John Muir Trail – Trip Report
July 15 – August 11
I’ve been back from my John Muir Trail Hike for a couple weeks now, and my delay in writing a trip report was not totally due to the fact that my computer crashed while I was gone. I’ve wanted to process the whole experience and to savor the memories.
This truly was the best backpacking trip I’ve ever been on. The beautiful trail, the people I met, and all the experiences - complete with my trail angel and good ol’ trail magic, added up to a most wonderful backpacking trip.
I wasn’t able to get my permit for the Happy Isles Trailhead. I had submitted 10 options on my application and I was issued option #6 – starting from Glacier Point on the 15th. At first I was dissapointed, but I’d never hiked on the Panorama Trail and I really enjoyed it a lot – it was a beautiful and new perspective of the Valley and Vernal and Nevada Falls.
My second day I went up Clouds Rest. OMG! It was so very beautiful! When I got to the top there were only two other groups of people there… such a nice change from the hordes on Half Dome. Later that day I met Mark (Markskor) and Mike (Old Ranger) from the High Sierra Topix… really fun to finally meet those two characters in person.
My sister Marianne and her husband Randy joined me at Tuolumne Meadows to hike the JMT to Thousand Island Lake. We stayed at the Tuolumne meadows Lodge that night… and Laura joined us for dinner! We had a wonderful evening of great food and great conversations!
It was in Lyell Canyon that I fell – hard… on all fours and landed on a rock with my right knee. I thought it was OK but it ended up causing some problems at time went on. What a beautiful camp site we had at Thousand Island Lake – looking over the lake with Ritter looming in the background. Marianne’s an amateur astronomist and that night she put on a GREAT laser-guided star party! … really interesting!
Fortunately, all the downed trees from earlier in the summer were cleared - the trail crews worked miracles. It was mind-boggling to see the number of trees down…. and the stacks and stacks of trees on the sides of the trail where the trail crews had cut thru to clear the way for hikers. I never ran into any of the crews, but I had hoped to so I could give them my thanks for all their very hard work.
By the time I arrived in Reds Meadow I was starting to meet more people on the trail… wonderful people whom I would enjoy running into off and on throughout my hike. I love solo hiking for a lot of reasons, and one of them is that I am free to join others and just as free to go on my way. Hiking and camping with some of these new friends on the trail made my experience so very memorable… it would not have been the same hike if not for these chance meetings. The wonderful conversations that evolved from these meetings are some of my most precious gifts from this hike. Thank you Judy.
Months ago I was bemoaning Silver Pass on the message board, and Doug gave me some excellent advice on changing perspective and focus when I hike… I printed it, as well as Shin’s post “Lessons I learned from Richard”. The paper was well worn by the end of my hike; I read these posts often during my four weeks on the trail, and they made a world of difference for me. As it turns out - my day on Silver Pass was one of the highlights of this trip. It was a most beautiful day in so many ways, and I can only describe it as an incredible, spiritual experience.
Muir Pass was a similar experience as Silver Pass – this has always been one of my favorite Passes, and although I didn’t get to sleep in the Muir Pass shelter as I had hoped, it was wonderful none the less. There I met a Cate, a Hospice volunteer and a most incredible human being. I didn’t want our conversation to end; it was after 3:30 by the time I started the decent into LeConte Canyon.
So, back to the injured knee… over the next week or so I started favoring the right knee to the point that my left foot was taking the majority of the trail abuse and my ankle started giving out. By the time I descended from Muir Pass my foot was really hurting… I had a hard time putting weight on it. The next morning I could barely walk.
I’ve always heard the term “trail angel” and that morning I discovered what it really meant. My biggest concern for my foot was that I might have a stress fracture, and I knew that continuing on the trail was foolhardy; I needed to exit. Bob, whom I had met at Reds Meadow was camped next to me and was aware of my foot issue. I was so disappointed to have to exit the trail… I had really hoped that this would be a complete thru-hike. But more worrisome was what was going on with my foot and if I would be able to continue at all. Then Bob made the startling offer to leave his pack at the LeConte Rangers Station and carry my pack over Bishop Pass for me! He explained that he could then hike back to retrieve his pack and continue on his hike. I have never had such a selfless, generous gift offered to me… it was overwhelming.
We exited the trail, and the following morning (August 1st) I went to the ER. There were no stress fractures but both foot and knee had a lot of inflammation, so I was instructed to stay off the foot for a week on an ibuprofen regiment…and ICE! The time off did my foot a lot of good and I was able to re-enter the trail via Kearsarge Pass on August 4th.
I had a week before I was to meet family on Whitney Summit on the 11th and there was no sense in putting too much stress on the foot; I took my time and enjoyed this very special section of the trail. Going up Forester Pass was pure joy! I felt really happy this day… especially when I saw a familiar 6’4” figure on the last ridge before getting to Forester Pass – it was Bob! We hiked together for a couple days, I was glad I got to see him again and thank him again for his help.
Guitar Lake was “interesting”! I arrived there on Thursday (August 9th). The following night (Friday) was going to be my last night of my hike, and I had hoped to spend that night on the summit. My plan was to hang out at Guitar Lake ‘til early afternoon, then head up to the summit. Friday morning the clouds started coming in early; the storm was in full force by 11:00AM and didn’t clear up ‘til after 6:00PM!! I was holed up in my tent all day, trying not to panic! The thunder and lightning was all around… the rain and wind wouldn’t let up… and water was starting to come in my tent. NOT fun! Finally the storm cleared and gave me just enough time to take my tent apart and hang it on rocks to dry before the sun went behind a peak.
I had some trail magic there as well – when I arrived at Guitar Lake I saw that someone had already set up camp in my favorite spot. I found another site to set up in, and then went over to greet this person. As I approached I thought this young man looked familiar… I asked him his name. He said “Paul”. I couldn’t believe it – “I know you!” I said “You work for NOAH!” I had met him on my 2009 JMT Hike for Hope. I reminded him that I camped next to him in Little Pete meadow…. Then he remembered, and laughed saying that he remembered I looked pretty beat after coming down from Muir Pass. And then it was my turn to be surprised… he remembered that I had done the hike as an AIDS benefit, and he apologized for not mailing back his card. (I had printed awareness postcards with the Hike for Hope logo on the front and on the back side were lines for the name of the hiker, location on the trail where I had met them, and any additional comments)… and he said he still had his. He then pulled out his map pack and showed me the postcard I’d given him 3 years ago; He’d been carrying it with him on his hikes. I was so very touched by his sincerity!
The following morning I was on the trail about 5:00. I decided not to try for the summit sunrise – my brothers and sisters coming up from the Portal with Richard weren’t going to be there for a few hours, so I’d just be waiting in the cold. I got to the summit about 9:00. Richard arrived with Mark and Paul before 11:00 (I think), and Natalie, Ken, Marianne, Ashley and Jovi arrived about half an hour later. What a wonderful way to end this trip.
So, I’ve been on a lot of long backpacking trips... what made this trip “the best backpacking trip I’ve ever been on”? Besides the experiences I’ve stated above, there were so many lessons for me this time.
The biggest lesson I learned was to let go of expectations. I’ve made thru-hike attempts in 2001, 2003, 2006, and 2009, and each time I was disappointed when I had to exit the trail for various health and/or gear-related reasons; I would re-enter the trail to finish the hike but they were not a complete “thru-hike”. I had been telling myself “this year WILL be a complete thru-hike!” But after I had to exit the trail one more time and felt the same disappointment, I finally got the message - it didn’t matter… this hike (as well as all the others) were all about the experiences, NOT the mileage. It was a perfect hike – the incredible people I met on the trail, the peace I would feel hiking by myself, the beautiful mountains and meadows, setting up camp with no-one else in sight and overlooking the most amazing views in the world, the quiet nights in my tent, even the storms at Guitar Lake… it was all wonderful… and exactly what I needed. I may never do a complete thru-hike, and I’m OK with that.
Thank you all for your good wishes and comments. I especially wanted to thank you, Richard… not only for your encouragement and trail tips before I started my hike, and for your surprise trail appearances which always made me smile, but also for your generous gift of guiding my brothers up the MR. They all enjoyed the day with you immensely. I read this quote this morning and thought of you - “
Every time you put something positive into the universe, the world changes. Your kindness invites miracles to show up, not just in your world, but the whole world”. ~ Unknown
I'm attaching a few pictures; I narrowed down the rest to about 120 and posted them on my SmugMug page.
http://rosabella.smugmug.com/Other/2012-John-Muir-Trail/25015080_XzVFN5#!i=2049608984&k=mXzvLkp
Rosie
) As you know, Ken had wanted to go up the MR but opted to go up the main trail so he could hike with his daughter, and Tim stayed with Barry at Iceberg Lake. Thanks Richard... I'll pass the message on to everyone. 
The pack that I got a few years ago was a Gregory Diva-70, but there wasn't enough room for my BeariKade (expedition size) and all my "stuff", so I ended up getting a Gregory Diva-85. I was pretty happy with it.