Man, where do I even start?
I just finished my hike on the John Muir Trail and I’m getting asked tons of questions and keep getting asked to write about my experience out there. There are so many ins and outs to the whole thing, I truly don’t even know…
I guess it makes sense to break it down into pre-hike, hike, and post-hike. Stuff about what I did to prepare, the permit process, what gear I brought, food resupply, itinerary, my day-to-day journal, and then what it’s like to finish. Yeah. But I’m going to start with the journal-y part because that’s what I keep getting asked about the most.
Day 1. August 23rd. Glacier Point to Little Yosemite Valley – 7 miles
“So, why are you doing this?”
“Iunno. To see if I can. To reset. To get away from people. To do… something?”
“Aren’t you scared? Of bears? Of getting raped?”
“Not really. It comes in waves. I was scared of bears, now I’m not. Who knows what’ll scare me tomorrow.”
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Jace and I drove to Yosemite a few days before my start. We’ve heard so much about the park and had constantly been told that we need to go. I was excited to finally see Yosemite and excited to hopefully shake the building anxiety of starting down the trail. I had been planning for nearly a year and the fact that it was all suddenly happening was a rush.
As we entered the park and that first view of the valley spread out before us, I started crying. Oh, man, the feels. All of them. Jace put his hand on my thigh and gave me that look that meant he knew everything I was thinking. I didn’t have to say a word. All of a sudden I was actually scared.
That first view of Yosemite Valley
We spent the next few days exploring the park and then the day before my hike we sat outside the wilderness center at some ridiculous hour before the sun came up to hopefully snag Jace a walk-up wilderness permit to hike in for a couple days with me. [Side note: there is a cemetery in Yosemite Valley with plots of early settlers who lost their lives there. It was really, really cool. I walked around and read every single gravestone. While I was there about 30 deer quickly made their way through before the valley started waking up. It was pretty magical and I got to nerd out with some of the history.] After hours and hours, he got one. I picked up my permit with his, we took a hilarious oath covering all the basics and then some… pack it in, pack it out, bears, fires, poop, food, leave no trace, etc. I wish I had recorded it because the ranger did such an awesome job at keeping us engaged and putting his own little spin on the oath.
Weighed in at 35 pounds with food and water. WAG bag (for poop in Mt Whitney zone) and PERMIT!
Waiting in line at 0500 for Jace’s wilderness permit
“Who was killed by a horse…”
“Ah that beautious head if it did go down it carried sunshine into the rapids”
We camped at North Pine for my last night and between the spotty cell service, I’d get the occasional text or email wishing me luck and begging me not to fall off a cliff or something. [I really do need to thank everyone who either contacted me that night or took the time to write me letters or notes in my food resupply buckets. You guys really have no idea how much it meant. I had some seriously shitty days and just knowing I had a ton of support truly did make me feel better.] My sister, Danielle, wrote me a super heartfelt letter that I read that night before bed and I felt empowered.
Jace and I woke up at 0700, broke camp, and headed off to Glacier Point. I have to say here: I was completely underwhelmed with Yosemite. It probably got hyped up way too much so I had this impossible vision of how I’d feel when I was there. Yeah, it’s undoubtedly beautiful and the scope of it all takes your breath away, blah, blah, but I was ridiculously bummed at how much I didn’t like Yosemite. Then we turned a couple corners and, goddamn, that view of Half Dome was unbelievable. I fell in love with Glacier Point which was ironic because I was so disappointed that I didn’t get my first-choice permit out of Happy Isles (the actual start of the trail).
View of Half Dome from Glacier Point
This was it. I took everything out of my pack to make sure I had everything I needed. With my luck I’d forget some serious essentials and I didn’t want to risk it. We took all food and smelly stuffs out of the car and left them in a bear locker for Jace to retrieve later. A quick costume change and I was ready to go. We started hiking at 1120.
Jace heading down Panorama Trail with Half Dome in the distance
We dipped down Panorama Trail with that stunning view of Half Dome before us and everything felt right. We crossed paths with an older couple who asked where we were headed and with my Whitney Portal reply they told us all about their John Muir Trail hike years ago. They were so excited for me and gave me lots of tips and advice. After that, we continued down to Illouette Falls and took a quick dip to cool off from the afternoon heat.
Pro Tip: Always take the time to cool of your tootsies in the afternoon. It’s always worth the stop. Your feet will thank you later.
Up and around and down again, we finally came to our junction with the JMT. At this point, I would have been 2.8 miles from Happy Isles, but starting from Glacier Point we were already 5.5 miles in. The thing is, I’m so thankful I ended up with a GP start. Not only was it beautiful, but it was also mostly downhill. That climb up from HI to Nevada Falls is BRUTAL. So steep. And packed (Seriously. At least a bajillion people). And… paved. Lame, all around. Jace and I had hiked it a couple days before so that I could get my photo-op with the famous trail sign and say I hiked the full trail.
211 miles to Mt Whitney!
We stopped again at Nevada Falls to eat lunch with the squirrels and mass of tourists. Up until the JMT junction we had hardly seen anyone. Now, that good ol’ Yosemite Valley hoard of hikers and tourists was all around us. It’s INSANE how many people are there at once. As we ate we watched the squirrels carry around trash and food.
View out above Nevada Falls
Eventually we made our way to Little Yosemite Valley, which is where my permit required me to stop for the night. We set up our tent, filtered some water, and started winding down for the night. Tomorrow would be Half Dome, which I was beyond petrified about. We wanted an early start to beat the rush hour and to give us more space on the cables since we had heard how crowded it can get. A ranger popped up behind us, nearly giving me a heart attack, and asked to see our permits. Then a few guys came and asked if they could camp next to us. They played music and we all sat around eating dinner together. They’d be on the JMT as well, but with later and earlier end dates than mine, so I figured I’d never see them again (I didn’t). After dinner we all headed into our tents around 2130.
Day 1: Success.
PS: I found this great website where I was able to import all the GPX waypoints from my route (courtesy of the trail goddess, Elizabeth Wenk) to create an elevation profile of the entire hike with a Google map image you can slide your cursor along to see exactly where that given point falls along the elevation chart. Check that out here.
Glacier Point to LYV
trips and trailmix 
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