JMT – Current Status and Conditions (End of June, 2015)

[Chuck Gerner]

Firstly, I completed my hike! Tuolumne to Red’s Meadow with only two rolled ankles, a lost wedding band, and a harrowing 12 hours tentbound with the dreaded ‘Monkeybutt’. Best time of my life! Boy did that milkshake at Red’s taste good, as did the one I had after that, especially when combined with a cheeseburger and potato salad.

However it is now my duty to report on what I saw and experienced, and what was related to me by NOBO PCT hikers about the rest of the JMT that I didn’t cover.

1. IT IS A TERRIBLE YEAR FOR WATER.
From Tuolumne to Donohue Pass, roughly half the feeder streams I came across were either bone dry or mud troughs that soon would be. Not one stream, river, creek etc. the entire length was anywhere over ‘safe crossing’ water levels. Never had to take my boots off once when fording; plenty of hop-worthy rocks. From NOBO PCT hikers, the situation is the same to the south.

1A. IT IS A REALLY TERRIBLE YEAR FOR SNOW.
The top 100′ of Donohue Pass’ NW face is in a 6-12″ crust of snow-ice, with a short stretch on the top of the pass itself. The SE face has no snow at all. NOBO hikers reported similar conditions on all passes south except for Forester Pass, on/over which the snow was still deep enough to post-hole and make slow going.

2. IT IS A GREAT YEAR FOR MOSQUITOES.
From Donohue Pass to Devil’s Postpile, I didn’t take off my mosquito netting. In the open the ‘golden hours’ for the little bleeders seemed to be two hours after dawn and two hours before sunset, but in the sections forested with pines the conditions were ripe for skeeter swarms from dawn to dusk. Prepare accordingly. NOBO hikers reported that conditions south of Red’s Meadow were ‘average’, but from DP to DP, even hardened thru-hikers were cursing their lack of netting.

3. TRAIN FOR THE GROUND – NOT JUST THE WEIGHT, NOT JUST THE MILEAGE.
Ok, so I went up the backside of Baden-Powell over and over, with 50 pounds on my back. I have to be ready, right? Not so fast! B-P is graded, compacted soil by and large – and so are many of the trails in the So Cal area. However the big altitude gainers on the JMT are largely stone steps up to a foot high, packed in between with rubble and scree. My gait and step had to change, and as such so did the muscles I was using to lift my weight. Consider rolling in some training time on a step machine, or climbing stairs. Find the nearest 2000′ building, climb to the roof, and congratulations, you just ascended the north side of Donohue Pass!

A similar issue arose with the flat sections of terrain – the ground is severely degraded and you end up walking on an 8″ path that is set two feet into the ground. Consequently I could not sweep my feet wide when walking forward, like I usually do; I had to step front-front-front, like I was walking the world’s least dangerous tightrope, or the longest police sobriety checkpoint ever.

4. THE BEST CAMPSITES ARE THE HIGHEST CAMPSITES.
I found that in the valleys, the sun set two hours earlier and rose two hours later due to the surrounding mountains. This led to below-freezing temperatures in what are, by day, the warmest stretches of the trail! As long as there is no wind, this means you can actually have a more comfortable camp high up in the passes! The view is beyond insane, the night prowlers will be less frequent, and people will somehow think you’re a badass for falling asleep at 11000′.

Any other questions you guys have – gear etc. – let me know and I will reply.
Go JMT 2015!!

[Jeff Hester]

Great trip report, Chuck!

I’m hiking sections of the Theodore Solomons Trail this summer (80 miles logged so far). It runs parallel to the JMT, but west and at (mostly) lower elevations. Just finished the section through Tephipite Valley (beautiful!) and up over Granite Pass — where the mosquitos were relentless. In fact, in the morning at Granite Lake, I didn’t even eat breakfast — I just broke camp and started hiking in hope of eating in peace further down the trail.

So yeah, mosquitos.

From what I’ve seen lake levels are all good (not counting reservoirs) and major streams have plenty of water. The small feeders will dry out, but I wouldn’t rely on them normally anyway. I tend to carry more water than I think I’ll actually need.

Very true about the tread — the way the trail is engineered and the terrain makes a BIG difference.

[donna danastasio]

Hi, I am leaving August 4th hiking from Muir Ranch to happy isles. When you say it was bone dry from Tuolumne to Donohue Pass do you mean there was no water at all to replenish your hydration system? Do you think mosquitos will be done by August 4th? Thanks

[Jeff Hester]

Donna — the feeder streams were what Chuck was referring to. The river itself will give you plenty of places to refill your water.

As for the mosquitos, it’s hard to say. I was up in Mammoth Lakes two weeks ago and they were pretty much non-existent. But the week before that I was in Kings Canyon and there were armies of them. It depends on a lot of factors. I would bet that you’ll definitely encounter mosquitos somewhere along the trail, but not everywhere.

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