High Sierra Topix

1975

Hiked north to south; at Reds Meadow got off the JMT a bit to go to Fish Creek Canyon

22 days, including 3 rest days

1 resupply at Bishop Creek (Bishop Pass)

I was 16 years old and hiking with four other 16 year olds. Didn't bring a tent, but slept on a tarp. Started early (June 28) and encountered a lot of snow.

I have a vague plan to maybe do it again in 2025 on the 50th anniversary of the 1975 trip, but I don't know... Six days hiking is about my maximum these days. I'm not sure if I would enjoy hiking that long.

Tried to hike the JMT, starting from Shepard's Pass, in August 1990. 8 days in, made it to Reds Meadow, lotsa smoke in the air. Found out that Yosemite NP had closed due to a big fire, had my GF pick me up at Reds. I've section-hiked since then, but still ponder giving the whole thing another try.

2008 21 days with 1 rest day. Started at Cottonwood Pass, day hiked Whitney, took wife out over Lamarck Col to North Lake so she could go back to work, re-entered solo at South Lake and went to Yosemite valley. Resupplied at Bishop and Reds Meadow.

2011 19 days with 1 rest day at MTR. Started at Cottonwood Pass, day hiked Whitney, finished at Yosemite Valley. Resupplied at MTR and Reds Meadow.

2014 16 days with 0 rest days. Started at Yosemite Valley and finished at Whitney Portal. Resupplied at Reds Meadow and MTR.

2009 Yosemite Valley to Whitney Portal, 13 days. Resupplied at Reds, and MTR. Side trips to Half Dome and VVR.

2021 Horseshoe Meadow to Yosemite Valley, 15 days. Resupplied at MTR, and Reds. Included Mt. Whitney and a side trip to VVR.

I'll do it again in a few years.

Not quite completed it in 2015. Tuolumne Meadows to Whitney Portal in 13 days with no zeros, but short days into MTR where I resupplied, to Bubbs Creek (short day due to storms over Forester Pass), and to the tarn above Guitar Lake because I didn't want it to end yet. The JMT was my first hike in the Sierra, and I fell in love with the Sierra those 2 weeks.

1993, mid-August to early September. Resupply at Mammoth Lakes (walked out over Mammoth Pass and back in over Duck pass). Partial unplanned resupply at Tuolumne, after a bear took some of our food despite a textbook hang at Cathedral Lakes. We had amazing luck with weather - not one drop of rain the whole way, and I don't think we ever put on a jacket of any kind other than mornings or nights. Spent our last night on the summit of Whitney.