July 26, 2010
JMT Quick Recap
Andrea and I on the summit of Mt Whitney (mile #211), the highest peak in the lower 48 states (14,505 feet), at sunrise.
We're back from the John Muir Trail!
There are 1300 pictures and 20 minutes of video to sort through, but I wanted to post a quick update tonight. Over the next two weeks, I'll be posting our day-by-day accounts of the trail, photos, videos, and all kinds of other good stuff.
The quick synopsis is that we started from Yosemite on Wednesday July 14th and finished the 223 miles of trail and 42,000 vertical feet of climbing in 10.5 days. We had mostly perfect weather, although we did experience a "50 year storm event" that dropped 4" of rain in 2 hours and made stream crossings extremely dangerous. Carrying backpacks for over 20 miles a day through those types of mountains was tough: despite eating a TON of food, Andrea and I both lost 7-8 lbs. Mentally and physically, it was the toughest thing either of us has ever done, but also incredibly rewarding.
This trip was the greatest experience of my life, and the stories we'll be sharing in the upcoming weeks hopefully will get that message across very clearly. There is no doubt in my mind that the JMT is the greatest trail in the world. And I was lucky enough to complete the journey with the greatest partner in the world.
Here's a few pictures to start off... recaps for each day along with lots more pictures are on the way!
The elevation profile and approximately where we camped each night
Mt Whitney
Thousand Island Lake
Silver Pass
Seldon Pass
Camping at Evolution Lake
Muir Pass hut
Palisade Lake
Pinchet Pass
Taking in the views
Campsite near Forester Pass
Andrea hiking up Forester Pass
Day #10 on the trail
Our campsite near Mt Whitney
Inside the Mt Whitney summit house
The final day on the trail... almost done!
Sun rising as we neared the top of Mt Whitney
The finish line
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Looks like a great trek and as you're saying the experience of a lifetime. Great pictures, I'll be checking here to see more in the next days. I've started thinking about JMT few months ago. Maybe one day...I'd like to do it with my teenage daugters. Good luck to both of you. WK
ReplyDeletecongrats! this looks like an incredible experience. Where are the Diet Dew pics though?
ReplyDelete- Evan
We are planning on doing JMT next year. Your pics make us want to go NOW.
ReplyDeleteIt looks amazing! Thanks for sharing your stories and especially the pictures!
ReplyDelete- Sara (a running/sports enthusiast from Finland)