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  1. #1

    Default JMT Class of 2012 - Who's going?

    Didn't see a thread on this year's prospective JMT thruhikers yet so here goes:

    We're starting from Tuolumne Meadows on August 18. Beforehand, we plan to basecamp in a Forest Service CG, do dayhikes to acclimate, and slackpack the JMT's 23 miles between Tuolumne and Yosemite Valley in 2 trips. The long one will be starting on Sunrise Lakes Trail at Tenaya Lake, hiking to Sunrise Camp, and then NOBO down the JMT to Yosemite Valley where we'll spend the night and take the shuttle back to Tuolumne.

    Planning resupply stops at Reds Meadow and Muir Ranch.

    We have BearVault 500 canisters.
    Last edited by Cookerhiker; 06-12-2012 at 21:26.

  2. #2
    Springer to Elk Park, NC/Andover to Katahdin
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    CH, I'm planning a 2013 JMT. I like the sound of your plan. I sure would like to know how it works out. Are you keeping an online journal?


    ---
    I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?yfndro
    I am not young enough to know everything.

  3. #3
    Colorado Trail '07 / JMT '12
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    My nephew and I plan to start from Yosemite Valley on 23 July (2012). I'm currently planning a minor resupply at Tuolumne Meadows, Reds Meadow, and Vermillion Valley Ranch. I'm figuring ~5 days to VVR, where we will take a "zero" or partial "zero". Then ~1-1/2 days to Muir Trail Ranch, where we will re-supply for the final ~6-1/2 days...

    It should be a really fun trip!!

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by SouthMark View Post
    CH, I'm planning a 2013 JMT. I like the sound of your plan. I sure would like to know how it works out. Are you keeping an online journal?


    ---
    I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?yfndro
    I'll have a trailjournals.com account but I haven't set it up yet for the JMT hike and I don't expect to post anything until the hike's completion. May also establish a journal on Postholer.com which I just recently joined.

  5. #5
    13-45 Section Hiker Trash
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cookerhiker View Post
    Beforehand, we plan to basecamp in a Forest Service CG, do dayhikes to acclimate, and slackpack the JMT's 23 miles between Tuolumne and Yosemite Valley in 2 trips. The long one will be starting on Sunrise Lakes Trail at Tenaya Lake, hiking to Sunrise Camp, and then NOBO down the JMT to Yosemite Valley where we'll spend the night and take the shuttle back to Tuolumne.

    We have BearVault 500 canisters.
    I'm currently planning for the JMT in 2013. I'm really interested in the slack pack portion you have planned. Can you give a little more detail on that? Also, do you have your travel plans set, and what are the details on that? My initial research has produced a travel plan consisting of flying into Reno and taking a combination of buses out to Yosimite, but that appears to be a 2 day affair.

    I'll be using a Bearikade Weekender I bought for a Sierra trip I did in '07. Used it on my week long AT hike through NJ a couple of weeks ago to get some "practice" with it.

    Good luck on your trip, and I'll be looking forward to hearing about it.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Berserker View Post
    I'm currently planning for the JMT in 2013. I'm really interested in the slack pack portion you have planned. Can you give a little more detail on that? Also, do you have your travel plans set, and what are the details on that? My initial research has produced a travel plan consisting of flying into Reno and taking a combination of buses out to Yosimite, but that appears to be a 2 day affair.

    I'll be using a Bearikade Weekender I bought for a Sierra trip I did in '07. Used it on my week long AT hike through NJ a couple of weeks ago to get some "practice" with it.

    Good luck on your trip, and I'll be looking forward to hearing about it.
    We’re planning to drive all the way to California, arriving from the East so we don’t have to deal with flights, car rentals, etc. Reno is a good place to fly; in fact, we flew there last year, rented a car (much cheaper than car rentals in CA), and drove to Yosemite from the East side. This wasn’t a backpack trip but a base-camp and day-hike trip which was complicated by last year’s extended winter resulting in Tuolumne’s campground still being closed in early July! That’s not a problem this year.


    For your trip, the daily southbound bus from Reno leaves at 1:50 PM. If you can get an early morning flight and considering the time zone changes working in your favor, I would think you could catch this bus which arrives at Lee Vining at 4:50 PM. But remember, the bus from Reno runs Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday only so don’t fly in on a Wednesday or weekend. Motels in Lee Vining are rather expensive but I’d take a chance on hitching up to Tuolumne. But the important thing is to make campground reservations at Tuolumne right when you’re eligible. In my case, the day to make the reservations for when I wanted fell on a Sunday when I was on a long-distance bike ride at 7 AM. I phoned for a reservation at 10:30 AM and they were already booked. So we’re planning our base camp at one of the Forest Service campsites east of the Park along Rt. 120. Hitching to one of these is an option for you but they’re first-come, first served and might fill up by late afternoon so your best bet is to plan your dates with precision and make those Toulumne Reservations.


    Now the slackpacking: the JMT’s 218.5 miles consist of 195.5 miles after Tuolumne Meadows (the eastern crossing of Rt. 120) and 23 miles before. We’re slackpacking the 23 miles in 3 chunks. The biggest chunk is the 13 miles between Sunrise Camp and Yosemite Valley. We could hike to Sunrise Camp on the JMT from the Cathedral Lakes parking lot in which case our slackpack day is 20.7 miles. We still might do this but we’re leaning towards taking the Sunrise Lakes trail from Tenaya Lake (5 miles) to Sunrise Camp and hiking the JMT down to the Valley for an 18 mile slackpack. We’ll keep our base camp set up, get an early start (remember, we can drive to Tenaya Lake), hike to the Valley where we have a reservation that night in Curry Village ($$), and catch the daily shuttle the next morning back to Tuolumne. Hopefully the shuttle bus will let us out at Tenaya Lake where our car awaits. The 10 miles between Sunrise Camp and the Eastern crossing of Rt. 120 would be covered in 2 smaller out-and-back slackpacks.


    Between the JMT slackpacks and other day hikes to help us acclimate, we’re spending about a week in the Tuolumne area before the real backpack begins on August 18. Obviously having our own car helps. Our supply box to Red’s Meadows will be hand-delivered on a day when we’ll hike in the Devil’s Postpile area.


    For the return, things will be tricky because we probably can’t finish by Friday August 31 but because of the Labor Day holiday, the first bus from Lone Pine back to Lee Vining isn’t until Tuesday, Sept. 4. Since there’s no bus on Wednesdays, then the Sept. 4 bus is the one we want unless we want to chance hitching on Rt. 395 which is not out of the question. Also, the YARTS bus connecting Mammoth Lakes, Lee Vining, and Yosemite only runs weekends in September so we’ll be thumbing at least from Lee Vining back to Tuolumne.


    As I mentioned earlier, I’ll have a tj.com account so I’ll write up the outcome of all this.

    Good luck with your own hike planning.

  7. #7

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    Sorry about the lack of spacing in the paragraph breaks. I don't know why WB does that some times (but not all the time).

  8. #8

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    Got my wilderness permit for Happy Isles - Red's Meadow, 9/19 to 9/29. We're driving out (cheaper than flying and there are some hikes in CO and WY we want to do on the return leg) Thursday, September 13. Hopefully arrive in Mammoth Lakes sometime that weekend and get the YARTS to Happy Isles. Plan is to get a walk up permit for Half Dome and do that Monday or Tuesday and start the section hike on Wednesday.

    If all goes well, 8 days later we'll be spending the night in Red's Meadow and then walking back to Mammoth Lakes, pick up the car and drive back to PA!

    The girlfriend and I both have BV450 which we've somehow managed to squeeze 8 days worth of food in; having a dehydrator at home and make our own trail food helps!
    Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time -- Steven Wright

  9. #9

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    Sounds like you're aware that in September, YARTS only runs on weekends. Hope you're not delayed a day on your drive en-route.

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cookerhiker View Post
    Sounds like you're aware that in September, YARTS only runs on weekends. Hope you're not delayed a day on your drive en-route.
    Yup. If I we miss the YARTS, according the the Yahoo JMT group, hitching from the Mammoth area isn't a problem - it's all part of the adventure, right?
    Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time -- Steven Wright

  11. #11
    Registered User wcgornto's Avatar
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    I am starting on August 19th at Sunrise Lakes trailhead, and joining the JMT via Cloud's rest. My planned completion date is September 2nd at Whitney Portal.

    I am only planning resupply at MTR, though I might resupply a bit before that to lighten the load at the start.

    I have a Bearikade canister, not the Weekender (10") or the Expedition (14"), but rather a custom 12" length. It will lay horizontally in my pack (the Expedition won't) and it carries a bit more than the weekender.

    Depending on relative pacing, I may see you out there.

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by wcgornto View Post
    I am starting on August 19th at Sunrise Lakes trailhead, and joining the JMT via Cloud's rest. My planned completion date is September 2nd at Whitney Portal.

    I am only planning resupply at MTR, though I might resupply a bit before that to lighten the load at the start.

    I have a Bearikade canister, not the Weekender (10") or the Expedition (14"), but rather a custom 12" length. It will lay horizontally in my pack (the Expedition won't) and it carries a bit more than the weekender.

    Depending on relative pacing, I may see you out there.
    Looks like I'll be 2-3 days ahead of you at the start but you'll probably catch up.

  13. #13
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    Walking the JMT SOBO in September with my wife, then will drive down to the aldha-west gathering right after that.

    Aldha-west, you know, the one that relates to the whole country. Rather than aldha, which just relates to some of the eastern bits ... :-)
    Gadget
    PCT: 2008 NOBO, AT: 2010 NOBO, CDT: 2011 SOBO, PNT: 2014+2016

  14. #14

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    Starting out Aug 21 from Happy Isles. End of trip around Sept 15. Will do a snacks resupply in Tuolumne Meadows, Full Resupply at Reds Meadows, overnight at VVR, full resupply at MVR, and full resupply and overnight in Independence (hiking out over Kersarge pass). Only carrying the small Bearikade canister (Scout) due to the many resupplys. Taking a relaxed, slow hike and I can't wait! Flying in from PA to Fresno where I will be meeting up with my hiking partner from CA who I met on a JMT message board.

  15. #15
    Registered User wcgornto's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cookerhiker View Post
    Looks like I'll be 2-3 days ahead of you at the start but you'll probably catch up.
    I have a fixed calendar. Flying into Mammoth on August 17th. Flying out of Mammoth on September 3rd (Labor Day). YARTS to TM on the 18th. A night at the backpackers campground. Yosemite shuttle to Sunrise Lakes trailhead at Tenaya Lake on the 19th. 15 to 17 miles per day on the trail. Arrive at Whitney Portal on September 2nd and hitch into Lone Pine. Hitch back to Mammoth airport on the 3rd, then flight home.

  16. #16

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    We are planning to start our JMT hike Aug. 8th starting at the Happy Isles Trailhead. Have plans to finish 1st week in September, taking our time. We don't fly out till Sept. 10th, so there is no hurry for us and we hope to check out the big trees when we are done. We're planning drops at Tuolumne, Reds Meadows, Muir Trail, possibly Independence. We were 2010 AT thru-hikers and are REALLY looking forward to getting out on this trail.

    Lisa and John
    Two of a Kind
    .

  17. #17

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    in case you're looking to hook up with others, join the johnmuirtrail yahoo group and check out this listing of who is going when - currently 50 southbounder groups entered here:

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/johnmu...ortRows&tbl=10

    and 5 northbounds

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/johnmu...ortRows&tbl=11

  18. #18
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    Starting southbound with my 14 and 11 yr old sons. July 25 with resupply in Tuolomne, Reds Meadow and MTR. Planning zero days in Mammoth and possibly VVR.

  19. #19
    Registered User wcgornto's Avatar
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    Cancelled my flight to Mammoth. Cancelled my motel in Mammoth. Cancelled my motel in Lone Pine. Cancelled my permit.

    My Mother broke her hip and will need a lot of support for a while from her children. The JMT will always be there. My Mother won't.

    No JMT for me in 2012. Perhaps next year.

  20. #20
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    Just finished up the JMT with my best friend this past Friday. Started on June 22nd and finished on July 6th. We flew into SF and took the YARTS and then caught a ride to Lancaster to take the train to LA. We had a fairly tight schedule b/c my friend could only get a little over two weeks off so definitely put in 20+ mile days after VVR. Overall, everything worked out great.

    We re-supplied at VVR and in Independence. We debated on trying to resupply earlier at Red's and then at Muir Trail Ranch, but didn't want to carry 6 or 7 days worth of food on the tail end. Although its definitely more work getting into Independence via Kearsarge Pass, it was the right move for us. Having a day and a half of R&R in Independence really set us up well to close out on the final two days where we needed to get over Forrester and Whitney.

    I will say, I haven't hiked a longer 9 miles than the miles from Whitney down to the Portal. At that point, I just wanted to be done and that hike isn't insignificant as it drops somewhere around 5K feet.

    Obviously, a really low snow year so no snow on the passes and I think we only really had to ford one creek (Evolution). Also, was pretty much cloud free for 10 days or so with a little cloud build up towards the end. Not one drop of rain. Plenty of water though, never had to carry more than a liter at a time.

    An awesome little adventure that was really worth it. Hope everyone has great hikes out there!

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