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Hiking the John Muir Trail in 21 Days

August 22, 2010 By Jeff H 56 Comments

Back in 1980 I hiked the John Muir Trail with a group of four friends from church. I was 18 years old, but our group ranged in age from 13 to 50-ish. Thirty years ago I had just graduated high school, time was not an issue, and we spread the journey over 25 memorable days.

I have long wanted to go back and hike the JMT again, and after years of planning, it finally came together — 30 years later. My girlfriend Joan and two friends from a local hiking club — Jeff A. and Hari — joined me for this epic, 21-day backpacking trip.

We got back home late this past Tuesday, and I’ve been thinking about how best to share the experience. There are so many stories, and so much to tell. I’ve decided to start with an overview of the experience (something everyone can appreciate), and I’ll follow up in the coming weeks with day-by-day details, field notes on our equipment, food and logistics for those interested in the nitty-gritty details.

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Trail Details
Distance: 233 miles
Time: 21 days
Difficulty: Strenuous
Elevation gain: 46,700 ft
When to go: July through Sept.
Like most people hiking the JMT, we chose the North-to-South direction. This begins at the lower elevations in Yosemite and gradually tackles the higher altitude on the southern half of the trail after well-acclimated. Our Tuesday start day was fixed six months in advance (when the permit reservation was granted).

We started by driving up to Lone Pine and dropping of the car at Whitney Portal, so it would be waiting for us when we reached the end of the trail. We spent a night at the Dow Villa Motel. It’s a clean and comfortable place with a history of catering to Hollywood stars up for filming Westerns in the nearby Alabama Hills. I drove the car up to the portal and hitched a ride back into Lone Pine with Tex from one of the backpacking clubs in San Diego. He and a friend had just come down from a two-night backpacking trip that included Mt. Whitney — where we would be headed in three weeks.

Monday, we woke up early, grabbed a hearty breakfast and met Richard from Mount Whitney Shuttle for our ride to Yosemite Valley. The ride up took about five hours; the hike back would take 21 days.

After picking up our permit, we dropped our equipment at the backpacker’s campground and headed to Curry Village for our “last supper.” It’s a great place to people watch, with folks from all over the world converging for pizza, salads and cold beverages in this beautiful little corner of the outdoor world.

Day One – July 27

Tuesday morning, we woke early. Our permit required we spend one night in Little Yosemite Valley — after that, it was up to us and our legs. We reached camp, had lunch and then headed uphill for a bonus hike up Half Dome. Half Dome is an amazing side-trip that’s well worth the extra time, but it made for a long first day. In total we covered about 15 miles and over 5,000 feet of vertical gain. When we got back to camp, we went for a quick swim in the Merced, ate and slept well.

Day Two – July 28

On Wednesday, the young guns Jeff A and Hari hiked ahead, while Joan and I took an alternate route that swung by Cloud’s Rest. This was only our second day of the JMT, and it was our second day of >3000′ of vertical gain in a row. It kicked our respective asses, but was worth it. The views from Clouds Rest are even more impressive than from Half Dome, and the are no crowds (there were a handful of people at the top), no cables, no fuss. The Native Americans who called Yosemite their home in centuries past felt Clouds Rest had spiritual importance. I can’t argue with the sense of awe and wonder the views inspired.

We originally had planned to reach Cathedral Lakes, but Joan and I ended up camping near one of the Sunrise lakes, catching up to Jeff A and Hari at Tuolumne Meadows the next day.

Day Three – July 29

We traversed our first of many passes — Cathedral Pass — on our way to our Tuolumne Meadows. Tuolumne was our first resupply point. Many people skip resupplying here, being so soon into the trip, but why carry more food than you need to, especially when starting out? As we were sorting our resupply package, we bumped into Bob and Cheri from the Yahoo! JMT group — the first of several times our paths would cross.

Day Four – July 30

Most of this day was easy hiking along the idyllic Lyell Creek. The waters were clear and beckoned you to jump in. It felt good to take a long lunch, stretched out on a rock like a lizard letting the sun dry our bodies. At about the 10th mile of the day, we finally hit a serious vertical climb up to our destination — Lyell Forks.

I met a number of others also hiking the JMT at Lyell Forks, although most of them I did not see again. It was interesting that we would cross paths with some people day after day, and others we would never or rarely see at all.

Day Five – July 31

We finally left Yosemite Park, climbing over the 11,073′ Donahue Pass. Jeff A. and Hari took a side trip to bag Donahue Peak, then met up with us in the evening at Thousand Island Lake. This is one of my favorite areas of the Sierras. I’ve been here many times and will never tire of the beauty of the Minarets. This is an area we will come back to again and again to explore in depth.

We hit Thousand Island Lake at the perfect time for mosquitoes. There were huge swarms of them, making nets and Deet a necessity.

Day Six – August 1

Day 6 was a long day, hiking up countless ridges past the many “gem” lakes and finally a long descent through Devil’s Postpile National Monument to the crowded Red’s Meadow campground. We shared a site with “Chris” who was on a 45 day ramble around the Sierras. Chris was just one of many examples of the friendly people met along the trail.

The Red’s Meadow campground isn’t particularly scenic, but it’s worth stopping at if nothing else than for the free, hot spring fed showers. It felt great to get really clean, and the water was almost too hot!

Day Seven – August 2

We lazily hung around Red’s Meadow, picked up our second resupply package, and enjoyed both breakfast and lunch at the cafe. As an added treat, Don and Zandra Wilson took the shuttle down from Mammoth and met us for lunch. Zandra was one of the people I originally hiked the JMT with 30 years earlier, and it was a real pleasure to reminisce and catch up.

After filling our guts with non-dehydrated food and one of the best milkshakes you’ll ever enjoy, we headed up the trail for a relatively light 9 mile day to Deer Creek.

Day Eight – August 3

At lunch Joan and I met “Al” at Purple Creek. Al was an older guy who was doing his second JMT. His first time, two years earlier, he was “traditionally” equipped with a heavy pack and a 21-day itinerary. This time he was going lightweight, wearing trail runners and a base weight of 14 lbs. and a 14-day itinerary with no resupply points. He inspired us to look more closely at reducing our own base weight.

At the popular and beautiful Lake Virginia, Hari met a ranger who tipped us off to a “secret” ranger campsite on granite bluffs above Tully Hole. The breezes kept the mosquitoes at bay, and the views were amazing. It took a little scrambling to reach them, but it was a beautiful, special place to camp for the night.

Day Nine – August 4

Climbing Silver Pass was relatively easy. Descending was a bitch. This longer-than-expected downhill set a pattern for the JMT, where seemingly innocent downhill trails turned ugly, with deep steps and ankle-challenging gravel forcing you to slow to a snail’s pace. Eventually we reached the detour to Lake Thomas Edison, where we caught the ferry to Vermillion Valley Resort.

VVR was our third resupply point, and the site of our only “zero day” — a chance to rest and let our bodies heal a bit. They cater to JMT and PCT thru-hikers, and the camaraderie and food were fantastic. We were able to wash clothes, shower and catch up on the caloric deficit we had been running.

Day Ten – August 5

Our one-and-only zero mileage day. No hiking, just rest, eating, cleaning, and camaraderie. It was a welcome respite!

Day Eleven – August 6

Friday morning, we took the ferry back across the lake and climbed the 60 switchbacks up to the top of Bear Ridge. Most of the afternoon we followed the beautiful cascades along Bear Creek, finally reaching our first of only two creek crossings that required us to remove our boots. We camped in complete solitude at Rosemarie Meadow.

Day Twelve – August 7

From Rosemarie Meadow, we climbed Selden Pass and then a long descent to Muir Trail Ranch — our final resupply point.

MTR is the last place where you’re close enough to easily detour off the JMT and pick up a package, but it’s difficult for them. Packages must be shipped to an address in Lakeshore, they are picked up at the post office, loaded into a truck, driven to Florence Lake, loaded onto a boat, carried to the other end where they are loaded into a WW2-era Mercedes 4WD truck that carries it the last four miles to the remote ranch.

It’s also challenging for us, as it meant we had to somehow carry almost 10 days worth of food (and get it to fit in our bear cannisters)! A good rule of thumb is 2 lbs of food, per person, per day. That means we’re each carrying 20 lbs of food alone!

As if this wasn’t challenge enough, when we reached MTR, we learned that only two of our five 5-gallon resupply buckets could be found! The good people at MTR were wonderful, checking and double-checking their storerooms and the post office, but the three buckets could not be found. They refunded our handling fees for the three missing packages, and graciously invited us to join them for dinner that night, as well as breakfast the next morning. And fortunately, there are many packages that end up donated to the “hiker bins” and we were able to scavenge enough food to get us through the second half of the trip.

Day Thirteen – August 8

Following the South Fork of the San Juoquin River, we entered Kings Canyon National Park. One of the great things about the JMT is that you’re never far from water, and today was no exception. The entire day we hiked in parallel to a river or creek of some sort.

As we ascended to Evolution Valley, we also made our second “no boots” creek crossing before reaching our destination — McClure Meadow. We shared a campfire with Brian, another JMT thru-hiker from the Bay area whose path we we cross again several times in the next few days. This was also the night of the “big salami” story, which generated laughs for days afterwards.

Day Fourteen – August 9

Muir Pass was tough. It’s not particularly steep, but the trail to the pass is largely composed of course gravel about the size of a baseball and very difficult footing. Making it even tougher, Joan was hit with a bout of major indigestion. We reached the pass late, and decided to camp at the first level spot with water below the pass. As luck would have it, we found a stunningly beautiful little tarn which we had all to ourselves.

Day Fifteen – August 10

Most of this day followed the Middle Fork of the Kings River through Le Conte Canyon — another place I would like to return and spend more time in. Beautiful meadows, towering granite canyon walls that rival Yosemite with none of the crowds. We camped about two miles below the infamous Golden Staircase.

Day Sixteen – August 11

This was another tough day, with the Golden Staircase (which goes on and on) and then Mather Pass. Both were long, arduous climbs. When we finally reached the 12,100′ Mather Pass, we felt a real sense of accomplishment. Thankfully, the descent was smooth. On our way to the Upper Basin, we met an older guy who turned out to be Reinhold Metzger. Reinhart was hiking the JMT for his 14th time. He used to hold the record for the unsupported JMT thru-hike — 5 days, 7 hours and 45 minutes. This time, he was hiking a “yo-yo” trip from Mt. Whitney to Yosemite and back again in 14 days. A little more than I want to tackle, but pretty amazing for a 69 year old. Terrific guy.

Day Seventeen – August 12

Another day, another mountain pass. Today’s pass was 12,086′ Pinchot.

As you may have noticed, the southern half of the JMT includes a lot of mountain passes, higher elevations and lots of exposure above the tree line. The sun is brutal, and it gets hot. I highly recommend doing your best to hit these passes in the morning.

The route down from Pinchot was also long and tough; another example where the elevation profile for the trail only tells part of the story. We camped at White Fork, about 2 miles from the Woods Creek junction.

Day Eighteen – August 13

Originally we had planned to traverse Glen Pass (part of the “pass a day” program), but after reassessment, we modified the itinerary slightly. We camped at Upper Rae Lake, another beautiful area that we plan to revisit in the future. Along the way, we ran into PCT thru-hiker “Steady” (his wife is “Slow”). They hail from Western Australia, and before they started the PCT in April, neither had any backpacking experience. Needless to say, they are now both experts!

Day Nineteen – August 14

We got an early start and made it up Glen Pass before noon. It was tough, but we could feel our bodies getting stronger.

As we made our way towards Vidette Meadow, we could see and smell smoke from a forest fire. This caused some alarm in that we didn’t know exactly where the fire was, and the smoke could wreak havoc with Joan’s asthma. We watched the situation throughout the day, and fortunately by the next morning, the prevailing winds changed direction and the skies were clear.

Along the way, we ran into two PCT section hikers from Portland who had just finished munching down a snack of delectable cheese. Apparently, someone had left a bunch of food in one of the bear boxes in Upper Vidette Meadow and backpackers were scavenging for goodies. Of course, when we reached the campsite, we were no exception, and snagged a few packages of ramen to supplement our food supply.

The whole experience reminded me of the old joke that asks “What’s the difference between a backpacker and a homeless person? The answer: Gore-tex.” As we were rummaging through cheese, hotdogs and other questionable foodstuffs with relish, I realized this was a short step away from “dumpster diving.” Still, the ramen was a great addition to our dinners.

Day Twenty – August 15

The end was in sight as we climbed the 13,118′ Forester Pass. In keeping with our goal, we reached it before noon. The southbound descent was very similar to Mather Pass — smooth and easy hiking. We hiked another nine miles to Wright Creek. The excitement of Whitney was building.

Day Twenty-One – August 16

After relatively short 7.3 mile hike we reached Guitar Lake mid-afternoon. We ate an early dinner, and went to bed early. It may have been the earliest we made camp on the entire trip.

Day Twenty-Two – August 17

After napping for a few hours, we woke up at 11pm. Technically, it was still the 16th, but not by much. We broke camp, donned our headlamps and began the ascent of Whitney. We reached the Trail Crest about 3:30am, napped fitfully for a couple hours as we awaited the sunrise, then finally headed to the summit.

The sunrise from Mt. Whitney was simply stunning. At 14,505′ Whitney is the highest mountain in the contiguous 48 states. We saw range after range in the distance.

At the summit we soaked in the sunshine and the views and rested a bit. After 21 days and over 211 miles, we had officially reached the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail. Now we simply had to hike out to our car at the Whitney Portal — 10.6 miles away and a descent of over 6,000 feet.

I have just one thing to say about the trail down to the portal. It. Is. Brutal. Not a smooth, well maintained trail. Gravely with giant steps. Hard on the feet, the knees, and the back. Grueling. We kept on, knowing that a hot cheeseburger and cold beer awaited us at Whitney Portal. The last two miles were endless switchbacks that teased us with views of the cars in the Portal parking, while never seeming to get us any closer.

Of course, we did arrive there. We ate the greasy food and cold drinks, and marveled at how wonderfully comfortable the car seats felt on the drive back home.

Observations

Here are a few of my observations from the trail:

  • The John Muir Trail is challenging, but rewarding. It really lives up to it’s epic status. Many of the PCT thru-hikers we spoke with regarded the JMT as the best part of the PCT. We trained hard, but I was still surprised by how challenging the trail was.
  • No matter how light you go, you can probably still get lighter. And lighter is almost always better.
  • Elevation profiles do a really poor job of describing the difficulty of a trail, particularly the downhill.
  • Plan, but be flexible.
  • The people you meet on the trail are the best in the world.

Photo Gallery

You can click on any image to open a larger version, and you can leave comments on any photo.
























Filed Under: JMT Resources, Trail Guides Tagged With: Backpacking, JMT Resources, John Muir Trail

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Jeff H

About Jeff H

I'm an avid hiker and backpacker. My wife Joan and I are on the trails every weekend. I started SoCal Hiker to share my passion for outdoor adventure.

Comments

  1. Traci says

    August 23, 2010 at 9:03 am

    Awesome!

    Reply
  2. Tyler (One With Nature) says

    August 23, 2010 at 11:47 am

    As i read through your trip i was absolutely captivated and inspired to go out and hit the trail, and at the same time i felt like i was a part of the journey as you went day by day. This was just very well done, but it i know it doesnt come close to actually capturing the eminsity of this epic adventure. For 21 days you lived life to the max. It was really cool to hear you ran into my buddie chris and see a pic of him probably 15 pounds lighter than when we where along for the beginning of his trip. One day my friend i will Hike the JMT! thanks for sharing your inspiring story. Congratulations to you and Joan on having a Safe and Successful Trip! Look forward to climbin a peak with you soon. Until then HAppy Trails!!!

    Reply
  3. Tim Miner says

    August 23, 2010 at 3:44 pm

    Great account of an epic journey Jeff! The pictures are amazing and looks like you had great weather the entire way. Glad you made it back safely and can’t wait to hear more about it in the coming posts. Thanks for sharing it with us!

    Reply
  4. SoCalAltitude says

    August 23, 2010 at 5:09 pm

    EPIC!!! I HAVE to do this someday.

    Reply
  5. SoCal Hiker says

    August 23, 2010 at 5:15 pm

    Thanks Traci, Tyler, Tim and SoCalAltitude!

    That is so funny that we camped with Chris — I had no idea you knew him. Small world, eh? If you want to join us this weekend, we’re hiking the Bridge to Nowhere trail on Saturday.

    Reply
  6. lily says

    August 23, 2010 at 5:28 pm

    thanks for a great report and photos of your great journey Jeff…love every bit of it except the “heavy backpack” 🙂 See you soon on the trails!

    Reply
  7. Cheri says

    August 23, 2010 at 6:10 pm

    Hi Jeff,

    We last saw you all at Muir Trail Ranch (waiting for your buckets), then later ran into Jeff and Hari. So happy to hear your report. Bob and I finished on August 19th. It was an amazing trip. And you are so right all the people you meet are amazing and incredible.

    Reply
    • SoCal Hiker says

      August 23, 2010 at 6:15 pm

      It was great meeting you and Bob! Glad you had a great trip as well. One of the things I would recommend doing differently is to take a little longer, with a few shorter mileage days. Sounds like that was your approach.

      Reply
  8. barry says

    August 23, 2010 at 6:17 pm

    Hi Jeff;

    Reading your report is like being there…..would be a good story for the Monday Outdoor back page of the OC Register to pick up…..look forward to hearing more on a hike with you soon…this Saturday is my son Andrew’s 17th birthday….so sorry I will not be able to join you & Joan for wine, cheese and pictures.

    Reply
    • SoCal Hiker says

      August 24, 2010 at 8:24 am

      Thanks, Barry! Have a great time on Saturday, and we’ll catch up soon.

      Reply
  9. Bob Randall says

    August 23, 2010 at 11:40 pm

    Hi Jeff — Congratulations on your successful trip down the JMT and your ascent of Mt. Whitney! I was pleased to have participated in your training hike up Mt. Baldy.

    Reply
    • SoCal Hiker says

      August 24, 2010 at 8:24 am

      Thanks, Bob. I’m glad we met. Look forward to seeing you on the trails again soon.

      Reply
  10. Peter Somers says

    August 24, 2010 at 5:41 am

    I enjoyed your trip report of the JMT; very well put together and inspirational. It must have been a pleasant surprise to meet Metzger on the trail – what a trip! I will be hiking the trail Sept 2-24 – first few days with my wife, then 16 days alone, then 4 days with my cousins who will re-supply me over Kearsarge. Thanks again for the great trip report and website.

    Reply
    • SoCal Hiker says

      August 24, 2010 at 8:26 am

      Thanks, Peter. Yeah, I had no idea who he was at first, but it was a treat to meet him. Sounds like you’ve got a great trip planned, too. Have fun out there!

      Reply
  11. Colton Gardner says

    August 24, 2010 at 5:43 pm

    Fantastic write-up! I haven’t been fortunate enough to backpack this trail yet, but it is definitely on my to-do list. Your Thousand Island Lake panoramic photo was spectacular! The rest of your pictures are fantastic as well; I seem to always get back from my trips and realize I didn’t take enough photos. Muir Pass seems like a fantastic place to get some great views though! Are there any other routes (not 20 day ones) you can take to get there as well?

    Reply
    • SoCal Hiker says

      August 24, 2010 at 6:39 pm

      Thanks Colton! Yes, you can do the JMT in sections. We met a father/daughter who did the northern half last year, and were doing the southern half this year. You can break it up even further if you wanted — even into four sections that would make nice 5-7 day trips.

      Thousand Island Lake and the surrounding area is one of my personal favorite sections on the trail, but I have a couple more to add: Le Conte Canyon and the Rae Lakes. You can very likely find shorter loops through these areas. I’ll be going back to spend more time in those areas.

      Reply
  12. Glenn Jones says

    August 24, 2010 at 11:16 pm

    Amazing journey. I’ve done bits and pieces of the trail – Yosemite Valley to Duck Lake, parts around Sawmill Pass, and Whitney – but I’ve never done the whole thing. This makes me want to find my pack and get going! Thanks for sharing your adventure!

    Reply
    • SoCal Hiker says

      August 25, 2010 at 3:06 pm

      If you want to hike it, you should! It’s a great experience! I don’t know if I’ll hike it again (that’s one of the questions that’s come up), but I might, especially if I could talk one or more of my kids into going.

      Reply
  13. Kira says

    August 25, 2010 at 9:49 am

    Hi SoCal Hiker! Glad to see you made it through. I did too, finishing on Aug 13th (19 days including my day off). Met a bunch of nice people that I hiked loosely with, especially the last half. Slept the last night on those ledges right at the JMT/Trail Crest junction and had a great Whitney morning. Sorry to hear about your MTR woes… glad it worked out OK. I see why everyone loves the Sierras! Wish we had the same mtns and good weather and no humidity out here on the east coast!
    take care,
    Kira

    Reply
    • SoCal Hiker says

      August 25, 2010 at 3:08 pm

      Kira, it was a great surprise to be greeted by you on our first day on the trail! Thanks for commenting, and I’m glad to hear your trip went well.

      I have three kids who all live back east, so someday I hope to do some backpacking back there with them. Any suggestions?

      Reply
  14. David Carbiener says

    August 25, 2010 at 3:53 pm

    Jeff,
    I enjoyed your write up of your JMT trip. I think I had dinner at MTR with you and your group. Just like you, my group was missing a resupply bucket there. My wife, son, daughter, and myself spent the night in the cabins, and then hiked out to Florence Lake the next day where my wife and daughter exited. My son and I continued the JMT the following day, so I think we were one day behind you from that point on. I also ran into Bobby and Cheri often, spent the night at Woods Creek next to Brian, and talked to Hari a few times during the entire JMT. My son and I also loved hiking the JMT, with this being my second time – first time in 2008.

    Reply
    • SoCal Hiker says

      August 27, 2010 at 10:52 am

      Thanks David. I remember seeing you and your family first at VVR then again at MTR. Glad you had a great trip. I would love to repeat this someday with one or more of my kids.

      Reply
  15. John Ryan says

    August 25, 2010 at 10:08 pm

    Congratulation Jeff and Jones. This look like the hike of a life time, or for Echo, the 2nd hike of a life time. Great writeup on your JMT trip. Can’t wait to go hiking with you guys again.

    Reply
    • SoCal Hiker says

      August 27, 2010 at 10:54 am

      I’m glad you could join us on so many of the “6-pack” training hikes, John! We’ll see you out on the trails again soon. Tyler is bugging me to create a new 6-pack. We’ll see…

      Reply
  16. Derek (100 Peaks) says

    August 27, 2010 at 12:16 am

    Awesome. Just plain awesome. I can’t wait to peruse all the pictures! Congrats on completing something that’s been on my list for a long time.

    Reply
    • SoCal Hiker says

      August 27, 2010 at 10:57 am

      Thanks, Derek. I’ve also posted a bunch of higher resolution photos up on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffhester/sets/72157624651200283/with/4923767643/

      When you get ready to do the JMT, feel free to hit me up for the scoop.

      Reply
  17. Alan Takushi says

    October 28, 2010 at 10:30 am

    Thanks for the stirring account of your JMT adventure. It must’ve been difficult to squeeze 21 days into a few paragraphs but after reading it, I still got a great feel for the trip. Can’t wait to read the details when you get around to them. I’m definitely adding this to the “things I have do” list. I’ve done Whitney and Half Dome… it would be fantastic to “connect” these two end caps with what’s in between. Again, big congrats to you and your group and thanks for sharing with us.

    Reply
  18. Jonathan Wood says

    December 2, 2010 at 7:39 am

    Excellent pictures of the lake! I just added your blog at http://www.hikingblogs.com.

    Reply
  19. Mark West says

    June 17, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    Since I only get a chance to “take a hike” a few times a year, I enjoy checking out others experiences. The picture of Starbucks instant made me laugh. Thanks! – last year, on Whitney hike (2nd time!) I suddenly got very tired as we got back to trail camp (to pick up our backpacks and tents). Then I remembered the Starbucks (we had packed some but had forgot about it, hadnt used it at all). I found it, even mixed it with cold water, delicious. It woke me up and I arrived bright-eyed at the Portal store for my burger and beer. Thanks again…

    Reply
  20. Fred Buining says

    August 22, 2011 at 7:53 am

    I am doing JMT next week (N-S-route). I have not got a permit yet. How difficult would it be to get a permit on the day?
    Regards Fred
    Great to read your JMT story

    Reply
    • Jeff Hester says

      August 22, 2011 at 10:59 pm

      Yes, it can be challenging to get a permit on the day you plan to start. They reserve 40% of the permits for walk-ins, so it’s not impossible. To increase your odds, get to the ranger station the night before. You’re not allowed to camp in front of the station, so this works best if you have a friend who can take shifts with you for sleeping. Be there when the ranger station opens at 7am. Apart from that, be flexible about your entry point. If you’re willing to start at Glacier Point, for example, you’ll have a much better chance than the traditional Happy Isles trailhead.

      Good luck, Fred! I hope you’ll report back on your trip.

      Reply
  21. ehirschk says

    June 21, 2016 at 11:08 am

    Hi! I am planning my JMT hike and was wondering if you had an itin you could send (Ie. a break down of each day’s miles and where you started and ended) as I am hoping to do it in 21 days also, or if there’s a good resource you could direct me to, thank you!

    Reply
    • Jeff HJeff Hester says

      June 21, 2016 at 4:10 pm

      Here’s a link to our day-by-day itinerary: http://socalhiker.net//itinerary-for-the-john-muir-trail/

      Reply
  22. Niroop says

    June 7, 2017 at 11:34 pm

    So glad you had a wonderful time! I am keen on this even though I started hiking two months ago!

    Wishing you the best!

    Niroop

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JMT Planning

  • Overview of the JMT
  • JMT Maps, Guidebooks & Software
  • Our JMT Itinerary
  • Resupply Addresses
  • JMT Discussion Forum

Day-by-Day on the JMT

  • Driving to Lone Pine
  • Shuttle from Lone Pine to Yosemite
  • DAY 1: Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley (plus Half Dome)
  • DAY 2: Little Yosemite Valley to Sunrise Camp
  • DAY 3: Tuolumne Meadows Resupply
  • DAY 4: Tuolumne to Upper Lyell Canyon
  • DAY 5: Lyell Canyon to Thousand Island Lake
  • DAY 6: Thousand Island Lake to Reds Meadow
  • DAY 7: Devil’s Postpile to Deer Creek
  • DAY 8: Deer Creek to Tully Hole
  • DAY 9: Tully Hole to VVR
  • DAY 10: Zero DAY at VVR
  • DAY 11: Mono Creek to Rosemarie Meadow
  • DAY 12: Rosemarie Meadow to Muir Trail Ranch
  • DAY 13: Muir Trail Ranch to McClure Meadow
  • DAY 14: Over Muir Pass to Helen Lake
  • DAY 15: Le Conte Canyon to Palisade Creek
  • DAY 16: The Golden Staircase and Mather Pass
  • DAY 17: Over Pinchot Pass to Woods Creek
  • DAY 18: Woods Creek to Rae Lakes
  • DAY 19: Rae Lakes, Glen Pass to Vidette Meadow
  • DAY 20: Forester Pass to Wright Creek
  • DAY 21: Wright Creek to Guitar Lake
  • DAY 22: To Mt Whitney and Whitney Portal

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Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge SeriesThe Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge Series gives you an opportunity to explore your world while supporting a great cause. There are eleven challenges around the country. Hike or run them at your own schedule.

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