I am a hiker in SoCal.
Living in a metropolis, many people have no idea how many great hikes are available right here in our backyard. One of my goals for SoCal Hiker is to correct that misunderstanding. But my primary goal is selfish-service. I will be developing a resource of favorite local hikes and backpack trips, complete with advice, tips, trip reports, checklists and “how-to.” I’d like to create printable trip packs that give you trailhead directions, a trail map, and all the extra details that make the hike more enjoyable.
In addition, I’ll be using SoCal Hiker to collect all the information pertaining to my upcoming John Muir Trail hike in August 2010. I’ll be including training, gear lists, menu planning, scheduling, permit information and all the details. I need to do this for myself anyway, and figured that others might be able to leverage this knowledge as well, so why not share it here?
If you have feedback, ideas or suggestions for SoCal Hiker, please leave me a comment.
Hi,
Congratulations on hiking the JMT. My daughter (19) and my husband started to hike the JMT last year from Toluemene meadows and are planning to finish where they left off this August. May be they will run to you on the trail. I may come in part of the way to resupply them. Great website.
Thanks Julielani! Tell your husband and daughter to just yell “Jeff!” There will be two “Jeff’s” in our group, so odds are good they’ll bend our ear. Hope they have a great trip!
Is it legal to take a dog through all parts of the JMT (including national parks parts)? Is it feasible to hike the JMT with her? I’m not exactly sure what the terrain and rivers bring, but am hoping to find a trip that she can come along on.
Thanks.
-mlb
Marne, unfortunately you won’t be able to take a dog down the entire JMT. While some parts do allow it (the National Forest jurisdictions, I believe) the National Parks do not. It’s both for the safety of the dogs and the “keeping the wildlife wild” mantra of the NPS. Not a bad thing at all.
Having said that, they do allow pack animals (horses, mules, even llamas). And on my JMT thru-hike back in August I saw one dog (part of a pack train) just south of Silver Pass. It might be legal there, or they may have been wagging more than their tail at the law.
Jeff,
I’m planning on hiking the JMT in August as well. How many days do you hike after your last resupply? That is my concern having never done it and not sure if I can rely on anyone to bring supplies in for me.
Thanks,
Ray
We completed our JMT in August 2010 (my second time). You can see our itinerary here: http://socalhiker.net/2010/02/itinerary-for-the-john-muir-trail/
From our last resupply point at Muir Trail Ranch, we had 9 nights — 10 days of hiking. Some of the other JMT thru-hikers we ran into had friends hiking in over Kearsarge Pass to meet them with resupply packages, but you can do it from MTR. Another option is pack service (see my reply to Larry below).
Good luck with your trip, and let me know if I can help!
Ray, I also am planning to hike the JMT starting Aug 20th from Yosemite Valley. I am planning on taking 19 days with resupplies at Red’s Meadows and Muir Trail Ranch. It will mean packing 9 days of food from Muir Trail Ranch though. I noticed that Muir Trail Ranch provides a service of delivering your pack to Evolution Lake for a fee but I am not sure how much it costs.
Larry
Larry, we carried 10 days of food from MTR out to Whitney Portal. The hard part was getting it all to fit in a bear canister. We ended up hanging some food for a couple of nights (there are places in Kings Canyon where bear canisters are not required), and managed fine.
That said, here’s what the Muir Trail Ranch website says about their pack service:
Pack service to Backpackers
After topping off with a resupply at Muir Trail Ranch, your pack just got up to 25 pounds heavier, and for the next seven to nine miles, there will be a whole lot of steep trail. To ease the pain, we offer to haul your pack for you to either Heart Lake near Selden Pass going north, a gain of 2,800 feet, or Evolution Creek at Evolution Meadow going south, a gain of 1,500 feet.
We can haul up to three packs on a single pack horse, totaling 150 pounds, and a packer can lead as many as five pack horses. You can get together with other hikers to split the cost, too.
This service is limited to backpacks only, no riders, and is only offered when we have a packer available and U.S. Government-allocated permission to be on the trail with pack stock. Besides your payment, we will need your Wilderness Permit number.
The fees: Packer and horse $250 per day, Pack horse/mule $125 per day
From http://www.muirtrailranch.com/backpacker.html
Hello SoCal Hiker,
I’d like to use some of your photos in a report I’m producing on green access in San Bernardino County for a nonprofit called The City Project. Here’s a link to see our last report on Los Angeles County: http://www.mapsportal.org/thecityproject/socalmap/images/CityProject_LosAngeles_ENGLISH_040411.pdf.
I’d be happy to credit your photos however you’d like and will give you an opportunity to review/approve photo placement and credit before we release the report. Let me know if you’re interested!
Thanks,
Anahid
jeff let me know if u r interested in doing any multi day trips into sierra this year i am looking for someone to go with my schedule is wide open thanks frank
anyone interested in multi day trips into sierra please respond e mail frankgaro@hotmail.com thanks
Hi,
My name is Cameron. I am with http://seattlebackpackers.com/ We are helping find advertisers for a few intermediate size hiking, backpacking websites. Could we discuss you joining us? Would be happy to talk about who we are working with and how our relationships are arranged.
May I give you a call?
Thanks
Cameron
206-491-5207 Please delete this post after you read it. Thanks
As a fellow avid hiker, I would love if you posted a blog post to help me out!
Adidas is holding a photo contest, called “all in moment”. I went “all in” during a trip to Montana, (which I had never visited before), and was fortunate enough to do some beautiful hiking and see the Gallatin valley, Beartooths Mountains, and Crazy Mountains! I am looking for someone to help me win by voting for my picture! If I win, I could get an all-expenses-paid trip to switzerland! I’ll be sure to bring you back some chocolate if I win!
please do me a favor and share this link by any means you know how!
http://www.terrex-experience.com/submission/23/Grayce_Vogelsang
Thanks a million. Karma will treat you well, friend.