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View Full Version : Transportation to JMT Terminus?



Deacon
08-15-2013, 11:30
Someone asked me about my next venture, so, I'm just investigating/researching the JMT.

What is the quickest and cheapest way to get to the northern terminus of the JMT? From what I can see, it looks rather involved. I didn't see much detail in the JMT forum.

Dogwood
08-15-2013, 13:42
That's been discussed here in great detail already. There are several options depending on what AP(San Fran, Reno, LA, Fresno, Sacramento, etc) you fly into or what train station you decide to go to.

Malto
08-15-2013, 13:49
If you are flying the easiest IMHO is to go into Reno and take the eastern Sierra transport to Yosemite. At trips end, hitch down off of Whitney then take a bus back to Reno. I will leave it to you to go to their site and get the info. Check the schedules carefully, there are only certain days they run.

Malto
08-15-2013, 13:50
http://www.estransit.com/CMS/

Malto
08-15-2013, 13:57
This is the bus that runs from lee vining to Yosemite Valley. You may need to spend the night in either Lone Pine or Lee vining to get bus connections to work. http://www.yarts.com/

Deacon
08-15-2013, 16:57
Thanks for those leads.

Dogwood
08-15-2013, 21:18
What's cheapest and quickest is relative. No one cheapest and fastest way to Happy Isles TH(JMT northern terminus). All right, I'll throw this out there again. I've gotten to the northern terminus by public transportation 4 times, twice from San Fran and twice from Reno after flying into those APs. IF IF IF you organize your public transportation travel at either AP to connecting trains and/or bus systems you could get from Ohio to Yosemite Valley on the same day. I've even once started hiking the JMT the very same day I flew into San Fran on a flight that landed in SF early in the day(7 a.m) You could possibly do this if flying into LAX or Sacramento via public transportation too. Personally when flying back home at the end of a SOBO JMT thru-hike I like flying out of LAX or Reno. I think Reno and San Fran international APs(the largest APs in the area) are the closest as far as miles to the JMT northern terminus but you can mapQuset the miles between destinations if you want to verify if that's correct. The closest AP that is not an International AP is in Merced CA MUCH closer to the JMT northern terminus than any other AP. I think that AP has been expanding their flights in the past two yrs or so so you might check up on that.

From Reno - is as Malto said, AGAIN, as he said make sure of that you connect with the EST schedules or you could find yourself waiting around Reno for a couple of days!
From San Fran - Amtrak to Merced CA to connecting YARTS bus to Yosemite Valley(JMT northern terminus)
From LAX - Amtrak to Lancaster CA connecting to Eastern Sierra Transit(EST) connecting to YARTS to YV, also I think a bus leaves the LAX to Lancaster, I think other public transportation options exist although I've never used them, someone else will chime in with that I'm sure
From Sac - several ways but you can go through Reno and proceed from there, I never did this
From Merced AP - easiest, fastest, and shortest distance by far, fly into Merced AP connecting with YARTS bus to YV, haven't checked this option out recently, it might be time to check this option out further. I don't think it will be the cheapest to fly into Merced though but I could be wrong
From Fresno - rent a car if doing a SOBO JMT thru or OK for Sierra High Route thru-hikers or NOBO JMTers

Deacon
08-15-2013, 21:58
Wow, great info Dogwood.

garyp
08-18-2013, 20:30
What's cheapest and quickest is relative. No one cheapest and fastest way to Happy Isles TH(JMT northern terminus). All right, I'll throw this out there again. I've gotten to the northern terminus by public transportation 4 times, twice from San Fran and twice from Reno after flying into those APs. IF IF IF you organize your public transportation travel at either AP to connecting trains and/or bus systems you could get from Ohio to Yosemite Valley on the same day. I've even once started hiking the JMT the very same day I flew into San Fran on a flight that landed in SF early in the day(7 a.m) You could possibly do this if flying into LAX or Sacramento via public transportation too. Personally when flying back home at the end of a SOBO JMT thru-hike I like flying out of LAX or Reno. I think Reno and San Fran international APs(the largest APs in the area) are the closest as far as miles to the JMT northern terminus but you can mapQuset the miles between destinations if you want to verify if that's correct. The closest AP that is not an International AP is in Merced CA MUCH closer to the JMT northern terminus than any other AP. I think that AP has been expanding their flights in the past two yrs or so so you might check up on that.

From Reno - is as Malto said, AGAIN, as he said make sure of that you connect with the EST schedules or you could find yourself waiting around Reno for a couple of days!
From San Fran - Amtrak to Merced CA to connecting YARTS bus to Yosemite Valley(JMT northern terminus)
From LAX - Amtrak to Lancaster CA connecting to Eastern Sierra Transit(EST) connecting to YARTS to YV, also I think a bus leaves the LAX to Lancaster, I think other public transportation options exist although I've never used them, someone else will chime in with that I'm sure
From Sac - several ways but you can go through Reno and proceed from there, I never did this
From Merced AP - easiest, fastest, and shortest distance by far, fly into Merced AP connecting with YARTS bus to YV, haven't checked this option out recently, it might be time to check this option out further. I don't think it will be the cheapest to fly into Merced though but I could be wrong
From Fresno - rent a car if doing a SOBO JMT thru or OK for Sierra High Route thru-hikers or NOBO JMTers

If you fly into fresno, they will take you up the hwy 41 side. Then when you get in the park it will take you another 45 min to hour and a half (depending on the driver) to the valley. From there you will take the scenic route through the valley and then you can take the valley transportation to your destination.


If you fly into Merced you will go the 140 into the park, from Merced it is about an hour to an hour and a half drive just into the park. Then another 30 min or less to the valley. Then you can take the Yosemite pub transportation all over the park.

Just an fyi... attempt to avoid the 120 route. That is just a long way around and very time consuming. It is shorter milage wise but it is S-Turns almost the entire time once you hit the foot hills. If I leave from Modesto it is faster for me to take the 140 into the park than the 120. Even though I am saving about 40 miles taking the 120.

If you are some one from the east coast and have a National multi park pass it does work here contrary to what some people have said in other forums, Yosemite is Federal where some of the others you pass through are state. If you are looking to do a drop shipment or want to pick up some dehydrated food, Either Modesto or Fresno is your choice. Merced sucks and there really isn't much there.

Dicks Sporting goods in Modesto has some and a few of the others. You could also go to Bass Pro shops in Manteca and that would be a better choice. There are more commercialized and don't have the greatest selection for back packing but it is better than Dicks. If your coming through the Fresno route, REI or Herb Bouer is going to be your best bet. Herb and REI are always competing for business here. The only problem with Herb is that they don't have an online store so you can't do a pick up there. But for packs you can use them both against each other. Herb does sell external frame packs were REI doesn't if that is the route you want to go.

Hell if your going through fresno, hit me up I might want to take a drive up to Yosemite and it could save you a bus ride.

Berserker
08-19-2013, 13:09
If you are flying the easiest IMHO is to go into Reno and take the eastern Sierra transport to Yosemite. At trips end, hitch down off of Whitney then take a bus back to Reno. I will leave it to you to go to their site and get the info. Check the schedules carefully, there are only certain days they run.


This is the bus that runs from lee vining to Yosemite Valley. You may need to spend the night in either Lone Pine or Lee vining to get bus connections to work. http://www.yarts.com/
I did the above. You have to to stay in Lee Vining one night if you do this (catch the ETSA bus from the airport). I actually missed the bus in Reno because the plane was delayed before it even left the ground in Charlotte. So an alternative is to do a one-way car rental to Mammoth Lakes, and you can catch the ETSA bus there.

For the return trip just make sure to come out the night before the ETSA bus leaves Lone Pine. I spent an extra day in Lone Pine due to the bus not running, but that was planned. It was a nice rest day and pigout day. Note that the ETSA bus is currently picking up at 6:15 AM at the McDonalds. The info I had was not up to date, and I almost missed it.

Praha4
10-08-2013, 10:54
I'm also starting to do some d&d on a 2014 JMT hike, this is good info, thanks. What suggested JMT guide books or maps would be most helpful for a sobo JMT hike?

Maui Rhino
10-08-2013, 15:50
I'm knee-deep in my planning for a 2014 JMT hike also. Elizabeth Wenks book and Ray Rippel's book (JMTBook.com) are highly recommended. Also check out the JMT Yahoo group. It is very actice and has tons of information.

DaFireMedic
10-08-2013, 16:15
For getting back to civilization at the end of the hike, strike up conversations with some of the Whitney day hikers that you will encounter (there will be many). We did this and within about 15 minutes mentioned that we needed to get into Lone Pine from Whitney Portal. This couple only had a 2 person pick up truck, but offered to let us (my 11 and 14 yr old boys) ride in the bed of their truck into Lone Pine. After 3 weeks on the trail, the bed of that truck was plenty luxurious enough for us. I'm told that rides aren't too difficult to scrounge up in Whitney Portal, but still it was nice to have something arranged before we got there. I still have occasional contact with the couple through a blog that they have.

Cookerhiker
10-08-2013, 16:15
I agree with Malto's recommendation of flying into Reno and taking the Eastern Sierra bus. I'd also consider flying to Oakland and taking AMTRAK direct to Yosemite - the final connection is a bus from Merced.

You'll find a lot of good info. from the Yahoo Groups site on the JMT: http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/johnmuirtrail/conversations/messages

You need to think about acclimation and ideally, spend several days, even a week camped at Tuolumne Meadows where you can do day hikes up to 10K'. In your planning, allow enough lead time to make campground reservations at Tuolumne.