John Muir Trail 2016-2023

vera

2016-07-19 KM7 - Merced River, one of the best swimmable waters along JMT.

PanShiBo

Topo map of the section. Elevation Gain 1,307m, drop 393m




GPX: here

PanShiBo

2016-07-19 KM 5: Nevada Fall, the tallest waterfall (181m!) along JMT

PanShiBo

I’m very skeptical about using paper maps outdoors for navigation, but without this one, we would have a difficult time. Vera ordered it from Indigo. It’s not perfectly accurate, but it’s still superb (far better than Gaia/AllTrails) and probably the only information source you need to hike along the JMT. It is also water and tear-proof (tested!). There are 17 maps (all of which we’ve hiked), and this section is on Map 1.

PanShiBo

2016.07.15 KM4
Vernan fall is one of the three most notable waterfalls along JMT.

PanShiBo

This section, although very short, is often skipped by thru-hikers because it is the steepest with the most elevation gain per kilometer. Instead, many start from further down south at Tuolumne Meadows. But then, it is not exactly a complete JMT thru-hiking.

2016-07-15 KM4
Back in 2016, we didn’t know that we would travel all 344km (twice) from here all the way to Mount Whitney, the highest peak in continental USA.

PanShiBo

Happy Isles is the starting point of the JMT from the north. The trail is classified as class 1 and goes all the way down south to Mount Whitney, for 344 kilometers. Back in 2016, we didn’t even know what JMT was.

2016-07-15 KM0
Stepping on JMT for the very first time, en route to Half Dome.

PanShiBo

This is a summary of how we completed the JMT. The distances include approaches and some side trips to the nearest peaks (e.g., Half Dome, Clouds Rest, etc.).

1. Happy Isles - Half Dome turnoff, day hike, 22km (2016)

2. Half Dome turnoff - Cathedral Pass, 4 days of backpacking, 73km, including Half Dome, Clouds Rest and Sunrise (2023 Aug 28-31)

3. Cathedral Pass - Tenaya Lake, day hike, 28km, including Columbia Finger, Echo Peaks, Cathedral (2014)

4. Tenaya Lake - Donohue Pass, 4 days of backpacking, 89km, including Lyell, Donohue, Andrea Lawrence (2022)

5. Donohue Pass - Red's Meadow, 3 days of backpacking, 81km (2023)

6. Red's Meadow - Muir Pass, 9 days of backpacking, 236km (2023)

7. Muir Pass - Kearsarge Pass, 9 days of backpacking, 196km (2023)

8. Kearsarge Pass - Mount Whitney, 6 days of backpacking, 126km (2023)

Total : 851 km, 37 days