JMT 17 day Trip Completed
Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:01 am
Just finished a 17 day trip from Happy Isles to Whitney Portal. This was my 3rd full JMT and first full southbound. Southbound felt a bit like traveling with a herd. I kept seeing a lot of the same faces over and over, a few for the whole trip. Worst day of trip was Happy Isles to Sunrise High Camp. Much too hot that day and the water a bit sparse after the Merced river. Never had much problems with finding good water after that day.
Unlike 2011 when we hiked over snow on every pass, we only saw one shaded patch of snow within a few feet of the trail on the traverse from trail junction to Whitney Peak. We only had to take our shoes off at Evolution creek, all other bridge less crossing we used logs or rocks as needed.
The last day we started at a tarn above Guiter lake and made it to the Whitney Portal store for burgers and fries at 4PM. This was my 5 time on top of Whitney but first time down to Whitney Portal since 1999. I forgot how long it takes to drop all the altitude from the summit. A branch landed on my windshield during our trip and created a 18x12 inch spiderweb off cracks. Got an appointment at Bright Glass tomorrow to replace it.
I reserved a room in Bishop using my cell phone on the summit and we spent the night in Bishop after enjoying a very long shower. The next day was a pain because of 3 flagman stops on Hwy 120 in Yosemite. This was 6 total pauses to the valley and back. It took from 9AM until 2:30PM to get from the east entrance of the park to the backcountry parking lot in the valley and back again to the east entrance. Made it home to Reno in time to unload the car and take my son out for a well deserved belated birthday dinner. His birthday was the day we hiked from the Woods creek bridge to Vidette Meadows.
I took my Canon 6D and a 16-35mm f/4 IS lens. My wife took the Canon G1X. I greatly enjoyed the DSLR but probably won't take it on trips again that are more than about a week long.
I feel very fit right now and am grateful for the weight loss and wonderful experience. I never return from any other type of vacation feeling as physically refreshed. Don't have to go back to work until September 2nd and college football starts Friday night. Now I need to figure out how not to gain weight during football season.
Unlike 2011 when we hiked over snow on every pass, we only saw one shaded patch of snow within a few feet of the trail on the traverse from trail junction to Whitney Peak. We only had to take our shoes off at Evolution creek, all other bridge less crossing we used logs or rocks as needed.
The last day we started at a tarn above Guiter lake and made it to the Whitney Portal store for burgers and fries at 4PM. This was my 5 time on top of Whitney but first time down to Whitney Portal since 1999. I forgot how long it takes to drop all the altitude from the summit. A branch landed on my windshield during our trip and created a 18x12 inch spiderweb off cracks. Got an appointment at Bright Glass tomorrow to replace it.
I reserved a room in Bishop using my cell phone on the summit and we spent the night in Bishop after enjoying a very long shower. The next day was a pain because of 3 flagman stops on Hwy 120 in Yosemite. This was 6 total pauses to the valley and back. It took from 9AM until 2:30PM to get from the east entrance of the park to the backcountry parking lot in the valley and back again to the east entrance. Made it home to Reno in time to unload the car and take my son out for a well deserved belated birthday dinner. His birthday was the day we hiked from the Woods creek bridge to Vidette Meadows.
I took my Canon 6D and a 16-35mm f/4 IS lens. My wife took the Canon G1X. I greatly enjoyed the DSLR but probably won't take it on trips again that are more than about a week long.
I feel very fit right now and am grateful for the weight loss and wonderful experience. I never return from any other type of vacation feeling as physically refreshed. Don't have to go back to work until September 2nd and college football starts Friday night. Now I need to figure out how not to gain weight during football season.