5 Days on the JMT
A Way Too Detailed Look at A Trip That Didn't End Up as Planned
Intro- Planning has been ongoing for my 2007
JMT "attempt" for over a year. Lots of thanks all around to those who helped make it possible, especially my family.
As the title above says, it ended up as a five day trip. Not the way I had hoped, and not an easy decision, but thats
the way it ended up so thats that. Since I was only out five days my report on each day will have lots of details, needed
as therapy for me and hopefully will touch areas that others may have questions.
August 12, 2007- Travel Day-
Sapblatt and I went to IHOP for breakfast after he treated me to a great steak dinner the night before. Flew from Boston to
Vegas without issue. While waiting for my flight to Fresno, noticed that US Airways had a flight to Merced directly
on a "puddle jumper". There were no openings so I flew to Fresno as planned and got a taxi to the Amtrak station.
Was shocked at how crowded the train to Merced was, really hated that trip. Got the YARTS bus right outside the Merced
Amtrak Station and took it to Mariposa to my hotel for the night. All in all, the travel was exactly as expected timing
wise.
August
13, 2007- the big day, Day 1- After packing up my bag with my supplies I headed to the YARTS
stop at 530 am. My pack must have weighed around 42 pounds with food and water. It was the commuter bus; all the folks going
to work in the park were on it. On the way in we passed the landslide area; it was amazing to see how the slide just
eradicated the roadway. A great job was done in quickly rerouting. Got to the Wilderness office around 715 with a line
of around 20 ahead of me. Went to get breakfast and got back on line- the office opened around 745. They apologized
for the late opening, and gave the speech on the park. All in front of me were making plans for that day so it took
a long time. I started to get frustrated since I already had a reservation. When I was next in line they pulled
me up and gave me my permit in two seconds. RECOMMENDATION- do anything you can to get in to Yosemite a day early so
you can get your pass and leave early the next morning (if you like to leave early). Got to the trailhead at 9am (good
shuttle bus service in Yosemite). Very exciting to hit the trail, could see right away how BIG everything was. Within
the first mile I could tell that my pack was HEAVY and it made the climb tough. It was also hot already. Passed folks
on horses coming down, lots of that in the five days. I finally came out into the open at Nevada Falls. Great stuff.
Just above the top of Nevada Falls I took a long break, really felt the heat and was tired. A nice break and then
headed up towards Half Dome, which I skipped. Hiked a bit with a nice group from CA and TX and then watered up right
after the junction with the Tenaya Lake Trail. It was around 2:00, and I struggled over whether to stop or keep going.
I was told the camping opportunities between here and Sunrise High Camp were limited so I stayed. There are lots of nice camping
sites before and after the Tenaya Lake jct. I set up camp and ate and realized that I was really exhausted. Crashed
at 6pm, which was tough since it was light out for a while.
DAY RECAP- Left later than wanted, did less
mileage than wanted (around 7 miles) and felt way more tired than expected. Also had trouble eating lunch; although
I ate OK at dinner. Lots of sand on the trail. Great weather, 90 and sunny. Great Views. Around 5pm
a family camped nearby and one kid was screaming on the top of his lungs for ariund 30 minutes. Father came by and said he
would finish soon, he had hiked around 7 miles on the day. Funny hearing that screaming 7 miles from civilization.
August 14- Day 2- Got up early so I could make up the distance I didn't do yesterday, and to
get to Tuolome Meadows for a burger for dinner!. Watered up and headed along the trail. Right after crossing the creek
a very nice guy passed me who told me that he was doing the whole JMT in 7.5 days and had left at 1am this morning.
I hope he made it. The trail skirts to the right near the ridge and there were great views to the distance. This was
the first time I could really get a sense on how big Yosemite was. After a while, the trail was ready to head up so I stopped
for water. Then, the usual switchbacks up to the high point of the day, around 9700 feet. Rested here and took
in the views in all directions. Moved on with plans to lunch and water at Sunrise High Sierra. It was nice to have some
downhill walking. Ate lunch at Sunrise overlooking Long Meadow. Again hot and sunny. The water they usually
have was out- very dry year. I was sorry I didn't grab more water earlier. Moved on towards Cathedral Pass at a
gradual incline. I was thirsty and tired. The pass is not all that obvious. Met a nice young lady delivering
snacks to the crew at Sunrise around here. I was looking forward to Cathedral Lake, I was really thirsty and tired.
Finally got to the lake and had trouble watering up, all the sand was clogging my filter and I had to keep cleaning the filter.
Thought about it and although feeling exhausted was going to push to Tuolome. From Cathedral it was all downhill, then
steeply down on the usual switchbacks. My feet started to heat up, blisters beware. I got down to a trail jct and made
my first of several navigating errors in the 5 days. A couple told me that I could walk right up to the road and get
a bus to the Tuolome Grill, instead I headed on the trail. The trail headed UP, and then cirlced around. At the
end I think I came out at the same place where I would have got the bus, the information center. I walked the mile or
so down the road to the grille. Dead tired, thirsty and hungry. It was 515. If you aren't sure, let me tell
you that the grille closes 500, not 600. What a dissapointment. I snacked up for dinner and a ranger on a horse
walked me to the Backpacker campsites. While setting up, somebody asked me where I was headed and I knew right away
it was OregonBeerman (Martin). It was good to see a "familiar" face from Trailjournals- we were to share
a ride from Witney Portal to IYK Airport. He was hiking with Don, a very nice guy so we hung out for a couple of drinks.
Don and Martin went through my pack with me and we picked out a bunch of things I was to mail home the next am. The
PO didn't open until 9am- frustrating but worth it to get the stuff sent home. Went to bed around 9 I think, was
very tired and slept very badly.
DAY RECAP- I think I did about 15+ miles. May have been a mistake. Level of tiredness
was deep in my bones and my feet started to develop blisters. Again great views, never a lack of that. Cathedral
Lake and Peak were a great site. Prefer not to do this many miles again until body feels better. Nice to run into Martin
and Don and add a social feeling to the trip. Missed that burger badly :).
August 15 Day 3- Plan was for Martin and Don to take off early and after I went to the PO I would
meet then at the nights campsite, below Donohue Pass. I had a breakfast sandwich at the grill with OJ, and it was tasty.
The PO was having trouble with the computers, so I left there at 930, way later than usual. I did send over 4 pounds
of stuff home. The trail out of Tuolome was nice, following the river. I walked for an hour or so, maybe less
when I had that feeling, I was going the wrong way. Sure enough, I found a sign showing that I needed to be going the
other way. Lost #2. Kicked myself and turned around and walked with a family from the Bay Area to the footbridge
that brings you into the Lyell Canyon. It was really nice when the river came in with the path following it
all the way. Also seeing the end of the Canyon and the days direction. I tried to eat lunch, but really couldn't
get it down. Drank tons of water, but started to feel nauseous. Wasn't much cover at times, but when
I could I rested under the trees to cool down. At the end of the Canyon I met a woman who was watering up and joined
her- and she mentioned the nice long climb to come. For some reason I thought the days camp was not going to be reached
by much of a climb so my spirits sank at the upcoming climb. Switchbacking up I turned around frequently to look back at Lyell
Canyon and the river, cool views. Met a couple formerly from NH on the way up and we talked for a while. Nice
people, was also nice to rest. I continued on, losing energy and trudging along. Crossed over the footbridge and
kept going up until coming out to the campsite for the night, the "pond" below Donohue Pass. Truly a fantastic
area. This is the kind of place I envisioned being in before the hike. I was out of energy. I threw up my
tent, wet my aching feet and tried to eat. At 6pm, I was very dizzy and nauseous again and went into my tent.
Don and Martin were there, and were kind enough to help me since I didn't feel up to getting my stuff organized. The sick
feeling didn't go away most of the night. It was a great place to be, sick or not.
DAY 3 RECAP- Lost again. What a dope. Bad enough being hot tired and thirsty, wasted milage to boot.
Insane how sick I felt tonight. Took a lot of the enjoyment away from the hard work and great views of the day.
Could not finish either lunch or dinner and the thought of drinking water even turned my stomach. Also miss not hanging out
at night under the stars, thought that would have been a great part of the trip but not so so far. Over 10,000 feet at campsite.
I'd love to come to this site again and spend a couple of days.
August 16 Day 4- Woke up and thought I felt better. Pumped H2O and walked around to enjoy
the area. Forced down some breakfast and started to feel queasy again. Packed up quickly so I could head out on
the walk up to Donohue Pass, shortly after Martin left camp. Switchbacked up and looked back over the sampsite and all
the way down the Lyell Canyon, cool. There were also some mountains that looked a bit like the Presidentials of NH;
it was nice to see. Trudged again up the hill and Don caught me and we went up. Shortly before the pass, Don was
performing some foot care so I went up and hit the pass agt 11,050. Elevation personal best. again. Actually by
the end of the first day I was higher than I ever had been. Don came up and we enjoyed some time at the pass (sign was gone)
and talked with a guy from Georgia who was spending a few weeks in the Sierras. A couple who also camped near us joined
us at the pass and hiked down with us. The hike out of the pass was fairly gentle, so I was suprised how quickly I lost
site of the group. I caught up at a creek and watered up again. The trail kept going down and eventually I ran
into Don and we found a nice spot at the Waugh Lake jct near a stream. Had a nice tuna lunch for a change. Eventually the
whole group came be and we headed up to Island Pass. I fell way behind again. Positioning didn't matter but the lack of
energy was a problem. Finally headed down to Thousand Island Lake and we all rested for a while. First time I saw
clouds and there was a cool breeze. I really did not want to even get up again to hike. But we were camping
at Garnet for the nite so on we went. Again I fell back right away. The trail climbed and finally I caught
up with Don and we went down a side trail to Garnet Lake. Passed a horse train delivering stock supplies and Don
talked with them. All we could think of was that the trip down to the lake would require a hike up in the am.
I hated the thought. There weren't a lot of good spots to camp there but Martin talked to Rebecca who was
a cook with an outfitter for a party showing up the next day and she offered us to camp at t her stock camp. Very nice of
her and it worked well. I was so tired so I pumped water (another difficult sandy pumping) and gave up and headed to camp.
I tried to eat dinner, then Rebecca made us Hot Chocolate that really hit the spot. Rebecca and Don were camping under
the stars, so I did the same. I really did not want to put up my tent, so laziness was involved. but during the night
when I looked up I was amazed at the view of all the stars. Dazzling for sure. In the middle of the night I heard
a loud thump which turned out to be a bear that was trying to get Rebeccas supplies. She scared it off. Again
asleep around 6pm, damn.
DAY 4 RECAP- Pretty much
decided not to finish the trip- was too tired to set up my tent although I did get to enjoy the stars. Still no lack of amazing
scenery. Garnet Lake was pretty awesome. Met lots of nice people on the trail today- you get to see lots of different areas
in one day which is cool. Bear tore up a cooler in a nearby site and ate a bunch of their food, but didn't get into the
bear box.
August 17 Day 5- Got up early and Rebecca was nice enough to make us coffee.
Funny, I don't like coffee but the two cups I had tasted real good. Since I didn't have to pack up my tent, I tried
to get out early so I could take my time and maybe the day would turn out better. Trudged up to the JMT from our site near
the lake and kept going- felt like it was too much going up so I finally turned around. Figured either I would find
the trail or run into Martin and Don and we could hike together. Sure enough, I came back to the spot where I should
have gone straight and moved on. Crossed the Garnet Lake log bridge and moved on and ran into Martin. The trail
wasn't clear so we checked around and went on the obvious path. We kept going until we ran into a river and then
headed off to the right following the river. Eventually I lost Martin. The dissapeared and I bushwhacked a bit
and kept finding herd paths that I followed. Figured if I stayed along the river I would come out into the meadow.
Well, next thing the river dropped off and I was stuck. I backtracked a bit and then went up and ran into an actual
trail. It was going up, but it was a trail. Looked at my maps and it appeared that I was heading to Shadow Lake,
from way below. Trudged up and actually the views were beautiful with a nice waterfall. Got to the lake and pumped H2O and
drank. I was toast. It was early, but the bushwhacking ripped up my legs a bit and the trip up finished me.
As I planned my next move a father and daughter passed by and after talking they informed me that if I went BACK down the
climb we could hike out to Agnew Meadows and then I could bus it to Reds Meadow, the days goal. Dennis and Natalie-
very nice people. We hiked out, it was hot and tiring but I enjoyed the conversation and again, the views were great. Since
Dennis and Natalie were so nice I asked if I could get a ride to a local airport and they nicely obliged. We took the
bus around the area and outside the Reds store I saw Martin. Good to see he made it there. I had to get back on
the bus, and that was that. It was over.
DAY 5 RECAP- Lost twice. Man, was it I wasn't focusing or I am a dummy. The vote is
out. I started to be really worried the second time after losing the river since it appeared I would have to backtrack.
Kept my composure though and it was fine. I may have made a rash decision to leave based on the kindness of getting
a ride, but if I felt that bad it may have been the best thing. Oh, and another perfect weather day.
Getting out- Thanks to Dennis and Natalie who drove me four hours to their town so I could get to the
airport. We had a great dinner and also went to breakfast. You meet the best people in the wilderness and this
was just another one of those stories.
Home- After getting home, went to the doctors and long story short some new medication issues had thrown my
system out of whack (my laymen's interpretation) and that drained my energy levels. After a few days at home, back
to normal. FYI, Muir Trail Ranch was sent back my supplies, so that was nice. I've decided to try again in 2012.
Seems like a long way off, but thats when I have the time.
Pix
are avilable at http://tuco.smugmug.com/gallery/3361090#187519959
Although I wish I would have made the trip all the way,
I can still look back at these pix and feelgood about the 5 days out there and the people I met and the places I saw.- Congrats
OregonBeerman!
Feel free to email me at jmt@tucohiking.com if you have any questions or comments or want to talk JMT.
