The Dirty Details

Some, and indeed probably most of those reading this don't know much if anything about the John Muir Trail. Californians and hikers will know it by name, but most are limited to an awareness that it's a long distance hiking trail in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and consider my brother and I to be 'crazy' for giving it a try.

So I thought a brief-ish overview of the trail will help those following in Dad's footsteps alongside us. 

Disclaimer: this journal isn't designed to function as a resource to plan your own Muir Trail hike. It may help others in the future, as I know online journals from thru-hikers have been an invaluable resource for us. But all the details and numbers are approximated solely for reference, and it's really meant to be followed along and enjoyed. 

With all that in mind, let's start with some history. The John Muir Trail is a 211 mile hiking trail in the Sierra Nevada, named to honor renowned naturalist, and founding-member and Sierra Club President John Muir. It was constructed to accommodate stock animals - that's right, cattle, mules, horses, etc.

Muir man than I'll ever be.

The Northern Terminus (or start/end point) is the Happy Isles trailhead in the Yosemite Valley, the Southern Terminus is the summit of Mt. Whitney. The summit of Whitney is the highest point in the contiguous United States (the Lower 48) at 14,505 feet. Hiking the final miles from the summit to Whitney Portal (and back to reality) will bring us to a grand total of 220 miles. 

Thru-hikers either go south-bound ('SoBo') beginning in Yosemite, or north-bound ('NoBo') from the Whitney zone. Dad hiked south-bound, which is the most popular direction and our choice. The only trailhead that may be harder to get a permit at than Happy Isles is Mt. Whitney Portal. More on permits later.

220 Miles

Over the course of our hike, we'll gain a grand total of approximately 47,000 feet of elevation, and we'll lose a grand total of approximately 36,000 feet of elevation. As our itinerary currently stands, the most elevation we'll hike up in a single day is approximately 4,000 feet, and the most we'll hike down in a single day is approximately 6,500 feet, when we exit at Whitney Portal.

JMT Elevation Profile, courtesy of the Pacific Crest Trail Association

We'll ascend and cross 9 mountain passes (11 if you include the summit of Whitney, and puny Island Pass), some significantly more challenging than the others. We'll do our best to stay off these passes in the afternoons, since unpredictable and potentially dangerous Sierra thunderstorms tend to form during the mid to late day. We've set ourselves up strategically and plan to camp near enough to the base of each pass to cross each one by mid to late morning the following day.

We'll take 20 days to hike the JMT. One of those days will be a ZERO day at Muir Trail Ranch, a remote stock ranch up in the mountains that offers accommodations and services to JMT hikers. We won't hike that day, and we'll stay in a tent cabin, shower, do laundry, and eat real food. Daily mileage will vary quite a bit, and while we have a detailed plan and itinerary, thru-hikers agree that flexibility is key. 

Carrying all of our food and provisions for a 20 day adventure from day 1 would be 'crazy.' We'll resupply 3 times: day 3 at the Tuolumne Meadows U.S. Post Office in Yosemite National Park; day 6 at Reds Meadow Resort in Mammoth; and day 10 at Muir Trail Ranch. Our resupply caches will be shipped ahead of time in large, protective, heavy-duty buckets that will contain our food, batteries, toilet paper, and anything else we can legally ship and resupply. Assuming everything goes to plan, our properly-labelled packages will be waiting for us at each location when we arrive. The system isn't perfect, and sometimes thru-hikers are forced to improvise when their package doesn't turn up. A solo hiker in summer 2014 actually found her Muir Trail Ranch resupply bucket arrived EMPTY, a first even for the people who run the Ranch.

A common resupply bucket

Some folks can't handle the weight of a 10-day food supply, and resupply again after Muir Trail Ranch, but that requires either hiking off-trail, enlisting a pack-train, or convincing someone to hike in a package for you. Our final resupply will be at the Ranch, leaving us with 9 days worth of food, and leaden packs as we approach the hike's most remote regions and aggressive passes.

A Wilderness Permit is required to hike the John Muir Trail. A reservation is available by lottery or by walk-up on a 'first-come, first-served' basis. Obviously they can be difficult to acquire. We can apply for our reservation exactly 168 days before the day we want to begin the hike. In compliance with the Wilderness Act, primarily to ensure backcountry visitors truly feel immersed in the wilderness, the number of permits out of Happy Isles is highly limited. We may have to try a few times, but we'll keep applying until we get the permit we want. 

Regulations require us to carry bear-proof canisters to store our consumables and smellables. These are designed more to protect the bears than to protect us: once a bear gets into a human food supply, its a death sentence, as the bear will almost certainly become a nuisance to humans from then on, and the Parks Department will eventually be forced to kill the animal. Hanging your food in a bear bag is illegal in Yosemite and other places, since bears are crafty creatures, and the smarter ones will figure out your carefully hung edible-puzzle. At the end of the day, the canister is the best way to protect your food, and to protect wild animals by keeping them wild.

Bear-proof canister

Many backpackers, especially ultralight gurus, absolutely hate these things: they're heavy, really bulky and the lighter carbon-fiber models get to be pretty expensive. But there's no use complaining about it, as its a necessary and legally-required evil. Besides, they're highly effective at keeping bears and any other Sierra critters that come sniffing around at night out of your food. I plan to rent a Bearikade from Wild Ideas (not pictured), which will fit my 10 day resupply. 

So now we're caught up to today. My brother and I have been planning non-stop since September 2013. From testing our gear and trying out dehydrated meal and camp coffee recipes, to reading and absorbing as much information from as many resources as possible, we've been eating, drinking and sleeping the JMT for almost a year and a half. 

Now we're almost ready, and the dream keeps getting more and more real. There's still many things that have to fall into place before everything is confirmed, but we've made our plans, and both of us have acquired or upgraded most of the gear we're going to need up there. We'll apply to begin the hike on July 19, 2015, making our permit application date February 1, 2015. Send us some good vibes and mojo! We're going to need it.

The next time you hear from me we'll have our permit. Then we can finalize our menus, set our resupply and travel plans in stone, pick up any missing pieces of gear, and get ourselves into pre-trail shape. Wish us luck!