TTers' 2007 JMT Itineraries Thread

“Hey, fellow JMT hikers!

I thought I would start a separate thread just for our various itineraries so we know who to expect to see.

BowlderSon and I met with our friend (we gave her a trail name a couple years ago, but I can't remember it at the moment!) yesterday, and decided on our basic itinerary. Since my brother-in-law and niece are now confirmed to be NOT coming out from Michigan to hike with us, it was up to the remaining 3 of us to decide on our northern half or southern half itinerary. We decided on the northern half, and will do the southern half next summer.

So here's our plan - post yours, too!!

Wednesday, 8/1 - Do whatever car shuttle thing we do to get a car to North Lake, then back to Lee Vining. Stay overnight, then...

Thursday, 8/2 - Start hiking south from T. Meadows.

Thursday, 8/9 - Somewhere near Silver Pass Lake, celebrate BowlderSon's 12th birthday!

Friday, 8/10 - Arrive at Vermillion Valley Resort, meeting BowlderGal for a resupply.

Saturday, 8/11 - Hang out at VVR; wash clothes, etc.

Sunday, 8/12 - Back to the trail.

Friday, 8/17 - Hike from Evolution Lake up over Lamarck Col to North Lake. Drive into Bishop; stay overnight.

Saturday, 8/18 - Drive home.

I have potential camping spots ID'd, but I don't want to think of trying to be tied to particular spots - would rather let the hike evolve, which is a little different than I'm used to. I planned pretty low mileage to allow for that kind of flexibility - only around 6-7 miles per day on average.”

“BowlderMan - I will be on the trail but will miss you by a couple days:
July 21st - Depart Happy Isles trailhead
July 24thish - Touloumne Meadows
July 27thish - Reds Meadow take Yarts back to valley.

I am not sure about exact timelines - only what day I am starting the trip. The rest of the group is doing the entire trail. I am so jealous but I just don't have that much time.”

“Landscaper and I will be leaving Happy Isles on Aug 15th and coming out at Whitney Portal on Sept 7th. We haven't worked out the itinerary in detail, but will be doing about 10 miles a day. We haven't planned a layover day, but will probably have some shorter and some longer days.”

“Sandyann, have you looked at the YARTS schedule? It looks like they may only leave Mammoth in the early morning hours.

We are taking YARTS from Mammoth to Happy Isles when we start and plan to spend the night in Mammoth to catch the early morning bus. We have a complicated shuttle worked out with local friends who will be exiting at Reds.”

“wannabp - I did check the schedule - and the morning thing is kind of a pain. I am debating with a friend on having her pick me up in Mammoth so we can add some camping time at the end.

I am such a dummy I didn't even think about taking Yarts the other way. Thanks for suggesting that.”

“Bowlderman, you have email! Looks like we'll see each other on the boat to VVR!

My itinerary:

Aug 5th: Enter at Lyell Canyon
Aug 10th: Catch afternoon boat to VVR
Aug 11th: Leave VVR
Aug 14th: Exit at Piute Pass (to North Lake)
Aug 15th: Enter at Kearsarge Pass
Aug 18th: Exit Whitney Portal

All I need is to find a weekend to cram in the Tuolumene to Valley stretch, and I'll have finished the JMT. I would love to be able to do the whole thing all the way through (I was blown away by the scenery between Kearsarge and MTR last summer!), but I have some other trips I'd like to do and don't want to use all my vacation time covering trail I was just on last summer, as amazing as it was.

BowlderMan, was it you I was talking to about the amazing campsite at Evolution Lake? I can send you a map to it.”

“Does anyone need help resupplying along the JMT? I'd be willing to day hike a resupply in to Kearsarge Pass or Bishop Pass if the timing is right.”

“Send me that map, calipidder!!

I just emailed you back, too....

Thanks for that offer wingding - I won't be needing any this year. I have BowlderGal bringing us food 'n' stuff at VVR....”

“Thanks for the resupply offer, Kathy. Sooz also offered. It would be fun to see both of you.

I haven't worked out the details yet, but right now, I'm thinking we'll start with just the Bearikade Weekender, then mail our Bearikade Expedition plus extra food to Muir Ranch and manage the second-half stretch with the two canisters. I need to work out a likely itinerary for the whole trip, then start stuffing food into the canisters and see what happens.”

“We are scheduled to go in @ Happy Isles July 17th and exit Whitney Portal August 9th. Seems we are the early birds.”

“Wow - you are beating us by 4 days. Does anyone have any idea how many days it will take to get to Reds Meadows? If we go about 9 miles a day with one layover, it should be about 7 days?”

“heading in over kearsarge pass on the 4th, exit whitney portal 9th.

wingding, you could join us if you like and resupply jacktraw and gemini.”

“That would be great cuz our current final resupply would be Muir TR and would be 10 days of food.”

“JS, i was figuring on resuppling you guys.

the only problem i see is that if mousespray +1 doesn't make it, (they're a maybe right now) then it might make for a tough first day for just my wife and i.”

“Let me know Scott. Every little bit will help even if its just a couple days food.”

“that would be perfect!! [yes, I am still lurking...just busy] I am not going anywhere, crap, everytime I think about it I'm about to pee myself.”

“sacco - when are you doing the resupply?”

“I see - August 4th. I'll be giving Mount Sill a try that weekend hopefully, so I'll be little help for a resupply that weekend.”

“I did Happy isles to Touloumne meadows last year--and plan on resuming at T.meadows this year, early August. A tip for North-Souther's, the first 2 days climbing the valley from Happy Isles, start EARLY and keep it steady, it's a good climb and well worth it!

__________my trip!___________
I have not nailed down any dates--I plan on picking up a permit in the yosemite valley, the day of--or the day before my hitting the trail-head. I also have not figured a shuttle--but have good folks in Bishop to help with that--perhaps park at Happy isles, get permit and take a shuttle to T.meadows...of course I will confirm all this.

I plan on starting at Touloumne meadows and, making it as far as I can, bailing out between Bishop pass to Kearsarge pass.

calipidder--may I also view the map of your excellent site? fyi, I abide good trail courtesy.”

“Our group heads in at Kennedy Meadows (hwy108) on July 21 and exits in Tuolumne Meadows on July 30th. We'll avaerage 9 miles a day. We don't have the camp areas written in stone yet and may end up playing that out as we go. We have one shuttle back up arranged but could use one more if anyone is in the area.
;)”

“Sounds like we may just miss you, song-o, as we'll be starting at Tuolumne on August 2nd. Are you zipping straight home when you finish, or are you planning to hang out for a couple of days?”

“songbyrd - you are starting the same day that I am. Only I am starting at Happy Isles. I wonder if we will pass somewhere along the way. Probably not but that would be cool.”

“Sounds like Karen and I will miss everyone. Leaving Happy Isles on Aug. 15. I'm sooo looking forward to this!!”

“Sandyann, looks like we'll just miss each other.
Bowlderman, No, we'll be heading home on the 31st most likely.”

“starting at LYV on the 3rd of August and exiting via whitney portal on the 25th.”

“Hey, Calipidder and Jimmysan! You guys should hike a bit together. I can vouch for you both as excellent hiking companions that aren't ax murderers ;)
I have pics if you guys want to see what each other looks like.
Jimmysan makes some mouth watering meals though so make sure you make your most excellent meals while dining with him, otherwise you'll be drooling as you watch him eat. ;)”

“I think Songbyrd is looking for a shuttle for our trip seeing as how we won't be setting a foot on the JMT! Well maybe we'll set a foot on it just to say we were there.”

“Calipidder's a copycat ;)”

“This image may hose the thread, but here's what I have so far (We're in red - hopefully you can read the others):

”

“Wow, that's pretty cool Bowlderman!”

“Party at VVR on the 10th/11th of August!!!!
last edited: 3/20/07 1:34:05 PM”

“P.S. I spent over 300 bucks at VVR when we went through. :O Bring your credit card (or not) ;)
last edited: 3/20/07 1:37:06 PM”

“i'll be at VVR on the 12th, spending a rest day at VVR on the 13th, and hiking to rosemarie meadow on the 14th.

i am thinking of speeding things up by one day so I may be arriving on the 11th.

i might just miss everyone... darn!”

“If you miss us at VVR, jimmy, you'll just pass us a few days later. It's possible you could completely miss calipidder, but we're only doing like 6-7 miles per day, so you'll come blasting past us one way or another.”

“Nice chart . That is indeed our Itinerary”

“That is just too cool..!!”

“remove that question mark next to my name. I already booked the flight. I am going!

btw: too many JMT threads on TT”

“That is definitely a cool chart, makes it look all downhill. I like that.”

“Too cool, Bowlderman!”

“Um, it is downhill, isn't it wannabp? If you're travelling south, doesn't that go kind of downhill along the curvature of the earth? Not sure what happens down at the equator - is that like an overhang or something?

I think this is why the usual direction of south-to-north for the PCT is so difficult, right? It's uphill all the way? At least if you continued, it would kind of flatten out up near the north pole....”

“I knew you are going, gem, but I wasn't certain you were going with jackstraw or had some other itinerary....”

“OK, I just updated the image, so if you refresh the page, you should see the new one.”

“we're gonna have to face north and wave to all you guys from the top of whitney”

“Bowlderman, what a great chart! It seems I need to meet this Jimmy san guy, and hope he wants to unload some of his food weight.

Okay, party at VVR on the night on the 10th - I wonder if I can fit a bottle of tequila in my resupply?
last edited: 3/21/07 4:34:12 PM”

“Paige, haven't you heard that imitation is the best form of flattery?

And hey, it made the planning easier!”

“BowlderGal will be driving up to VVR, so could probably include a few frosty beverages in the cargo. Actually, we should probably talk about her bringing the actual resupplies to save y'all some $$ on shipping, etc.”

“Calipidder, yeah glad I could be of help! Ha, awesome trip with you last year wish I could be with you this year. Perhaps something will pan out if I do the High Sierra Trail and we'll cross paths in the end. Although now it sounds like more fun to be at VVR when you head through.

There's plenty of beer at VVR by the way and one thing I did was buy a chunk of cheese from the chef for my resupply, they are more than happy to sell you some that way. They have a small store with some backpackers supply, but it's mostly beverages for the car campers. They also have a washer and dryer and showers!! 1st nights stay at the backpacker area is free, with a free beverage for thruhikers (tent platform beds were all taken when we went through but there were places to pitch my tent right next to it, lass snoring out there anyway) We had a layover day and rented a trailer on the lake the next night, kinda old but it was a bed I guess. Not sure I'd do that again, but it was an experience to say the least. They also were having problems with their communications when we went through, had to walk a mile down the road to the dam to get cell phone reception on the owners cell phone. So if you carry a cell phone, ask where to walk to get some bars.”

“Paige, if you guys are able to meet up with us at Guitar lake we'll make it a party! If not, I'm sure we'll arrange something after we get down from whitney. :) You know that Dave won't let us out of there without at least *one* beer. His trail name is Drunken Marmot, you know!

I wanted to do the whole trail from start to finish this year, but since we did the whole middle stretch last summer I decided to skip it in favor of some other hikes (have to budget that vacation time). It was so amazing I would have loved to have seen that section again, but I'd rather see places I haven't been (Lost Coast, Yose High Passes loop, Mineral King). So your 2005 itinerary is perfect!
last edited: 3/21/07 11:55:48 PM”

“Just reviewing this thread and the chart I did. Our plan is still more or less the same, and, as far as I can tell, so is everyone else's. The only change for us is that our friend will not be doing the whole hike, due to work issues. She will probably exit at Red's if she joins us at all. That means our creative car shuttle to North Lake won't work - instead, we'll just drive straight to Mammoth so she can drive our car home when she exits; we'll take the bus from there to Tuolumne to start. BowlderGal will drive to North Lake on August 17th and pick us up, but not to VVR for the resupply (we'll just mail our supplies there). Don't forget: birthday party for BowlderSon at VVR on August 10th!!



OTOH, I just realized that if we drive straight to Mammoth, we could probably deliver our Red's resupply in person!
last edited: 6/20/07 10:53:37 AM”

“Look out California here we come! Don't say we did'nt warn Ya!

Da Bonehead crew:

Gem
Jackstraw
Sacco
Randal
Crissy
GreenMonkee

Woohoo!!!”