On the Trail

How to capture 3 weeks on the John Muir Trail? At least I can give you a taste with some photos. 

Early on, walking through the glaciated valleys. The trail was pretty much always this beautiful, even as the landscape varied dramatically. 

Cedars! I love them!

I guess I *am* a tree-hugger.

One of our more creative campsites. Check out our ultralight tent - no tent poles, just hiking poles. Lisa and her mom sewed it!

There's gold in them hills?

We often started hiking before sunrise so we got to see the light as it rose up the mountains most mornings.

Our last re-supply stop at Muir Trail Ranch, joined by Steph. We wanted to demonstrate what a ridiculously large quantity of food we were going to be eating over the next 8.5 days, but it doesn't really show up in the photo. Instead, you might be wondering why Lisa and I are wearing rain gear... Ethan was washing our clothes, and we only had one set!

Rested and ready for the last, and hardest, leg! My pack weighed in at 37 pounds, fully loaded.

Don't worry, we made it out of there okay.

The famous Evolution Basin.

Many days we started in the trees, hiked up and over a pass, and hiked back down to the trees. The passes looked like this usually: lots of scree and talus (rocks). Even after acclimating for weeks, it was still hard to breath up there! A gatha (mantra) from the Thich Nhat Hanh retreat helped us with those climbs: "Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile."

At the top of one of the passes. The last week of the trip, we had 5 passes in 5 days. It felt like running a marathon that took all day, going to bed, getting up, and doing it again. Five days in a row.

A typical kitchen on the trail! 

We swam in this tarn (glacial lake) at 12,200 feet. It was so cold that I didn't feel it when I kicked a sharp rock and sliced open my toe. But there's something magically healing about so much walking... it healed quickly.

Just another evening on the JMT.

"And this is how you put on the sunscreen..." three times a day. SO MUCH SUN at this elevation. 

Steph crossing the bridge at King's River. Getting close -- only 3 days to Whitney! That night I slept under the stars, instead of in the tent, protected by an ancient Juniper tree. It was one of my best night's sleep on the whole trip.

Alpenglow!

Our last pass before Whitney, and the highest point of the trail so far. When we got here, we realized that we were really going to make it. And on top of that, right as we got to the pass, an eagle flew right over us! The next day was a "rest" -- no pass, and only 12 miles, up to Guitar Lake on the side of Whitney.

(Unfortunately, the pictures from the last couple days, including Whitney, didn't download, so maybe I'll post them when I get them from Lisa. Stay tuned.)

Thanks for reading! And thanks so much to Lisa for taking these amazing photos!