Photos from my 220 mile hike on the John Muir Trail

[geoffp]

I did this last year with my girlfriend. I never posted it here for some reason, but I was going through the photos again and thought I'd share. 220 miles, 21 days total. Incredible experience.






We got to Lone Pine on Friday August 28th. We parked my car in Tuolomne at Yosemite then took the YART to Mammoth, and EST bus to Lone Pine. We stayed at the Whitney Portal Hostel (awesome deal, and not bad!). Saturday we hung out in Lone Pine and relaxed. Sunday we went to Whitney Portal and hiked up to Lone Pine Lake for a little "acclimating".

[geoffp]

August 31, 2015 - Our last day at Lone Pine. Grabbed an AWESOME breakfast at Alabama Hills Cafe





We got a lift from Kurt (he offers to shuttle hikers to Whitney Portal for a fee). Kurt retired from the U.S. Air Force and spends his time in Lone Pine, CA and Nashua, NH. He flew C-141's throughout his career and served during Vietnam. Great guy.

[geoffp]

September 1, 2015: Day 1, Whitney Portal campground to Outpost Camp. 3.6 miles 10,365 ft (2,013 ft of elevation gain)

Headed to Whitney Portal Trail, nice waterfall along the way



My pack was a bit heavier than I wanted


Hers








Outpost Camp, lots of sites here and quite popular

[geoffp]

September 2, 2015: Day 2, Outpost Camp to Trail Camp. 2.7 miles 12,000 ft (1,635 ft of elevation gain).

Morning in the meadow near Trail Camp













Consultation Lake (right before Trail Camp, we should have camped here to escape the circus at Trail Camp)


Trail Camp


Trash scattered around Trail Camp. It was probably the worst camping area I have ever seen as far as people leaving trash out, going the bathroom near the lake, etc. Some people just suck.


Not a bad view though, we tucked in a few hundred feet behind the lake in some rocks (to avoid the wind).


We took a nap, and I wanted to hike up to 13,000 ft to acclimate a little bit better. So we hit the switchbacks and went up, then back to camp for the night. Here you can see Consultation Lake on the right. Trail Camp is on the left.


Sunset from camp, great colors!







The night sky was incredible, I know these photos aren't that good but it was windy, freezing, and I forgot my gloves.


Then a bit later the moon illuminated the entire area

[geoffp]

September 3, 2015: Day 3, Trail Camp (to Mt. Whitney summit) to Guitar Lake. Approximately 9.0 miles 11,480 ft (2,494 ft of elevation gain).

Didn't sleep well the previous night (wind and cold). We got up early, packed up and headed for the summit. We filled up our camelbacks for extra water (no water until we hit Guitar Lake in Sequoia NP). My pack was feeling a little heavy but not too bad (55-57lbs?), I felt good on the climb up all the switchbacks. We eventually dropped our packs at the junction and took a small day pack to the summit. The hike to the summit was great, good views, and a fun trail. The summit was underwhelming. We left the summit around 2:00PM and headed for Guitar Lake, only to stay at a small unnamed lake right before Guitar Lake. There was a nice designated camp site there and no one to be seen. My girlfriend named it "Guitar Pick Lake".

Sunrise at Trail Camp





















Smoke from the Rough Fire

[geoffp]

September 4, 2015: Day 4, Guitar Lake to Shepherd Pass. Distance: 14.2 miles.

I felt a lot better after getting Mt. Whitney over with. I felt like it was "hanging" over my head a little, so from here I was really focused on just enjoying each day. Good weather and a lot more miles today.





Backside of Mt. Whitney at Timberline Lake



Big Horn Plateau

[TheTacoMan]

Awesome photos, this is some bucket list stuff.

[flyboyx]

ah man....i love reading threads like this. thank you for posting here.

[geoffp]

September 5, 2015: Day 5, Shepherd Pass/Tyndall Creek to Vidette Meadow. Distance: 11.9 miles.

Cold out this morning!! Today we tackled Forester Pass and exited Sequioa NP and entered King's Canyon NP. First of all Forester Pass was TOUGH. Secondly, as soon as we hit the top of the pass the smoke in the canyon was REALLY bad. we hiked down through all the smoke and stayed the night at Vidette Meadows.








Completely clear behind us, and this is looking into King's Canyon NP

[geoffp]

September 6, 2015: Day 6, Vidette Meadow to Arrowhead Lake. Distance: 8.3 miles.

Woke up to ash on the tent, but clear skies. Turns out that the majority of the next week would be spent like this - clear skies in the AM and by early PM the smoke would fill the canyons. We got over Glen Pass today and through Rae Lakes. Kind of bummed because Glen Pass looked really nice and Rae Lakes looked incredible, we couldn't see much with all the smoke though. We got to Arrowhead Lake and setup camp. Nice lake!






Smoke coming in

[efficient]

Dang nice pics. How many people tag along with you?

[geoffp]

Dang nice pics. How many people tag along with you?

Just my girlfriend and I, saw plenty of people along the way though.

[yngtmr]

Stunning photography! also, those marmot tents are so great, i love mine when I'm not in my hennessy hammock

[geoffp]

September 7, 2015: Day 7, Arrowhead Lake to Twin Lakes. Distance: 11.3 miles.

Woke up to clear skies at Arrowhead Lake and pushed for Pinchot Pass but stopped a little short at the Twin Lakes area in King's Canyon National Park. The suspension bridge is pretty awesome. We jumped into a nice pool of water off the trail and felt a little cleaner but it was FREEZING! Felt good though. Set up camp and chatted with some older gentleman from Maryland headed southbound on the JMT. Tomorrow we will push for Pinchot and Mather Passes.

[geoffp]

September 8, 2015: Day 8, Twin Lakes to Palisade Lakes. Distance: Approximately 13 miles.

Tough day today. Didn't sleep well last night and knew today would be tough. The plan is to tackle Pinchot Pass and Mather Pass (two 12,000ft passes). We got up nice and early and headed out towards Pinchot. Once we got over Pinchot the views of Lake Marjorie and the valley below were incredible. We continued to Taboose Pass/Bench Lake and it was a really beautiful area. I ran out of chapstick a few days prior (and so did my g/f) and we bumped into a hiker who had an extra and gave to me! That really boosted my morale. We pressed on, and the smoke came in pretty heavy right before we hit Mather Pass. It was crazy looking. I felt like we were on another planet. We pushed over the pass and dropped down to Upper Palisade Lake and stayed the night.