This morning was very exciting! As I was awake at my usual 5am, I decided to have an early start to beat the sun as I was going to have a really tough climb in the afternoon. So by 6:30am I was motoring down the trail, lost in the peacefulness of the morning quiet when … Continue reading JMT Day 13: Stairway To ???

Me no love Passes so much no more. Can you see the trail? No, me neither. But I jump ahead of myself... I had a brilliant camp last night, spread out over a huge boulder flat with a nice sandy patch for my tent, water just far enough away the bugs couldn't find me and … Continue reading JMT Day 12: Muir Pass

Jo & Misty decided at Muir Trail Ranch that weren't going to finish the JMT; the only problem was how to get home. MTR is on the west side of the Sierras, and not close to anything, so it turned out the easiest (and most scenic) route for them was to do the 4-day hike … Continue reading JMT Day 11: And Then There Was One

A zero day! We will accomplish exactly zero miles on the JMT today and will be loving it! We slept in till 6:30am, had countless cups of fresh coffee and a large breakfast. Chatted with fellow resortees about their days' plans. Fussed with "Mabel", the old-fashioned washer and the wringer-thingy trying to get our laundry … Continue reading JMT Day 10: Day of Rest

Selden Pass, Pass #4!  Twas just a few hundred feet above Marie Lake and so most of our day was spent hiking down, down, then steeply down into Muir Trail Ranch.   2nd breakfast was spent at Heart Lake a quick breather at Sallie Keys Lake then lunch on the dusty trail overlooking the MTR … Continue reading JMT Day 9: Halfway!!!

It turns out that we were not alone in our aerie of a campsite. Another couple of JMT southbounders had camped just above us and had actually come down last night to share dessert with us (a Snickers bar) but we had already climbed into our tents to escape the dusk mosquitoes. Scott, of Scott … Continue reading JMT Day 8: Marie Lakes

This took a lot of planning and research. I've never backpacked before so I had to rely on online advice on what to bring. I knew that once I was in shape, I liked to be fed every 3+hrs, so the ultra-lightweight hikers diet of mashed potatoes and oatmeal wasn't going to work for me. … Continue reading JMT Camp Notes: Food

Ha! All I know about 'tenting' I learned on this trip. Besides 2 car camping adventures, I'd never done it before. And I actually slept in this tent only once before we left. So, this is what I know... 1. Get a good site. Sure, you want it to be scenic, but at the end … Continue reading JMT Camp Notes: Tenting

We had constant brief showers through the night and so woke up to moisture spotted tents. Well, it kinda appeared that Misty & Jo's tent had showers inside the tent as well! It didn't appear that the sun would reach our little enclave to dry things out until well after it was time to go so … Continue reading JMT Day 7: Bear Of A Day

Today was mosquito hell. They were active a good hour before they were supposed to be this morning so I broke all the rules and made & drank my coffee in my tent, and it took an  Act of Congress for us to drop our drawers to answer the call of nature!  The day just … Continue reading JMT Day 6: Skeeter Mania