An Adventurous Experience, JMT(John Muir Trail) Yosemite to Mt. Whitney (Aug 11 to Aug 30, 2021)
JMT short for John Muir Trail is a 211 miles trail in Sierra Nevada Mountain Range in California. The trail starts from Yosemite National Park and ends at Mt Whitney which is the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States. The trail passes through Yosemite National Park, Ansel Adam Wilderness, Inyo National Forest, Kings Canyon National Park, and Sequoia National Park.
I had no idea what backpacking was until I did JMT in the summer of 2021. My sis-in-law and her husband along with their friend Jai were planning to do John Muir Trail and during our casual phone call with my sis-in-law she mentioned about this plan and it really intrigued me. I started thinking that maybe I should do this, it was like my heart was telling me I shoud do this and I called and told my sis-in-law that I want to be on their team!
Once a group of interested people was formed we all started applying for the lottery. Getting the lottery is pretty hard and we were lucky that one of the member from our team got the permit including permit for Half Dome so that was a double bonus!
Training
Now that we got the permit it was time for training. None from our group had done something like this so training was going to be most important and hard.
Strength and endurance was the key part, I was already doing weight training, running and other cardio exercises. For backpacking practice we had to train carrying lot of weight in our backpack. I bought weighted vest from Amazon, it was 22 lbs. Initially I started walking with 10 lbs, then slowly started increasing the weight and hiking with it. It was a struggle in the begining hiking with weight but slowly and steadily I started getting into rythm. Once I was comfortable with vest I started looking for backpacks and best place to get backpack was REI. Went to REI and after trying out few got a 65L Gregory backpack.
Now I started using my new backpack with weights in it. So basically we started walking 3 times a week carrying weighted backpack and hiking on weekends including other exercises.
Hiking Gear
List for gear was very long one. Main was backpack which was already bought, other things included, tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, bear canister, water filter, jet boil(to boil water for food), trekking poles, clothes, medical kit, toiletries, head net for bugs because etc. We slowly started buying stuff according to the list.
One of my friend had tent which was light weight, just what we needed so we borrowed that from her. Everything we bought we bought keeping weight in mind, because we wanted to keep our backpacks withing certain limit and not make it too heavy.
Food
Food played another important part, what to eat for 21 days without cooking anything. Eating dehydrated food is the only option when backpacking. We tried and tested variety of options. Food with high calories and protein was a must because we were going to burn 3,000-4,000 calories every single day.
There were four different resupply points where we were needed to send all the required food packets in a bucket or large mail boxes.
Itinerary and Navigation
Since it was a self guided trek, navigating the trail was the important part. To mark the trail finding the camping spot, everything was needed to be done in advance. All though JMT is a well marked trail and there are plenty of people on the trail, safety was number one priority. One of the member Ankur from our group took that responsibility, he mapped the whole trail, decided on campsites(which had to be by the river or lake or some kind of water body). Another friend Jai from our group used Gaia, a navigating app to map out the entire route of JMT which was very helpful.
Team
Our team consisted of 7 members, 4 of us knew each other, remaining 3 were new to me.
From left to right, Samir, Meenal(that's me), Anu, Jai, Ankur, Arun and Ashutosh
Trek Statistics
- Distance-: Total 230 miles, from Yosemite to Mt. Whitney and back to Whitney Portal plus we also did extra Half Dome hike.
- Days-: Aug 11th to Aug 31st, 2021. Planning to do in 21 days but we finished in 20 days, we skipped the rest day so we could finish one day earlier.
- Daily distance covered-: Between 12-14 miles with 3,000 feet ascent and almost equal amount of descend. All of this, carrying a heavy pack of 30lbs. It was a challenge but we had done a lot of practice, some days were harder than other, especially initial days on trail were very hard.
- Total Elevation Gain-: 50,000 feet which is roughly 1.7 times of Mt. Everest!
JMT trail is in total wilderness with no internet connection so we bought a Garmin's SAT communicator for everyone's safety and send one daily message to our family members of the whole group.
The trail passes through five different National Parks and or forests. Since it is in wilderness and not very easily connected to roads, it's natural beauty is preserved. There was no a single trash on the trail not even a bit of paper. All hikers must pack and carry their own trash.
This was my first every backpacking trip and first ever high altitude trek. I didn't do any high altitude practice hikes either, we had carried diamox(medicine for altitude sickness) just in case if we get sick. To slowly adjust to altitude we did JMT from south to north which is what most people do.
Daily Routine for 21 days-: Wake up super early at 4:15 AM, make breakfast, eat, pack up tent and backpack and head out on trail at 6 AM. Enjoy the day hike and reach campsite between 1-4 PM depending upon how many miles we did. After reaching the campsite, first thing was to set up the tent, then stretch and soak our tired legs in the nearby stream or lake. Wash our clothes if needed, change, wash our lunch mugs, get water from the stream and filter it and cook dinner. Since there was nothing to be done once it gets dark we use to eat early dinner, keep our bear canister far away from campsite and call it a night. Next morning routine starts again.
Me, Anu and Samir went to Bay Area couple of days before our trip started. It was during covid times so there still was lot of hassel of testing and masks mandates. Visited San Francisco, saw all the touristy spot
Day 0(Arrival in Yosemite)
We left bay area early morning by rental car and went to Merced Lake which was 3-31/2 drive.It was a small town and it took us few minutes to locate the YARTS (Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System) bus stop at Merced Airport.YARTS took us to Yosemite, Curry Village where we had booked a tent for the night, last bit of comfort before embarking on our trek. The place was completely packed with people, families who came just for camping and touristing. We ate pizza and went to our tents, each tent had a bear box outside to keep your food and anything that has smell like cream, soap, toothpaste etc.
We had an early start next morning so we slept early, couldn't really sleep well because I was quite anxious for tomorrow. It was complete dark outside even though there were tents all around us.
Day 1 (Curry Village to Little Yosemite Valley)
Total Miles: 13.2
Ascent/Descent: 5,934 ft/3,821 ft
Camping altitude: 6,205 ft
Woke up super early, got little to no sleep but had to start early. Everything was packed the night before so we just had to get up and get going. 5:30 AM we started, it was still very dark.
At the start of the trailhead
The day that we were waiting for had begun, it was going to be a long day. Walking with 30lb or so weight was no joke, you can definitely start feeling it right from the begining. Legs were getting heavy, it was a steep climb. Within first couple of hours I started getting drained out and was on the verge of fainting, luckily Samir was walking with me, I sat on the side of the trail and had some water and ate a snack. The rest of the team was little ahead of us and waiting for us, soon we joined them and let them know what happened. Withing no time all of them offered to shared some load from my backpack. Gave them couple of things which helped a lot. Started feeling a lot better and actually started enjoying the hike. Very scenic, Yosemite is my favorite National Park of all time and getting to see it up close was an amazing treat.
The trail was very rocky. Each step was getting heavy.
Yosemite Falls in the background
With 5 miles finished with 2,000 ft elevation gain we reached Nevada Falls. Nevada falls is very beautiful, we spent some time there to take pictures.
We set up tent, put our backpacks in it and started for half dome right away. Another steep climb, we reached to the base of half dome where cable started but couldn't climb up the cable because there was chance of storm and it is very dangerous to climb in such weather so safe choice was to turn around and head back to the campground.
After returning back to the campground we filled water in the near by creek and cooked dinner. By 8:30 we packed and went to sleep, first night in the tent couldn't sleep that well again. Luckily we had toilet, porta potty kinds for first 4 campgrounds.
Day 2(Little Yosemite Valley to Sunrise Meadows)
Total Miles: 9.8
Ascent/Descent: 3,700 ft/600 ft
Camping Altitude: 9,350 ft
Woke up at 4:30, it took us almost 3 hrs to get everything done. There is lot of work when you are backpacking. Early morning routine, cook breakfast, wrap up the tent, pack backpack etc. By the time we left the campground it was 7 AM, according to the initial itinerary we had planned to do the clouds rest hike but decided to skip it and head straight to sunrise meadows campground.
The trail was not very picturesque because of all the burned down section(from previous year of fire in yosemite). It actually felt very sad looking at all the burned tree.
There were lot of thorny bushes which we had to walk through. It was immensely hot that day had to refill water near tenaya lake junction which took about 45 minutes.
To get to the meadows there was a significant climb, plus we came to know from passing hikers that there’s no water at the campsite, so just before the climb we again refilled our water(about 4 ltr per person) and started our climb in the unbearable heat. Carrying that extra weight of water was no joke, another 1,000 feet climb until we reach the beautiful sunrise meadow campground.
Me and Anu just before reaching the campground
We hit nearly 10,000 ft altitude and climbed back down some to sunrise meadows campsite at 9,500 ft. The view of the meadows and cathedral peak in the back was outstanding! Our exhausted bodies were recovered by soaking the beautiful views in our eyes. Reached the campsite at 4 Pm. We were the only campers on that campground and luckily we had toilets again!
Ate dinner around 6:30 and slept at 8:30. It was a clear starry night, little bit cold and could definitely feel the altitude because I was getting exhausted by just walking few steps.
Day 2 campsite, we had the whole campsite for ourselves
The night sky was looking amazing from here, never seen so many twinkling stars. It felt like I was in a dream. First few days I had hard time going to sleep but Jai assured it gets better by 4th or 5th day.
Day 3(Sunrise Meadows to Tuolumne Meadows)
Total Miles: 9.7
Ascent/Descent: 1,200 ft/ 1,800 ft
Camping Altitude: 8,600 ft
We woke up at 4:30 AM which was our norm and left the campground at 6:30 AM. Today was the first of 11 mountain passes we were going to climb. Cathedral Peak pass was at 9,700 ft and I could definitely feel the altitude today, walking very slow. Samir and Arun and I were together, others were ahead of us.
The views along the way were mesmerizing.
Me with Cathedral Peak in the background!
Samir was giving me some tips to keep walking slowly and stopping too much, taking a sip of water every now and then. We sucessfully climbed the Cathedral Pass and stopped at upper cathedral lake to fill our water.
We met so many fellow hikers from this section to Tuolumne. We arrived at a post office at Tuolumne Meadows where we had shipped our supplies. Gathered those supplies, packed everything in our bear canisters and walked further down to the campground which was fully packed. Luckily we got space to put our four tents.
We met Scott(a fellow hiker) who was doing JMT for second time. He gave us some tips to keep our backpack lighter.
We again had luxury of proper toilets and a sink with running water where we washed our clothes and changed into another set of fresh clothes. Our permit was checked by a ranger and she warned us about 3 resident bears who visits casually at this campground. Luckily we didn't see them that night! We ate dinner and went in our tents, but couldn't fall asleep again. It was taking time to adjust sleeping in tent.
Day 4(Tuolumne Meadows to Upper Lyell Canyon)
Total Miles: 11.6 Ascent/Descent: 1,900 ft / 350 ft Camping Altitude: 10,200 ft
Total Miles: 11.6
Ascent/Descent: 1,900 ft/ 300 ft
Camping Altitude: 10,200 ft
After starting from Tuolumne Meadows at 6:30 we saw beautiful sunrise and it's reflection looked great in a near by lake.
Sunrise
First 9 miles or so was relatively flat. The walk was through beautiful meadow, green and yellow grass and pine trees in the background looked simply amazing.
Beautiful walk through meadow
Last 2 miles was all uphill in unbearable heat to Lyell Canyon where we reached this beautiful and my most favorite campground around 1:30. Couldn't have found beautiful campsite than this, our tents were up right next to Lyell Fork and a lake. We were above 10,000 feet at this picturesque location, I just fell in love with the views. All of us were taking lots of pictures.
Some of us took dip in freezing cold water, it felt amazing. After rinsing our clothes and stuff in water we kind of relaxed.
Our campsite
While we were enjoying the views, suddenly weather changed and it started to rain, gladly it was just passing shower and it was gone withing few minutes. As always we ate dinner and put our bear canisters far away from tents.
After we wrapped up everything and went into tent to call it a night, Jai being Jai made some grunting noise outside our tent and expected us to panic but me and Anu immediately knew that it was him playing prank on us 😁
Day 5(Lyell Canyon to Shadow Creek)
Total Miles: 14.6
Ascent/Descent: 2,900 ft/ 4,000 ft
Camping Altitude: 9,000 ft
This turned out to be the longest and tiring day ever. We started at 6:30, since our clothes didn't dry overnight we had to tie them on our backpacks to let it dry out.
We crossed the lyell fork rapids and few other stream.
Me and Anu crossing the lake
After crossing the rapids and streams we immediately started climbing the Donhoue pass, we witnessed amazing sunrise colors in the sky behind us. Had to take a minute to enjoy this view.
Pretty colors of Sunrise
Me at Ansel and Adam sign on the top
After reaching the top we saw one hiker talking on the phone so I took my phone out and called home, it was so nice to hear their voices after 4 days, it gave me the energy I needed.
View from the top of the pass
Felt better after talking with family and we started the descend. Today's itinerary included climbing 2 passes, one was already done and second one was coming up soon after the descent. Along the way we saw some stunning lakes, Thousand Island Lake, Emerald Lake, Ruby Lake, Garnet Lake.
We took a break to enjoy this beauty around us, had a quick snack.
Thousand Island lake was quite exceptional, it was a huge lake with small islands on it.
Thousand Island Lake with Mount Banner in the background
We had been walking for so long, I was worried that we might not reach the campground before dark. Luckily we reached there at 6:30 PM while there was still light. Jai, Samir, Arun and Ashutosh had already reached the campground at 4:30, so we did get a good camping spot right by the creek. While we were there we heard a helicopter whirring above the campground, we all thought that it might be for rescue but later discovered that someone by mistakenly had pressed sos button on their Garmin SAT device. We got a sigh of relief but were glad that help does come your way when needed. After such a tiring day we had to get ready and up for next day so we quickly ate dinner and did all the routine and called it a night.
Day 6(Shadow Creek to Reds Meadow)
Total Miles: 10.70
Total Ascent/Descent: 2,000 ft/3,300 ft
Camping Altitude: 7,700 ft
Today everyone was excited as we were headed to Reds Meadow campground. This campground had all the ameneties, including hikers cabins, general store and cafe.
We left early from Shadow Creek campground, came across shadow lake where we saw beautiful reflection of nearby mountains in the lake.
Did plenty of climbing and we passed bunch of lakes, Rosalie, Gladys and Vivian. After that it was all downhill to Reds Meadow.
We took a slight detour from JMT to see Devil's Postpile National Monument, it is an unusual rock formation of columnar basalt. It was a short and steep climb to see this National Monument but it was worth visiting.
We reached Reds Meadow and it felt good being back in civilization :) Reds Meadow had hiker cabins, a general store and a small cafe where we had filling garden burger and shakes, what a treat it was! Took a nice hot shower here and slept in beds(though they were not comfortable). Came across baby bear and mommy bear walking in the trees behind bathrooms.
We packed bagel and cream cheese for next day's lunch from the cafe!
Sadly one of our team member, Arun had to quit and return back home to US due to family emergency. So next morning, he took a bus to the airport and rest of us continued our journey ahead.
Day 7(Reds Meadow to Purple Lake)
Total Miles: 13.6
Total Ascent/Descent: 3,200 ft/1,100 ft
Camping Altitude: 10,000 ft
We started early at 5:45 as we had packed everything the night before and there was no tents and cooking involved in the morning. The sky was just lighting up, we saw several bear paw prints on the trail. Did lot of climbing through switchbacks, we crushed 8.4 miles in 4 hrs. Me, Anu and Samir were together at this point, Jai and Ashutosh were ahead. Ankur was somewhere back so us three waited for him. We ate our lunch while we waited and took pictures, it was beautiful valley where we were waiting.
We started to worry as Ankur didn't show up, he came after almost an hour. He was filling water so got late he said. We all started again once he came back, thereafter trail was a roller coaster uphill and downhill. There was no water on the trail for last 5 miles but we all had carried enough until we reached our next camp at Purple Lake.
Ashutosh and Jai had already reached and picked a perfect spot by the lake for camping. Since most of the hikers camp at Virginia Lake, which is couple of miles beyond Purple Lake but some of us didn't want to do the extra 2 miles that day.
Purple lake was extremely pretty, we were surrounded by mountains and lake in the middle. Since we were in a bowl surrounded by mountains, it was very windy and cold.
The lake water was crystal clear and very beautiful.
Me and Anu soaking our feet in Purple Lake
Starry night sky was looking great from this camping site, since we were at 10,000 feet altitude. Jai took a great picture next early morning way before sunrise, he captured milky way on his samsun galaxy phone.
Day 8(Purple Lake to Mott Lake Junction)
Total Miles: 7.7
Total Ascent/Descent: 2,900 ft/3,850 ft
Camping Altitude: 9,000 ft
Waking up early at 4 AM was a routine now, we had mastered all the routine by now and had become very efficient in it. We left the camp at 6 AM and immediately started the ascent to Lake Virginia which is the largest alpine lake. It was very very windy and cold when we reached Lake Virginia, quickly took a quick picture and left immediately.
Next up we started climbing silver pass, it was quite a climb. On our way we passed several lakes named after American Indians, Lake of the Indian, Warrior Lake, Chief Lake and Squaw Lake. We ate lunch at silver pass lake under the shade of a small tree.
After climbing silver pass views were amazing from the top
We also crossed Goodale Pass Junction and VVR(Vermilion Valley Resort). According to the original itinerary we were going this detour to take a rest day at VVR but it was going to add extra mileage and no one was up to add more mileage so it was decided to continue ahead.
The descent was quite rocky and hard on knees, but you gotta do what you gotta do, take one step at a time and continue to move on. We crossed several foot bridges on JMT, foot bridge is normally built where there is a possibility of creek overflowing and making it impossible to cross it.
Finally after quite a bit of descend reached Mott Lake Junction campsite. It was kind of ok campsite, surface was quite rocky but Jai and Ashutosh since they use to reach early were able to find good spots to put our tent. Good part was our camping site was right beside the trail which means we could easily get going next morning. Stretching and soaking feet in water was another after reaching campsite. Stretching was very important to help the sore muscles relax and get ready for next day. Same with feet soaking, it felt very soothing when we dipped our legs in cold water, all the tiredness in feet was swept away in flowing water.
Day 9(Mott Lake Junction to Bear Creek Trail)
Total Miles: 14.1
Total Ascent/Descent: 3,500 ft/2,500 ft
Camping Altitude: 10,000 ft
Morning time routine had been getting better and better each day and we were getting ready to leave the campground early morning at 6/6:30. Today first 2 miles we climbed down and reached mono creek, we crossed mono creek by hopping on rocks.
Anu crossing the Mono Creek
By now we were aware that after crossing any body of water climb would start immediately. We started heavy climb with 65 switchbacks! I enjoy climbing on switchbacks, it keeps you busy. But switchbacks also means there were no views as such but it was ok. Met one 70 year old who was doing JMT all by himself! he easily went past us in no time, we were in awe!
Great views after climbing to the top.
Ate a quick snack and started walking again. It was down hill for few miles, stopped and ate lunch and started climb again for our next campground at Bear Creek. We were not sure how much water was available at Bear Creek but hikers coming from the opposite side confirmed that there is enough water at bear creek and sure it was! The creek was flowing well with plenty of water.
Today's campsite was nice and spacious and I beleive we were the only ones who had camped there. Views were beautiful from here. We played antakshari after setting up tents while sipping hot chocolate and eating some snacks.
In the middle of the night all of us suddenly heard jingling sound and hooves, felt like group of animals running through our campsite very close to our tents but none of us dared to peek out of our tents. It was really scary, it felt like anytime now whatever was running was going to bang into our tents. Luckily the sound receded after some time but had hard time getting back to sleep after all that drama. Next morning when we started walking we saw fresh mule dung on the trail which only meant that a mule train passed by our campsite in the night which made that loud noise!
Day 10(Bear Creek Trail to Muir Trail Ranch to Piute Creek)
Total Miles: 13.3
Total Ascent/Descent: 1900 ft/3,800 ft
Camping Altitude: 8,100 ft
Started from the campsite at 6:05 AM, withing the first hour of our hike we came to Marie Lake, we watched sun coming up from behind the mountain from here, it was quite magical!
We continued climbing Seldon Pass(10,870 ft). By now I was getting better at climbing these passes, it was still hard but enjoying the nature around made it bearable.
Views from the top of the pass were simply amazing. Now climbing down from the pass we passed two more beautiful lakes, Sally Keyes Lake and Heart Lake which actually was shaped like heart.
From there on it was rocky downhill to Muir Trail Ranch famously known as MTR. As we saw the signs for MTR we all got excited. We reached there at noon, Jai and Ashutosh had already reached and found a good campsite. MTR was our resupply point, we collected our supply boxes and filled our bear canisters with fresh supply of food for next few days.
After packing everything we weighed our backpacks on the big weighing machine at MTR. Our packs were very heavy, thanks to all the supplies that we just filled.
We were going to enjoy hot springs here when Ankur suggested that if we do extra 3.5 miles we could cut down the mileage and ascent for next day. Unanimously everyone liked the idea and agreed to hike extra 3.5 miles and camp at Piute Creek. With heavy backpack we now started to walk, I started chanting Atharvasheersha(a hindu mantra) to keep my self busy and distracted from the burden of walking with heavy pack. Chanting these mantras gave me strength, from then on whenever the walking got monotonous I started chanting them. Along the way we entered Kings Canyon National Park.
Reached our campsite at Piute Creek, it was a busy campsite with lots of campers. Soaked our tired feet in the creek, washed clothes and put them on near by bushes to dry.
On our way here we had heard from passing hikers that there was a agressive bear in the area near Piute Creek campground so we all were quite vigilant but luckily there was no sign of bear!
After eating dinner we called it a night and went to sleep. Today first time in 10 days I was able to sleep through the whole night!
Day 11(Piute Creek to Evolution Lake)
Total Miles: 12.5
Total Ascent/Descent: 3500 ft/700 ft
Camping Altitude: 10,900 ft
Our day started at 6 AM. Kings Canyon scenery was quite different than what we had been seeing for last 10 days. I was amazed by the vastness of Kings Canyon, striking beauty and tall sequoias, gushing waterfalls. Initially we walked by South Fork San Joaquin River.
The climb took us to this beautiful waterfall where we took pictures.
The views kept mesmerizing us as we were walking.
We continued our walk alnong the evolution creek. Then came a point where we had to cross the river, we took our shoes off and wore sandals to cross the river.
After crossing we climbed some and walked through evolution valley and Mc Clure Meadow. It was very bright, sunny and hot.
Walk through the meadow was all flat, we stopped at the creek after crossing the meadow just before the big climb. Anu, Sameer and Ankur stopped to fill their water and since I didn't need any water I told them I will keep walking and they can catch up quickly. I kept walking slowly and 30 minutes went by and there was no sign of them. Still I thought they will catch up soon and kept walking when suddenly a big snake crossed my path but I was too scared to take out phone and take a picture, quickly I crossed the path and came to open area and waited Anu, Samir and Ankur, another 20 min passed and still no sign of them. Gladly I saw some hikers coming my way and asked if they saw my teammates on the trail behind, they said yes and passed me their message to stop and wait for them. Ten minutes later they arrived and I let a sigh of relief, they thought I was lost and went looking for me. We continued climbing after that episode and arrived at Evolution Lake. It was a beautiful campsite, so serene! Yet this day I was feeling very lonely and homesick. Did some stretching in my tent and ate late lunch.
Not many trees here at the campsite, sunset was quite magical!
Day 12(Evolution Lake to Kings River Middle Fork)
Total Miles: 14
Total Ascent/Descent: 1800 ft/4000 ft
Camping Altitude: 8,750 ft
Started early morning at 6:30 just as it was starting to light up. Today we were going to climb Muir Pass which sits tall at at an elevation of 11,955. At the top of the pass there's Muir hut which is built with corbelled limestone slabs. It is named after John Muir. It was going to be a long climb to the pass.
It use to be super cold in the morning, plus because of the altitude it feels more colder. Evolution lake was pretty big, we followed the trail along evolution lake for over a mile.
We continued climbing up the Muir Pass and saw one beautiful lake after another. After evolution lake we came across Sapphire lake. Wanda lake was next, which was named after one of the John Muir's daughter. All these lakes were jaw dropping beautiful.
Crystal clear water of the lake
We were now able to see the hut from the trail, but it was still far far away, I was walking very slow, finally reached the top of the pass. I cried with joy after reaching the top. We went inside the hut as it was very windy and cold. The shelter gave us warmth, ate some snack and rested for few minutes.
Continued our walk downhill, it was a steep, rocky downhill.
Blasted Granite
Views were spectacular as usual while climbing down.
Day 13(Kings River Middle Fork to Lower Palisaes via Golden Staircase)
Total Miles: 11
Total Ascent/Descent: 3,050 ft/1,150 ft
Camping Altitude: 10,600 ft
Started our day at 6:05 from campground. There was this haze in the air because of the wildfires.
Hazy Morning
The very famous “Golden Staircase” were coming up ahead. Golden Staircase were steep series of switchbacks which takes you all the way up in short distance. If you catch golden stairs towards the golden hours before sunset the light reflects off from the creek giving it a golden glow.This was the last constructed section of JMT in 1938.
We started a 5k climb on golden staircase with 1800 ft elevation. By this time I realized that I am enjoying walking on rocky terrain. Though the staircase was harder, 12 days into this trek I was feeling more stronger.
Me walking on the staircase
Waterfall along the way
Reached Lower Palisades Lake at 12:45, we ate lunch washed our clothes in lake and hung our clothes on trees like christmas ornaments :)) Jai and Ashutosh were brave enought to take a dip in the cold lake. A funny incident happened here, Jai's sandals got swept away in the lake and a nearby hiker saw this and he jumped into the lake and swam to get his sandals back.
We retired to our tents after dinner and called it a night!
Day 14(Lower Palisades Lake to Lake Marjorie)
Total Miles: 12.5
Total Ascent/Descent: 3,100 ft/2,550 ft
Camping Altitude: 11,200 ft
Felt accomplished after reaching the top.
Started descending to South Fork Kings River crossing. Saw these small tarns along the way after descending.
To see some trees was treat to the eyes after climbing the rugged Mather Pass.
After eating lunch we immediately started climbing Pinchot Pass to reach our next destination, Lake Marjorie. We passed a mule train on our way. Whenever I saw mule train on the trail I always thought wish I could ride on that mule instead of climbing the treacherous pass 😁, it makes me laugh now whenever I thing about it!
Mule Train on the trail
Reached Lake Marjorie campground, lake was shimmering in the sunlight. This campground also had less trees and we had camped near the lake so it was very windy and cold.
Campground at Lake Marjorie
Day 15(Lake Marjorie to Woods Creek)
Total Miles: 9
Total Ascent/Descent: 1,100 ft/3,750 ft
Camping Altitude: 8,500 ft
Today we were going to climb rest of the Pinchot Pass, so far we had been breaking the climb to the passes in 2 parts. One half we use to climb on the day and other half the next day and it was working out well for the group. Last 5 days were left, today we had arranged a mule train to deliver our supplies on the trail for us, it was either this or go to onion valley through Kaesarge Pass which meant another additional 15 miles so everyone decided to go with this option. Mule service was quite expensive, $850 for 6 people! This supply was very crucial as there was no other supply point ahead which means our packs were heaviest with food for last 5 days.
We started climbing rest of the Pinchot Pass, started at 6:20 from Lake Marjorie.
View from Pinchot Pass
From Pinchot pass walked down to Woods Creek Junction. There was a suspension bridge which is called the Golden Gate of Sierra to get to the woods creek. Our campground was just after the suspension bridge.
Tom, our mule carrier arrived at woods creek junction where we sorted all the supplies into our bear canisters. We crossed the suspension bridge and arrived at the campground, it was a a busy campground.
Our supplies delivered by Mule Service on the trail
The campsite was really nice, it was right next to the bridge so we could see many hikers coming and going from here. We enjoyed our rest of the day here, soaking feet in the nearby flowing creek and taking pictures on the suspension bridge, playing charades, it was lot of fun!
Fun at the campsite
Day 16(Woods Creek to Middle Rae Lake)
Total Miles: 7
Total Ascent/Descent: 2,300 ft/300 ft
Camping Altitude: 10,600 ft
Today we had heaviest pack on our back since we had 5 days worth of food. There were only 7 miles to cover today hence we decided to start a little late. So, we left at 7 AM. Today me, Anu and Samir were together, I was slow because of the backpack weight. We passed some beautiful lakes on our walk today. We saw some mesmerizing lakes today.
Me and Anu just after the start of the day
Me and Samir, the reflection looked so pretty in the lake
Dollar lake and Arrowhead lake were equally beautiful. You could see fin dome reflection in dollar lake.
Dollar lake with fin dome in the background
Arrowhead Lake, you could see the trail next to the lake
Walking by these beautiful lakes was very much soothing. The water in the lake was crystal clear. Rae Lakes is a chain of 3 beautiful lakes, lower, middle and upper Rae Lakes. Rae Lakes hike is most popular hike in Sequoia and Kings Canyon. The loop is 41.4 miles long, and climbs from 5,035 feet at the trailhead to 11,978 feet at Glen Pass. It is accessible via the Wood's Creek trailhead (clockwise) or the Bubb's Creek trailhead (counter clockwise). We could see the campground on the other side of the trail, it was quite a walk from there.
Crossing the lake to reach the campground
Jai and Ashutosh had already reached the campground. They found an amazing site with uninterrupted views of multiple lakes and a private beach access. It was a small site so we had to cozy up our tents. There were plenty of notorious squirrels at the campsite who were brave enough to come near us and try eating our food. They literally took away Samir’s spoon which was left unattended after eating. We had to make sure that the lid of our bear canisters were closed tightly. We played dumb charades post dinner and went to sleep.
Our campsite by the lake
Day 17(Middle Rae Lake to Bubbs Creek )
Total Miles: 11
Total Ascent/Descent: 3,600 ft/2,900 ft
Camping Altitude: 11,300 ft
We had to tackle the remaining of the Glen Pass today. Me and Anu got a headstart at 6:30 AM. It was a gradual climb initially, after the switchbacks started it became very rocky. Witnessed some amazing views on our way, there were lot of other hikers we met on the climb.
Took this pic just after the start, the lake water was very still and sky was light orange color.
Me and Anu walking on rocky switchback
At the top of the Glen Pass
Started descending and views kept mesmerising us.
The views were nothing short of beauty!
Our mule supplier was going to bring us fuel canisters at Charolette Lake junction which he had forgotten to bring at woods creek. It was decided that Samir and Ankur will wait for hin at the junction trail head and rest of us continue to our next distination. Jai and Ashutosh of course surpassed me and Anu as they wanted to get best campsite for us. Me and Anu stopped for lunch after some time and hoped Samir and Ankur will soon join us but we waited for a while but didn't see any sign of both so we started climbing. Soon, they both caught up with us. It had gotten quite hot and I found it hard to climb in that heat.
Finally we made it to the campground just 2 miles past Bubbs Creek.There was a nice creek which had plenty of flowing water.
Bubbs Creek
Our campground was at 11,200 ft but still was surrounded by trees.
Day 18(Bubbs Creek to Wright Creek )
Total Miles: 12
Total Ascent/Descent: 2,800 ft/3,000 ft
Camping Altitude: 10,700 ft
Today was the day to climb the hardest of all the passes on JMT, Foresters Pass. At 13,153 feet, Forester Pass is the highest point along the Pacific Crest Trail.
This pass was endless, had read and heard a lot about how hard this pass was so I was little anxious about this pass.
The rugged trail, nothing but rocks on the endless trail
Everyone walked at their own speed. I was very slow because of the anxiousness I had about this pass.
The brutal climb
I finished this pass all alone, there was no one on the trail for last 30-40 min, I was walking alone surrounded by tall mountains which was kind of eerie and peaceful at the same time. At one point I was so done, then saw some people walking behind me and felt little better.
Finally reached the top and my team was waiting for me to take a group picture.Forester Pass is the place where Kings Canyon ends and Sequoia National Park begins.
At the top of Foresters Pass
I didn't take many pictures this day as I was exhausted by the climb. So whatever pictures I shared were taken by someone else's phone.
Descended Forrester Pass and reached Tyndall creek, ate lunch.
On our way down
In between I twisted my ankle and fell but luckily nothing major, I was fine. On our way we walked through Bighorn Plateau, it was a vast space with little or no greenery surrounded by mountains on all the sides. It got quite monotonous after a while hence we played a game called Contact. I had never played it before but it was fun. Time passed faster because of the game.
Bighorn Plateau
On our way we found a sign which said Mt. Whitney 16.1 miles and we all were ecstatic!
We reached campground around 2. Our original plan was to camp at Tyndall Creek but we decided to add a few miles today to shorten the distance to Guitar Lake. We thought an easier day before Whitney summit would be a good idea.
Campground was really nice, there was continous soothing noise of stream flowing near by.
Day 19(Wright Creek to Guitar Lake)
Total Miles: 9
Total Ascent/Descent: 2,150 ft/1,250 ft
Camping Altitude: 11,500 ft
Our trip was nearing to the end, Guitar Lake was our last camping destination. We had been counting days for last 10 days, and were eager to finish this backpacking trip.
We left at 6 AM from wright creek campground. It was mostly flat and then descend for first 3 miles.
We started the climb to guitar lake, Anu had nose bleed because of the heat.
The views were great, passed beautiful Timberline Lake from where you could see Mt. Whitney and it's shadow in the lake, it was very pretty.
Timberline Lake and Mt. Whitney in the background
Reached Guitar Lake soon after, the lake was actually shaped like a guitar.
Guitar Lake
We crossed guitar lake and camped few hundred feet away at a tarn. It was a nice campsite. Since there were no trees at this height, we couldn't hang our gravity filter so Jai found a vertical rock and hung the filter on it and it worked perfectly.
We had to put our tents at 3 different levels.
Panoramic Picture of our campground
Rest of the day we spent time getting things ready for the summit next day, relaxing and eating dinner. Jai suggested instead of leaving early morning we leave in the night to see the sunrise from Mt. Whitney and everyone liked the idea and that also meant we will reach the whitney portal in time before our shuttle arrives to take us to Lone Pine where we had booked our hotel for the night. 
Relaxing in our tent
It was kind of emotional day, tomorrow our trip was coming to an end, though everyone was ready to get back home to our families! We had early dinner and slept at 7(though was not able to sleep for long time). Day 20(Guitar Lake to Mt. Whitney to Whitney Portal)
Total Miles: 16(5 miles to Whitney+11 miles to Whitney Portal)
Total Ascent/Descent: 4,000 ft/6,500 ft
The D-day had arrived, my alarm went off at 12:30, our backpacks were packed and ready to go. We didn't breakfast as it was too early for that, carried bars and snacks instead.
Using wagbags was quite an experience!😁 Moreover carrying the used wagbag for another 16 miles was a different experience all together😂.
Myself, Samir and Anur left at 1:30 AM and Jai, Anu and Ashutosh left at 2:30 AM as they were faster. We put on our headlights and immediately started climbing. Luckily it was not that cold, we started sweating as soon as climb started but we didn't take our jackets as it was still cold.
As we were climbing we could see people climbing up as their headlamps were on, all we could see was small light walking on the trail.
There was time when I felt I am walking very close to the edge but the trail was very safe and nicely maintained. Slowly and steadily we reached trailcrest at 4.20 AM, This is a junction where the two trails, trail from Whitney Portal and trail from Guitar Lake, meet. We left our backpacks here and carried just water and snacks for the remaining climb.
The daybreak was at 5:57 AM, we turned our headlamps off and the views that we witnessed were just out of this world! We could see the horizon slightly lighting up.
The last part to reach the top seemed to be endless, we kept walking and walking. Reached just in time to witness the sunrise!
After reaching the top of the highest peak in the contiguous 48 United States, the feeling you get cannot be described in words. At that moment I was literally on top of the world! The beautiful sunrise, the atmosphere up there is truly AMAZING! I just can’t describe how I felt standing there and watching the sunrise. I celebrated this achievement by doing a tree pose on the top of Mt. Whitney!
All the other mountains looked smaller from the top even though they were not! Views were amazing from up there, our hands were freezing without gloves but had to take plenty of pictures of the views.
Layers and layers of mountains
Mission accomplished by the whole team!
After spending about 30 minutes up there we started descending. We could actually see the trail now that we had walked on in total darkness while climbing.
Reached trailcrest and picked our backpacks.
Trailcrest where we had stowed our backpacks for final summit
After picking our backpacks we started the brutal descent where there were 90 switchback, all downhill to climb down Mt. Whitney. We saw lot of other hikers making their way up to Mt. Whitney and we all were releived that our's was done! We took a group picture after the switchbacks and then everyone climbed down at their own pace.
Myself, Anu Tai and Samir descended together! We played antakshari to keep ourselves busy and occupied otherwise the downhill was becoming quite tedious. When we saw the first glimpse of the road we were ecstatic! The first glimpse of the road after 20 days boosted our morale, started pacing faster! Finally we saw the parking lot and we literally ran towards it! Jai, Ashutosh and Ankur had already reached! Felt exhilarating after crossing the portal and releived that we all DID IT, finished 20 days of backpacking without any injuries!
We all ate Burger and Fries, eating real food felt so so good.
Eating first real meal after 19 days!
Our rental car came which took us to our hotel at Lone Pine!
Our shoes laid to rest after 20 days!
After finishing, we came to know that all the National Forests were closing due to ongoing fires in California, all hikers were asked to leave as soon as possible and were being evacuated. I guess we were lucky enough to finish our whole JMT, we met many hikers who were very sad about not being able to finish. We all were glad that we finished a day earlier than we had planned otherwise we would have been in the same boat as others.
Day 21(Lone Pine to Bay Area)
After spending the night in a motel in Lone Pine, we took an early morning bus next day to Mammoth Lakes Airport from where we rented a car and drove back to Bay Area. Jai's family gave us a warm welcome, his daughter baked a cake and made poster for us.
What an amazing experience it had been, tough but amazing. Never had I thought that I would be able to do something like this, it's amazing what your body can do when your mind is set on something. It feels great to finish something that you have started.
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