Success!

We did it!
John Muir Trail, completed.

It was amazingly beautiful and definitely kicked our butts, but we had a great time and have spent the last few days slowly re-introducing ourselves to society (beds, beers, food and running water were immediately adjusted too, of course). We met some awesome people and stayed at some incredible spots along the trail. Our final day included a 15-mile hike, a sunrise summit of Mt. Whitney and the best cheeseburger I've ever consumed (that day deserves it's own post).

(Malcolm in Tuolumne Meadows, day 1)


There will be future posts with (many:) more pictures, but for now here are a few images and some "frequently asked questions."

(and by frequently asked questions I mean questions I think you would ask...)


1-What is the John Muir Trail?
-- The JMT is a long distance hiking trail (211 miles with a cumulative 48K ft of elevation gain) in the California Sierra
Nevada mountains. The trail begins in Yosemite Valley and goes through Kings Canyon National Park as well as Sequoia National Park before ending at the top of Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states. The trail was built and sponsored by the Sierra Club in their early days, and the project took 46 years to finish, beginning in 1915.

2-Who is this John Muir dude, anyways?
--John Muir was an American author and naturalist who was into wilderness preservation way before the days of "save
the whales." He spent a large amount of his time in the high Sierras and as a results spent even more helping to preserve places like Yosemite and Sequoia through his publications and communications with Congress. He founded the Sierra Club and died during the beginning phases of the JMT creation, and the trail was named in his honor. He also had a SWEET beard.


3-So, how far did you guys hike every day?
--We averaged about 10 miles/day, going a little slower in the first week and then picking up the pace towards the
end when we were feeling a little stronger and used to our packs. We finished in 20 days, having taken one much-appreciated day off on day 8.

4-How heavy were your packs?
--Oh gosh. Heavy! Since we only did 1 food resupply, we needed to carry about 10 days worth of food at a time. If
you've ever seen Malcolm eat a meal, you know what this means... :) We also needed to carry our food in bear-proof containers, so we each carried 2 hard-plastic bear vaults. So, when our packs were full of food and water, Malcolm's pack weighed in at 70 pounds, and my pack was between 55 and 60 pounds. But those meals sure were delicious!

(Our packs on day 1, waiting for the bus to Yosemite)

5-So what did you guys eat?
-- Besides a lot of cliff/zone bars and trail mix, our standbys included:
Breakfast: Instant oatmeal and dried fruit, with an occasional freeze-dried scrambled eggs thrown in the mix
Lunch: Tortillas with tuna, chicken, hummus or cured sausage
Dinner: Instant mashed potatoes, instant stuffing and delicious freeze dried meals (favorites included beef
stroganoff, oriental chicken rice and veggies and of course, the calorie-laden blueberry cheesecake dessert!)

(Around 1/2 the food stock, pre-packing)

6-What were you really glad you packed/what did you want to throw off the mountain?
--Most of our food we were really happy with. The instant Gatorade ended up being an awesome addition, and we
would have had even more freeze dried meals if we could afford them! Some of the cured meats I wouldn't have minded feeding to a bear along the way to lighten our load, but unfortunately we didn't see any. Gear-wise we packed pretty well, with only a few things going un-used (and when you don't use your emergency whistle and water-proof matches, that's generally a good sign I think!) We used our rain gear a few times and definitely used all of our extra layers on the nights we camped above 11,000 feet. We had some gear malfunctions (slashed thermarest, broken pack buckle, ripped tent bag) but we found ourselves prepared with the materials to fix them all!




More details to come later regarding the people we met along the way and the places we stayed!



Mt. Whitney as seen from Lone Pine, CA.