![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sugargroup.net\/varrin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/1000island-300x225.jpg\")
1000 Island Lake<\/p><\/div>\n
Summary<\/h1>\n\n- Why (History)<\/b> \u2013 Finishing a bucket list item – The John Muir Trail (JMT)<\/a> in California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range. We hiked the north ~90 miles of the John Muir Trail (JMT) last year, and we are finishing the south ~135 miles this year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- Who (History)<\/b> – The plan includes a total of six hikers for various parts of the trip. Returning from last year are myself, Edison, Valentin and Rebecca. New this year are Rebecca’s brother Zach, and Eric (a coworker of mine, with whom<\/a> I climbed Mt. Fuji<\/a> in 2013).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- What \/ When \/ Where (Trail Information)<\/b> – Those of us hiking the whole itinerary will start at Edison Lake on Sunday, July 23<\/b>rd<\/b><\/sup>, and we plan to exit Whitney Portal on Tuesday, August 8<\/b>th<\/b><\/sup>. We expect to hike ~135 miles, climb and descend ~51,000 ft., and reach a maximum elevation at the summit of Mt. Whitney (the highest point in the 48 contiguous states) of 14,505 ft.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- Updates (Communication)<\/b> – We expect to have no cell phone reception for the entire duration of the hike. I have a Delorme InReach satellite communicator and expect send tracking points a few times per day, one pre-made message each day (\u201cAt Camp…<\/b>\u201d – see below<\/b> for more information), and a few trail reports over the course of the trip, all of which will be posted to my Facebook wall<\/a><\/strong> and\/or the shared map<\/strong> here<\/a>. Otherwise, I’ll leave the unit powered off.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Here are the major sections with more details:<\/p>\n
History<\/b> \u2013 What led to all this? What was last year’s Trip?<\/p>\n
Trail Information<\/b> \u2013 What are we doing this year? What are the logistics?<\/p>\n
Communication<\/b> \u2013 What do all these messages mean? Is everything okay?<\/p>\nHistory<\/h2>\n
I began backpacking at a young age with Jan Weston, who has become a close family friend. Over the course of growing up, this led to several backpacking trips with the Sugar Group, Pioneer Christian Academy, Edi (we got engaged on a backpacking trip in 1992), my best friend Paul (A harrowing story for another time), and many subsequent trips with Jan and other friends of his.<\/p>\n
At some point, while I was still in high school, I had the idea that it would be fun to hike the entire Pacific Crest Trail<\/a> (PCT; 2,659 miles from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington). Sometime later, I realized that I was not likely to be able to do such a large trip due to time and money constraints, nor was I actually interested in walking quite that far (nice idea, maybe not so nice in reality).<\/p>\nHowever, I had backpacked enough in the Sierras to conclude that I would like to hike the JMT at some point. The JMT is officially ~210 miles long from the north end in Yosemite Valley to the south end at the summit of Mt. Whitney. However, hiking the whole trail requires hiking an additional ~10 miles between the summit of Mt. Whitney and Whitney Portal. ~170 miles of the JMT is shared with the PCT and is arguably the most challenging and ‘best’ part of the PCT. So I put the JMT on my bucket list many years ago.<\/p>\n
As I’ve aged, I realized I might not be capable of hiking the whole trail when I’m considerably older. Some older people hike the JMT<\/a> (many in their 70s and even 80s), but I don’t want to risk not being able to due to physical constraints. Edison is old enough now to hike with me, and I’m not getting any younger, so I thought this was the right time.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sugargroup.net\/varrin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/07\/IMG_1826-300x225.jpg\")
Varrin and Edison at Edison Lake, 2016<\/p><\/div>\n
As I looked into planning, I concluded I wanted to go slower than would allow for a through hike of the whole trail given my work schedule constraints. Furthermore, although I have backpacked quite a bit, I hadn’t done such a long through hike, so splitting the trail into two sections made sense for both schedule and learning purposes. For various reasons, the ideal spot to split it into two pieces wound up being Edison Lake, which is slightly north of the halfway point. I didn’t choose that spot only because it shares its name with our oldest son, but that makes it all the more fun.<\/p>\n
Getting a permit to hike the JMT is very difficult starting at either end (Yosemite or Mt. Whitney). However, getting permits starting at Edison Lake is relatively easy. The north ~1\/2 of the trail is easier and more civilized. There are easy resupply points, cell service at various spots along the way, and even showers at Red’s Meadow. That seemed like good prep for the more challenging southern section.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sugargroup.net\/varrin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/07\/IMG_2182-300x225.jpg\")
The 2016 JMT crew on top of Half Dome<\/p><\/div>\n
Last year, I wrangled a crew of 10 people to go along, including my long-time backpacking buddy, Jan. For those that missed it, here are last year’s photos I posted to Facebook<\/a>. Edison and Philip got off after ~30 miles at Red’s Meadow. The remaining eight of us hiked the rest of the way to Yosemite Valley, including a side trip to the top of Half Dome. The whole trip, including half dome, was ~95 miles with ~29,000 ft. of elevation change and a maximum elevation of 11,066 ft. Although we were very well prepared last year, the learning experience from last year’s trip was invaluable in schedule planning and other preparation for this year’s trip.<\/p>\nNow, it’s time to finish! Unfortunately, Jan can’t come along this year due to a bum knee. We also lost several others from last year’s trip for various reasons. If all goes as planned, three of last year’s hikers will have completed the entire trail at the end of this year’s hike: myself, Valentin, and Rebecca.<\/p>\n
Trail Information<\/h2>\n
The plan for this year is to starts on Sunday, July 23rd<\/sup> and end Tuesday, August 8th<\/sup>. A schedule with statistics for each day is as follows:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
- \n
- Who (History)<\/b> – The plan includes a total of six hikers for various parts of the trip. Returning from last year are myself, Edison, Valentin and Rebecca. New this year are Rebecca’s brother Zach, and Eric (a coworker of mine, with whom<\/a> I climbed Mt. Fuji<\/a> in 2013).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- What \/ When \/ Where (Trail Information)<\/b> – Those of us hiking the whole itinerary will start at Edison Lake on Sunday, July 23<\/b>rd<\/b><\/sup>, and we plan to exit Whitney Portal on Tuesday, August 8<\/b>th<\/b><\/sup>. We expect to hike ~135 miles, climb and descend ~51,000 ft., and reach a maximum elevation at the summit of Mt. Whitney (the highest point in the 48 contiguous states) of 14,505 ft.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- Updates (Communication)<\/b> – We expect to have no cell phone reception for the entire duration of the hike. I have a Delorme InReach satellite communicator and expect send tracking points a few times per day, one pre-made message each day (\u201cAt Camp…<\/b>\u201d – see below<\/b> for more information), and a few trail reports over the course of the trip, all of which will be posted to my Facebook wall<\/a><\/strong> and\/or the shared map<\/strong> here<\/a>. Otherwise, I’ll leave the unit powered off.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Here are the major sections with more details:<\/p>\n
History<\/b> \u2013 What led to all this? What was last year’s Trip?<\/p>\n
Trail Information<\/b> \u2013 What are we doing this year? What are the logistics?<\/p>\n
Communication<\/b> \u2013 What do all these messages mean? Is everything okay?<\/p>\n
History<\/h2>\n
I began backpacking at a young age with Jan Weston, who has become a close family friend. Over the course of growing up, this led to several backpacking trips with the Sugar Group, Pioneer Christian Academy, Edi (we got engaged on a backpacking trip in 1992), my best friend Paul (A harrowing story for another time), and many subsequent trips with Jan and other friends of his.<\/p>\n
At some point, while I was still in high school, I had the idea that it would be fun to hike the entire Pacific Crest Trail<\/a> (PCT; 2,659 miles from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington). Sometime later, I realized that I was not likely to be able to do such a large trip due to time and money constraints, nor was I actually interested in walking quite that far (nice idea, maybe not so nice in reality).<\/p>\n
However, I had backpacked enough in the Sierras to conclude that I would like to hike the JMT at some point. The JMT is officially ~210 miles long from the north end in Yosemite Valley to the south end at the summit of Mt. Whitney. However, hiking the whole trail requires hiking an additional ~10 miles between the summit of Mt. Whitney and Whitney Portal. ~170 miles of the JMT is shared with the PCT and is arguably the most challenging and ‘best’ part of the PCT. So I put the JMT on my bucket list many years ago.<\/p>\n
As I’ve aged, I realized I might not be capable of hiking the whole trail when I’m considerably older. Some older people hike the JMT<\/a> (many in their 70s and even 80s), but I don’t want to risk not being able to due to physical constraints. Edison is old enough now to hike with me, and I’m not getting any younger, so I thought this was the right time.<\/p>\n
Varrin and Edison at Edison Lake, 2016<\/p><\/div>\n
As I looked into planning, I concluded I wanted to go slower than would allow for a through hike of the whole trail given my work schedule constraints. Furthermore, although I have backpacked quite a bit, I hadn’t done such a long through hike, so splitting the trail into two sections made sense for both schedule and learning purposes. For various reasons, the ideal spot to split it into two pieces wound up being Edison Lake, which is slightly north of the halfway point. I didn’t choose that spot only because it shares its name with our oldest son, but that makes it all the more fun.<\/p>\n
Getting a permit to hike the JMT is very difficult starting at either end (Yosemite or Mt. Whitney). However, getting permits starting at Edison Lake is relatively easy. The north ~1\/2 of the trail is easier and more civilized. There are easy resupply points, cell service at various spots along the way, and even showers at Red’s Meadow. That seemed like good prep for the more challenging southern section.<\/p>\n
The 2016 JMT crew on top of Half Dome<\/p><\/div>\n
Last year, I wrangled a crew of 10 people to go along, including my long-time backpacking buddy, Jan. For those that missed it, here are last year’s photos I posted to Facebook<\/a>. Edison and Philip got off after ~30 miles at Red’s Meadow. The remaining eight of us hiked the rest of the way to Yosemite Valley, including a side trip to the top of Half Dome. The whole trip, including half dome, was ~95 miles with ~29,000 ft. of elevation change and a maximum elevation of 11,066 ft. Although we were very well prepared last year, the learning experience from last year’s trip was invaluable in schedule planning and other preparation for this year’s trip.<\/p>\n
Now, it’s time to finish! Unfortunately, Jan can’t come along this year due to a bum knee. We also lost several others from last year’s trip for various reasons. If all goes as planned, three of last year’s hikers will have completed the entire trail at the end of this year’s hike: myself, Valentin, and Rebecca.<\/p>\n
Trail Information<\/h2>\n
The plan for this year is to starts on Sunday, July 23rd<\/sup> and end Tuesday, August 8th<\/sup>. A schedule with statistics for each day is as follows:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
- Updates (Communication)<\/b> – We expect to have no cell phone reception for the entire duration of the hike. I have a Delorme InReach satellite communicator and expect send tracking points a few times per day, one pre-made message each day (\u201cAt Camp…<\/b>\u201d – see below<\/b> for more information), and a few trail reports over the course of the trip, all of which will be posted to my Facebook wall<\/a><\/strong> and\/or the shared map<\/strong> here<\/a>. Otherwise, I’ll leave the unit powered off.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- What \/ When \/ Where (Trail Information)<\/b> – Those of us hiking the whole itinerary will start at Edison Lake on Sunday, July 23<\/b>rd<\/b><\/sup>, and we plan to exit Whitney Portal on Tuesday, August 8<\/b>th<\/b><\/sup>. We expect to hike ~135 miles, climb and descend ~51,000 ft., and reach a maximum elevation at the summit of Mt. Whitney (the highest point in the 48 contiguous states) of 14,505 ft.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n