High Sierras Hike (now w/ video)

[Jammer]

I'm heading out on my next big hike -- this time through the high Sierras! Though it's not Utah, you can still follow along via my website AcrossUtah.com.

It was 104 degrees yesterday at the place I will start in the Owens Valley near Ridgecrest. Plan to leave pavement here and follow the Sierra Crest all the way up to Toulumne Meadows in Yosemite -- the next pavement in 160 "straight line" miles! (About 300 miles via my route though!)

My updated site is still in transition... but I *think* the status/map function is in place for this trip. If you don't see updates... hopefully I'm not lost... just an update/site problem. :)

Full trip report coming when I get back.

Later,
- Jamal

[bowjunkie]

[Jammer]

Back from my trip. It was a good one. After a brutal start going off-trail in the desert and climbing the foothills... I finally got into the mountains and it was so much better.

Despite there still being quite a bit of snow and the big elevation gains/losses... I think it was easier than my Utah hikes. This is probably because of relatively simple navigation and the "omni-present" availability of water -- so nice to only have to carry 1-2 liters at a time and not stress about the next source. Biggest downer was definitely the bugs. No fun. I really want to invent some electronic mega repellant (or zapper) with a 20' radius! Need it to weigh about 4oz of course!

Below is the preview video I made for my short-attention-span, non-hiker friends on Facebook. If you want to see a more detailed report (sans music), check out my site (www.AcrossUtah.com) where you will find the longer video (two parts each just shy of 15 minutes.)

- Jamal

PS -- watch in HD if you have the bandwidth!

[CarpeyBiggs]

gotta love those sierra suncups... brings back lots of memories from last summer on the PCT for me. very cool stuff! what was your route exactly, looks like you basically did the JMT?

great clouds too. i hardly had any last year.

[Jammer]

I went off-trail for the first bit up from Hwy 395 to the Sacatar trail, then over to to the PCT. Then it was up to Whitney and then only a few deviations from the John Muir Trail: Bubb's Creek down to Road's End and Woods Creek back to JMT (after failed attempt up Muro Blanco Canyon) and the Sierra High Route by the Minarets and Iceberg Lake. I wanted to do more SHR, but because of the slow start in the desert, I just didn't want to chance falling farther behind with the deep snow. I definitely want to go back and try more of the High Route when there is less snow (or I get more comfortable on it!) I didn't do the last bit of the JMT to the valley either (goal was the Tioga Pass road.)

All in all it was 348 miles (average of map miles plus GPS miles which tend to bit a little more generous.)

- Jamal

[Felicia]

Very nice video. I love marmots!

[ibenick]

Damn, Jamal. Just got done watching all of it and once again, you killed it. Fine work on the video, shooting, processing, etc. And one hell of a hike. You ARE the man.

[Udink]

You ARE the man.

Ditto to that. I'm just getting into backpacking, and I don't think I could say that I'm shooting for this kind of epic trip, but it's always in the back of my mind.

[Jammer]

Thanks all.

Some random notes and observations:

- a LOT of people hike the John Muir Trail southbound! I knew this to be the case, but never expected while on the JMT I would run into a group on average about every 20 minutes. The August crowd may have been larger this year as many "early season" hikers had to postpone trips due to deep snow.

- a LOT of girls hike the JMT. I was suprised to see so many groups of girls -- just a many or more than groups of guys. I was also suprised to see so many OLD people (senior citizens). There were quite a few solo hikers as well (including some which were girls and/or seniors!)

- only 1 bear! I lugged a big bear canister the whole way and was very careful with food expecting to see a bunch of bears. Nope.

- Ran into two trail runners. These guys were just doing a one-day portion, but were running 45-miles in that day. I also ran into a guy attempting the full JMT in 7 days (30+ miles a day.)

- People's opinions vary greatly re: snow crossings. I found the snow to be just scary enough to be kinda fun. However, the take from others ran the gamut. Some steep snow on Forester and Mather had a few people scared out of their wits; while others trekked right through it like they were walking up a normal trail.

- Nobody was taking pictures. Ok... this is an exaggeration, but as one who found it extremely beautiful and took over 1300 pictures and 2hrs of video, I found it very strange that it was a RARE occasion that I would see other hikers stopping to take photos. In fact, MANY of the southbound hikers seemed fairly miserable, just on a determined mission to get to Whitney. Too each their own I guess.

- Jamal

[BlueRoads]

With those kinds of numbers, I'm glad I did my Muir Trail hiking back in the '70's. A whole lot less traffic!

[CarpeyBiggs]

almost everyone does the JMT southbound. if you don't want to see people on the JMT you have to go in late june/july. or go soutbound, where everyone is walking the same direction. it's all about finishing on whitney that way...

[ibenick]

Wow. That is a ton of people. I wonder what this would be like in September. Anyone done it then?

[CarpeyBiggs]

Wow. That is a ton of people. I wonder what this would be like in September. Anyone done it then?

i haven't. but the guys i hiked it with last year did it southbound in late september a few years back. you can push it all the way into october most years, depending on the weather. but the sierras are notorious for great weather, so there isn't usually too much of a gamble. if you get hammered, there are lots of places to bail to get off the trail.

[accadacca]