite a chore and our lack of water really began to show in our pace and Dylan's face. Stupid move on my part. Luckily we finally hit water in the most gorgeous spot- the Merced River in Little Yosemite Valley. After lunch it was a steep couple of hours to the valley where we dined on pizza and ice cream!"
9 miles, 1800' gain, 5,000' loss
Dylan and the Dome
The infamous cables- the angle is over 60 degrees in spots! Dylan and I were pretty nervous on this section. Plus the rock has been worn completely smooth, so you have to pull yourself up the cables using gloves.
morning sun and shadows
me at 8800'
Finally- water! The Merced River felt great here in Little Yosemite Valley
Nevada and Vernal Falls
Day 4
Mammoth Lakes, 8,000ft elevation
"Today Dylan and I just leisurely toured around the valley on a flat 5 mile loop greeting the base of El Capitan halfway- we even saw 3 specks on the side of the mountain- climbers. At 5pm we caught the YARTS bus to Mammoth- a 4 hour trip full of stinky, talkative hikers. Finally we found the Motel 6 and crashed in our comfortable beds"
5 miles, 0' gain/loss
El Capitan- largest single chunk of granite in the world?
help me out fellow botanists....
Day 5-6
Chillin' in Mammoth Lakes. Eating, sleeping, planning.
Sunset at Mono Lake en route to Mammoth Lakes
JMT trip 2: Onion Valley to Whitney Portal- 50 miles
Day 7
Onion Valley to Vidette Meadow, 9,500ft elevation
"Got up early, caught the CREST bus to Independence where a nice middle aged fisherman gave us a ride (after hitching for 1.5 hours). We arrived in Onion Valley and started hiking by 12:30. Our destination- Vidette Meadow. We scooted up to Kearsarge Pass (11,700'+) in near record time and had a very windy lunch of PB&T (peanut butter on a tortilla) on the pass. THen it was down into the gorgeous drainage below. We passed many crystal clear lakes and after Bullfrog Lake we dropped steeply into the Bubb's Creek/Vidette drainage. After seeing a 6-8 (actually 10) point buck (mule deer) we finally dropped low enough to find a campsite around 9'600'. After a quick dinner we were out!"
9.5 miles, 2600' gain, 2100' loss
Onion Valley trailhead (start of our 50 mile trip to Whitney Portal)
Lily
So many flowers, so many colors
Lake en route to Kearsarge Pass
Big Pothole Lake
Indian Paintbrush
Kearsarge Pass
10 point mule deer
Day #8
Forester Pass, 13,200ft elevation (border of King's Canyon and Sequoia NP)
"Well after nearly 6 hours and 7 miles we finally made it to Forester Pass- the highest point on the Pacific Crest Trail. The view is unspeakably good. And low and behold right at the very crux of the pass is the most hardy of all botanical mountaineers- Sky Pilot- in full bloom!... now at 11,200' in Tyndall Creek Camp... After a semi-jarring 5 mile hike downhill we're now at camp- and what a lovely campsite it is! The creek was instantly one of my favorites and we're in a prime location for a classic Sierra alpenglow as well."
11.5 miles, 3600' gain, 2000' loss
nice tall Shooting Star on way to Forester
rest break going up Forester Pass
Finally at Forester Pass (3600' uphill)
I saw my first skypilot not 5 feet from the Forester Pass trailsign at 13,200'
awesome alpine creek near our campsite
Alpenglow view from our tent
Day #9
Tarn above Guitar Lake, 11,600ft elevation
"We rose early and were on the trail by 7am. In a hurry we were up on the Bighorn Plateau and it was quite a site- almost desert or lunar with a nice small lake. Then we trudged on for countless miles to Crabtree where we crashed and ate. I enjoyed a nice rest in a meadow beside a tiny shooting star. From there it was 3 miles and 1,000' up to our camp at Upper Guitar Lake. Now I sit at 6:27 awaiting the sunset and alpenglow on the 3,000' face (back) of Fisherman's Peak -aka- Mt. Whitney.
12 miles, 2400' gain, 1600' loss
windswept
Bighorn Plateau (no bighorns in sight though...)
Is this a type of monkeyflower?
Shooting star where I napped in Crabtree Meadow
Shooting stars en route to Guitar Lake
instructions for wag bags (aka- poop bags) that were mandatory in the Mt. Whitney Zone. Thankfully we didn't need to use them.
Guitar Lake
View from our campsite
sunset above Guitar Lake
Day #10
Mt. Whitney, 14,497ft elevation; Whitney Portal, 8450ft elevation
"Wow what an incredible day... Dylan and I area at a loss for words mainly because we're exhausted. Up at 6am, Whitney at 10am, Whitney Portal at 3:20pm. Wow. The view was unspeakably nice. The weather was perfect- warm and virtually no breeze. No cloud in the sky. It's kinda surreal as Dylan and I sit here waiting on our cheeseburgers..."
16 miles, 2900' gain, 6,000' loss
Morning shadow of Whitney on the hike up
Sky Pilot was everywhere on Whitney!
Brothers
On top of the world (well... the lower 48 at least)
This marmot was the only noticeably living thing (besides the hordes of hikers) on Mt. Whitney- he was obviously well fed by the humans
rough looking USGS marker
Owen's Valley from Whitney
we're done!
Day #11-12
Lone Pine, 3900ft elevation
"We've been hanging out in the tiny burg of Lone P ine for two days now just conversing with trail friends such as "Turtle Don"- a 74 year old section hiking the PCT- and Crissy (aka "Benadryl) who is starting grad school for Physics in just a matter of days- she did 350 miles on the AT and then the entire JMT finishing within an hour of us at the Portal. Hikers are really a friendly bunch- always with food, stories, and beer to share. One thing this trip has taught me is that it's not really solitude I seek, but CHANGE! That's what drives me- adventure and new sights, sounds, and smells. I've also realized that the prospect of having children no longer intimidates me, but instead excites me! Seeing the father/son, mother/daughter combo's gleefully hiking up a steep pass made me long for a similar relationship. I feel it's time for me to share my adventures with a family."
view of Mt. Whitney and Sierra from our hostel porch
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