High Sierra Topix

Wow, what a great trip. It was an inspiring report for those of us in our 50's. 9 days crossing some of the finest areas of the High Sierra. Evolution Valley is the best.

I finally turned my 2012 JMT photo's and video clips into a long (55 min) video that some might enjoy. You can find it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwtesCXiUZY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sounds like a great trip for your 50th. Hope you can enjoy your 60th and 70th years the same way. We are in our upper 50's and hope for a few more decades of backpacking if our health holds up. I want to do the PCT the first summer after I retire.

Long days are the main way of doing long miles. It also helps if you graze on the trail and don't need to take time to cook meals while on the move. I imagine there wasn't much snow if any on the passes. Snow was a major issue over passes for our August 2011 JMT trip.

I have reservations for Happy Isles to Whitney Portal with my wife and oldest son. This will be my 3rd complete JMT and my first southbound. We will take up to 18 days at a bit slower pace. I reserved 21 days but my wife had a scheduling conflict at work for the last 3 days of the reservation. I like to break in the trips with 13-15 miles days the few days and work up to 20 mile days after about a week of conditioning and acclimation. Since we are starting with the shorter resupply legs going southbound, I wonder if we will move faster with less food weight until MTR. We plan on getting going the first day out of Happy Isles at about 5:30AM to beat the Yosemite Valley heat.

JWreno - Good luck on your trip this summer. I find myself in MD this summer vicariously enjoying other's TRs from afar (and rerunning my own). So make sure you post some pics! For some of us it's about the only Sierras we'll get this year. But I'll be back for next summers hiking season...

Thanks for the video. it was awesome!