JMT 2018: Week 3
Looking back at those two weeks I can’t help but feel like it only lasted a minute. Sure some of the passes were grueling, and I wanted to give up, but it’s been four months since I got home. It seems like the time since has sort of dragged on. Life on the trail is so much simpler than life in the “real world.” You have to focus on getting miles in, eating, staying warm, and keeping dry. No bills to pay, no children to punish, no job. I can see why some people opt to be homeless and live out of their vans traveling the world. Enough about my daydreams, I hope you enjoy reading about my last week on the JMT.
August 22, 2018: Day 15 Early bird gets the worm…
Lake Marjorie to Dollar Lake
Miles: 14.2
Today was tough but not as tough as it could have been. I’m glad we started so far up on Pinchot Pass, it made for an early butt kicking. I’m not sure if I’m just tired of the trip or what, but it seems like all the views from the tops of the passes look the same. I wish there was a little more snow on the mountain tops.
On our trek to Dollar Lake, which was further than we planned, we crossed over a suspension bridge which was cool and scary at the same time. It was a lot more bouncy than other ones I’ve been on. It was also broken in the middle. #FreakedOut Nobody told me about that until of course I was in the middle already, but I survived, obviously. It’s probably better that I didn’t know it was broken. We decided to hike 14.2 miles instead of the 11 miles so we could make it to Onion Valley a little earlier. We didn’t realize there would be a pass after Glen Pass on the way there. Tomorrow is going to be rough!
My GPS was having some technical difficulties.
JMT Lesson #15: Check and double, or triple check your route plans. It’s better to be over prepared than under.
August 23, 2018: Day 16 Hello civilization!!!
Dollar Lake to Onion Valley
Miles: 15.9
I had restless leg something fierce last night! I’m so ready for sleep. A good night of sleep, or 10. The start of today was so hard, my legs just weren’t cooperating. We hiked over Glen Pass bright and early, but I think my legs not working is what made it so hard. Also could have been that I thought we were almost to the top, and then we got over the “top” and there was another cliff-like mountain to climb. We stopped for a break before climbing that peak, and that gave my legs the rest they needed.
As we were headed down to Bullfrog Lake for lunch and a swim, we realized we could make it all the way to Onion Valley if we pushed. We could get a hotel and eat some onion rings. Ha! So again, we decided to push the mileage to almost 16 miles.
We met a nice guy named Bryan, who works for the State of California Department of Water Resources. He gave us a ride into Independence. He even drove us around the town, showed us all four blocks! After we made it to our hotel, we headed out for dinner. That was an experience. It took over two hours for a sandwich, fries, salad, and sweet potato fries… We had no choice but to wait because it was literally the only restaurant. Thankfully it tasted good. After dinner we hit up the little gas station stores for all kinds of goodies like root beer float stuff, Chex Muddy Buddies (snickerdoodle), and wafers, and…too much junk, but we did get bananas and oranges too. Finally at 10 pm we showered, and then got our clothes soaking in the tub. Now to sleep! the tub. Now to sleep!
JMT Lesson #16: Your truth may be different than someone else’s truth. For instance, the view at the top is worth it…
August 24, 2018: Day 17 Back to business…
Onion Valley to Gilbert Lake
Miles: 2.7
Today was a fun day. We got up and decided we would go to the casino for breakfast, worst case scenario it was only 3 miles away, we could walk it. Before heading out, we washed our clothes in the tub and then Natalia went and asked if there was a dryer we could use. They did AND the owner offered to let us use her car to go get breakfast! We ended up driving to Lone Pine and eating at Alabama Hills Cafe. They were really busy but we got a seat right away. We shared a giant cinnamon roll to start and then finished with steamed veggies and hash browns.
Did I mention that we have been eating since we woke up? We stopped at a little grocery store and picked up some fruit and different snacks, then headed to the post office to pick up our resupply which we had shipped. We were going to try to stop at Manzanar, a Japanese “concentration camp” from WWII but didn’t have much time to split up and reship some of our supplies. (We got to stop by Manzanar when we finished the JMT.) The bucket and box we sent ourselves with supplies, got filled with other stuff to send back to Natalia’s. I decided to ditch my camera because it was hard to take on and off my pack, plus it was heavy. We also downsized clothes, tp, soap stuff and other miscellaneous gear we didn’t need. We are happy our packs are a bit lighter for the last five days of our trip.
We got picked up by Jan at 2 pm to head back to the trails. I was a little happy and a little sad about that. The passes aren’t really a selling point for me right now. Since it was so late in the day, we ended up only hiking 2.5 miles into Gilbert Lake for the night and tomorrow’s rest day. We probably could/should have pushed to Kearsarge Lakes but we are both still sore and tired. Hoping for better sleep tonight since I didn’t get much last night, who knew air conditioners and cars could disturb my sleep again…
JMT Lesson #17: There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. I had the belly ache to prove it.
Shuttle Driver: Jan 760-264-3563
August 25, 2018: Day 18 Rest day number 3…
Gilbert Lake
Miles: 0
Today was a lazy day. We had the freckle burrito breakfast from Outdoor Herbivore, which we weren’t crazy about. Afterwards I just wasn’t feeling well, probably from all the sugary junk I had the last 24 hours. I washed my pjs and laid them out to dry, then laid down to take a nap. I slept till almost 3 pm. I finally woke up again, and we discussed our plans for the next three days. It’s crazy to think we are almost done, a little bitter sweet actually. I’m going to miss my friend, not going to miss the mountains, not right away at least. We had a quiet rest of the evening, and I took a couple benadryl in hopes that I’ll be well rested for tomorrow.
JMT Lesson #18: Don’t take the time you have now for granted.
August 26, 2018: Day 19 Who needs gloves?!?
Gilbert Lake to Over Forester Pass
Miles: 16ish
We left Gilbert Lake on a mission today. We had two passes to conquer, we’re hoping to be off the trail on the 28th. Kearsarge Pass went by really quickly, I think knowing what we had coming helped us stay at a consistent pace. We stopped for lunch around 12:30 and ended up taking a way longer lunch than we anticipated, but after that we kept trucking. Breaks are so needed for keeping energy up.
We finally got closer to Forester Pass and were surprised/delighted that it was a consistent incline all the way to the last bit of switchbacks. The wind was so cold though! At the top we had what felt like frozen fingers and decided to put our sweaters on. Also, decided that maybe we shouldn’t have shipped our gloves home… The view at the top of Forester wasn’t all that impressive, but it was knowing that we made the climb up to 13,200 feet that was awesome. Whitney is going to be tough, but knowing that we made it today helps me to know we can do it!
JMT Lesson #19: It’s not always about what you see, accomplishments can be many different things.
August 27, 2018: Day 20 Bittersweet…
Forester Pass to Guitar Lake
Miles: 15.7
Today we decided officially that it’s going to be our last night on the JMT. We made it all the way to Guitar Lake, that means if all goes as planned we will be out of here with 15.1 miles to Natalia’s car!
I was exhausted by the time we made it to Crabtree Meadows, which is 2.7 miles from where we are now. It’s funny how our mind can say we are done but our body still has enough fuel in the tank to push a little farther. I think part of my problem was I ate too much food for lunch. It just bogged me down. The meal we had planned was pesto pasta from Outdoor Herbivore with veggies, but it was a smaller portion so we snacked on other things too, less weight in our packs is always on our minds! I ate from the time we stopped for lunch, till the time we left, and I’m still feeling overly full… Even though we hiked 15.7 miles today, I am not looking forward to the shorter distance tomorrow. I’m getting very tired of switchbacks. I’m feeling like I might have restless legs again tonight. Fingers crossed they chill out.
JMT Lesson #20: If you can make it 15 miles, two more won’t break the bank. #MindOverMatter
August 28, 2018: Day 21 Goodbye knees, hello car…
Guitar Lake to DONE!
Miles: 16.08
Today was our last day. Seems fitting that it should be our hardest day also. We actually made it out of camp at 7:10 so that we wouldn’t be hiking the hardest points when it was hot. It never actually got hot until we got closer to the Whitney Portal, but I’m glad we got up early anyway. We left Guitar Lake and about half a mile in we started hitting the switchbacks. We gained about 4,000 feet in elevation up to Whitney, but that wasn’t the worst of it. The down hill, though easier and faster, killed my knees. The view at the top was pretty neat, felt like I was on top of the world. Wish there wasn’t a haze in the sky, guess that’s part of being in California during the summer, and maybe a bit from the fires. Mt. Whitney is the finishing point of the JMT but it’s not like you get to hop in your car and drive home after that, we still had 8.8 miles to hike out afterwards. We were exhausted! The best was yet to come though… (insert sarcasm here)
We debated whether or not we should leave our packs here to hike to the top of Mt. Whitney. We opted to leave a couple liters of water instead. Such a good plan! 
The Whitney zone is very barren and has so many people that they give you “wag bags” to carry out your deuces. TMI WARNING! I have been super regular on the trail and was dreading having to carry out my number two. After breakfast I already had to go but I was hoping to hold it till we got to plumbing. Unfortunately that didn’t work out because walking makes you have to go. Talk about awkward, at least in the woods you dig a hole to go into. The bag was huge, and had tp, a sanitizing wipe, and a no-odor ziploc bag, thankfully. After that was done, carrying it out was kind of nerve wracking. I didn’t want to risk it ripping open in my pack. All is well though, it made it down to the human waste dumpster by the bathrooms at Whitney Portal.
After what seemed like a forever downhill, uneven, rocky hike, we saw Natalia’s car from the hill and that was so exciting. Just knowing that we were almost done, and we had a ride home made that last bit of time fly by! I thought I would be more emotional after finishing but maybe I was just too exhausted to be focused on anything other than dinner and trading in my hiking shoes for flip flops.
JMT Lesson #21: FINISH IT! Whether you’re tired, sore, just don’t want to, finish it. Even if it isn’t perfect, not exactly how you planned, finishing it will always be more satisfying that quitting!
Total Mileage: 220
I’m not sure if I will be hiking through the JMT again. I definitely would like to visit Thousand Island Lake and maybe camp a night or two there. It was too big and beautiful for just a pit stop. Hiking this trail definitely opened my mind up to bigger adventures. I’d like to hike the PCT, not all at once, but in sections. I’d also like to see orcas in the wild before they become extinct. There are too many amazing things in the world to get stuck on one trail! BUT I will definitely have to hike the section from Yosemite to Tuolumne Meadows, and of course try my luck at Half Dome! What is your next big adventure? I’d love to hear about it.
Natalia made a video from our trip, check it out!
I love seeing your perspective on everything! Ready to get back to the wild!? 😜