The Female Thru-Hike Experience
John Muir Trail Edition
August 2019
Reveling in our accomplishment
Katy Perry’s Roar vibrates in my right ear while I settle my left boot up onto the snowpack of the next kick-in boot track along the South facing section of Forester Pass (13,153’). As I heave myself and my pack with 7 days’ worth of provisions nestled in a heavy bear cannister, I roar aloud simultaneously to my melodious inspiration. “It’s not thaaat bad,” flies by my left ear that is sans earbud. Surprised by my partner’s proximity, I turn and gruffly nod. Here is where I describe my waifishness—a long and lithe 5’2” former ballerina who obviously learned that the term “can’t” does not exist (still taught today in studios worldwide). Alternatively, my partner exudes averageness. Height, weight, male, and yes, titled Joey.
Every time I recall this memory I double over with laughter. Why? How is this scene not hilarious? Imagine, if you will indulge me, a small figure with a pack larger than the human scaling the side of a rockface, one boot up to her chest and pushing on trekking poles to reach the next step and her Average Joe on her heels waiting patiently for each step as if the stairs were made for him. Because they were. This scene encompasses my female narrative in all my adventures. Maybe it’s part of what draws me into the wilds though. The challenge of walking along a path created for larger beings.
Growing up with older brothers, the expectations included being stronger, better, faster, smarter, and more clever if I wanted to participate. I outsmarted the other capture the flag teams, I was all-time QB for four hand touch, and I never shed a tear no matter how many soccer balls nailed my face when forced to be goalie (always). Is it this way for all the other female thru-hikers? I don’t know. I wonder. I wonder a lot because their stories are only shared when they crush FKTs. So, sit back, turn down Roar and let me tell you a bit about the best trail to hike in America.
Sunrise as seen from the Golden Staircase along the John Muir Trail
Truthfully, I wrote the opening paragraphs immediately after returning home but lost steam for my writing practice. Now, five years later and having lost all the notes of where to camp along the trail, I sit here attempting to deconstruct the maps and retrace our steps. Warning, there will be some inaccuracies.
However, the sentiments remain unaltered—the John Muir Trail is hands down the best trail for thru-hiking in the States. It’s also still true that steps on trails are built for the average male gait. I don’t expect a sudden shift for my slighter frame but I do expect more respect for all the extra effort it takes to carry a heavy pack up obnoxiously high rock stairs on trails. Good thing I’m flexible and my hip flexors have been trained for high knees, hehe. We need to keep the hard trail rating anyway, right?
On the third day, we were passed by a pair of ladies who hike the trail every year. I thought that odd until crossing over another jaw-dropping mountain pass day after day. Unparalleled views anywhere. And I’ve experienced a portion of other wheres. There are very few mountain ranges that rival the high Sierras. TAJ and I are fortunate to have experienced this one together and I would opt in for another round when you ask me. Do I need to send a less subtle hint?!
Planning & Prep
Having lost my notes and all of our permits, I’ll do my best to inform you of what it takes to fully prepare for this excursion. TAJ and I split duties. He procured our permits (Park pass, Northbound permit, fire safety certificate, and bear aware info including the requirement of carrying/storing food in bear cannisters), our bus ride tickets (multiple and confusing), and researching/obtaining gear.
I planned daily mileage/where we should camp each night, helped organize food and prepare mailing our resupply bucket to Muir Ranch (Yes, bucket. Of the 5 gallon variety that you find at home depot. Apparently, this is the easiest way for the pack mules to carry your supplies in to Muir Ranch.), and made sure we didn’t miss any steps in the process.
We carried both versions of the trail map with us the entire trek.
I know you want the nitty gritty details. I actually did enjoy all the bus rides and the beautiful country we saw rolling through Bishop, Mammoth, and Lone Pine. On the ride out of Yosemite, one of the stops was at a gas station where we watched a black bear tear a tree trunk apart to eat grubs. Yeah, I questioned what I was doing. For sure, the couple in front of us also ready to hike the trail wondered the same. Right? At least the bear was across the street. Was the door to the bus closed? Was this a bad sign?
A day later, once we made it to Lone Pine where we were dropped off in town, we hiked all the way out to the Ranger Station to pick up our passes. It was almost, if not 100 degrees and I don’t have to remind you how many days worth of food and supplies we carried. Then, we walked back. Ate. Hitched a ride to the TH. That’s the short of it. Now, to the pictures! Enjoy :-)
Northbound OUtLINE:
Day 1 — Horseshoe Trailhead to Crabtree Meadows (22 mi)
Day 2 — Mount Whitney (summit and back to camp, 15.2 mi)
Day 3 — Forester Pass (15 mi)
Day 4 — Glenn Pass + Rae Lakes (14.3 mi)
Day 5 — Pinchot Pass (18.8 mi ish?)
Day 6 — Mather Pass to Palisades Lakes (? mi)
Day 7 — Muir Pass (? mi)
Day 8 — McClure Meadows (16.5 mi)
Day 9 — Resupply at Muir Ranch/Halfway Point of the JMT (? mi)
Day 10 — Vermilion Valley Resort (8-9 mi)
Day 11 — Silver Pass (? mi)
Day 12 — Reds Meadow + Donahue Pass (? mi)
Day 13 — Tuolumne Meadows + Cathedral Pass (? mi)
Day 14 — Yosemite! (Total mileage for us = 248ish)
Day 1 – Horseshoe Trailhead to Crabtree Meadows (22mi)
Fresh faced and clueless!
Procuring a NOBO pass is as guaranteed as not receiving one for SOBO. 100% Why begin at the Whitney Portal where you have to pay to enter when you can hike 22 miles over two mountain passes to camp nearish to Mount Whitney. Then, hike the iconic peak the next day sans massive packs as a recovery/easy day. Duh. This great idea almost worked smoothly.
The glorious morning paired nicely with pre-game coffee. The first half of the trail was easy, lovely, and I felt great. Like I could conquer the world. Mile 11 when I ducked behind a large boulder to pee, I also realized…no no no no nuh noooo! Sighhhh. Yep. How timely to begin menstruating. Freakin’ awesome. By mile 16, uphill with a surprise second pass to trudge over, I began to slow. Did I mention carrying nine days worth of food in a heavy bear cannister? At some point I begin to silently cry to myself wondering why I thought this was an apt way to celebrate completing an MFA.
Fortunately, we happened to be mere steps away to Crabtree Meadows and the first campsite vacant. We were losing light rapidly. After quickly setting up camp, we boiled water for our freeze dried meals, sat to eat, aaaand I couldn’t. I simply could not get food down despite Trail Angel Joey admonishing that I HAD to. So I packed it all in the bear locker down from camp and climbed into the tent to rest up for our Whitney summit. I felt nauseous as soon as I laid my head down. Barely able to unzip the fly in time to lean my head out our tent, I lost what little food I had managed to swallow. And immediately panicked about attracting bears. Directly to our tent. My side of the tent.
Yet, the only energy I could muster was rubbing dirt over the vomit and hoping for the best. This is obviously not advisable. Also, for giggles, TAJ’s response when I nudged him along with the information that I threw up out our tent? A muffled, “yeah, I heard.”
Come for the views, stay for the parks.
The JMT meanders thru several National Parks and coincides with a section of the Pacific Crest Trail.
Day 2 — Mount Whitney (summit and back to camp, 15.2 mi)
An early, bright, fresh morning. And no bear attacks! Feeling better and mostly revived, we head out to climb the tallest peak in the lower 48. I felt weary by the time we surpassed 13,000 feet, yet managed to continue at an even pace to the summit. Excitedly, we snapped some pics and enjoyed the views before returning back to camp. Whitney isn’t just a checkbox to fill, the route up offers wild terrain worth the trek and Guitar Lake seems to be a hit for high alpine swimmers on hot summer days.
You may be wondering how I’m fairing with ducking behind rocks to empty and clean my menstrual cup since there are so many tourists about. What a wonderful husband I have to stand guard along the trail since all sense of privacy is nonexistent. I’ll be honest; I struggled with using a menstrual cup and really always have. It’s a better option than all the alternatives as far as waste production but it’s not easy to deal with. Anyone else have nightmares of the device flying out of hand to roll in dirt while simultaneously creating a murder scene? [Awkward giggle] Just me?
Day 3 — Forester Pass (15 mi)
Forester Pass sits at an elevation of 13,153 ft.
Views of the south side of Forester Pass
You already read the story above on what hiking up the first pass on the JMT entailed. Once we completed the toe kick-ins in the snow as the direct route upwards, we raced the clock on daylight to a worthy campsite by a water source. Hiking across boulders and scree became a bit treacherous but the beauty of the burnt sienna sunset afterwards along the sandy trail gave me goosebumps. As we descended into a bit of a frozen over lake basin some campers stood up and cheered us on for making it over the pass. I lifted my trekking poles in gratitude.
THIS is what we hike trails for—the camaraderie. My heart swelled and I will never forget the kindness of that fellow hiker. Even though raised arms were our only form of communication and TAJ and I hurriedly carried on to get past the snow fields, it remains imprinted behind my eyeballs. Call it sentimentality due to heightened emotions while on my period yet, the accomplishment of conquering the highest pass along the TMJ felt monumental.
Day 4 — Glenn Pass + Rae Lakes (14.3 mi)
Rae Lakes are stunning. My breath caught in my throat as we descended down the sharp curves overlooking the lake basin. The most information about the trail I found for where to camp happens to cover Rae Lakes the most. Once you see them, it’s easy to understand why. Enough allure to cause you to forget the pile of wild animal scat on top of Glenn Pass (11,978 ft elevation) that gave you chills.
Day 5 — Pinchot Pass (18.8 mi)
Dollar Lake, I think? Pinchot Pass sits at 12,130 feet elevation.
A big day with lots of terrain interchanges, I especially enjoyed crossing the suspension bridge rather than taking off shoes for a creek crossing. Also, I admire bridges and this was a fun one to bounce across. One person at a time. By this point, we fell into the rhythm of summiting one pass then crossing through a meadow each day or vice versa. Taking off shoes for creek crossing was refreshing and log crossings no longer felt like I would get swept away in the rush of the water.
Although, I still struggled to eat due to altitude. I managed some berry smoothies for lunch since drinking proved easier for caloric intake. I began indulging in second and third breakfast since smaller bits of food seemed most tolerable.
This is also probably the day I began to sunburn badly due to long stretches across high desert terrain and exposed switchbacks. Note: I learned my lesson and now always carry lipchap containing an spf in it because lips do indeed burn. Badly.
Day 6 — Mather Pass + Palisade Lakes
Palisades Lakes
At the time, I thought I would never forget which pass held which view. Here I sit wondering which one was the “cool” one that was essentially an open catwalk. I think Mather. Shrug. Mather Pass sits at 12,100 feet elevation and is only 10 miles north along the trail from Pinchot Pass. So we may have crossed two passes that day, I simply can’t recall. I do remember camping at the very north end of Palisade Lakes and how lovely a spot it happened to be.
My phone claims some of the below pictures as being on this day but I know the sunset appearance of one is in reality the sunrise while descending the Golden Staircase during the following morning. It’s one of my fave pics/views from the JMT experience. It’s also where I spied for the first time that deer pee like dogs, not like horses. Very odd to see them squat. Hmmm. Hand to the side of my mouth and whispering to you, You asked for ALL the details! Shrug. Trail thoughts.
Day 7 — Muir Pass
Not a picture of Muir Pass, sorry to hoodwink you. Muir Pass was completely socked in and we followed a boot trail up an avalanche chute.
Muir Pass proved tricky to navigate with the path not completely clear due to snowpack. TAJ and I argued a bit about where the trail could possibly be as clouds rolled in and our nerves about the weather put us at unease. Gratefully, I spotted a few hikers ahead of us that put us back on track and we ascended the straight shot up the avalanche chute (it seems so obvious now when I write it like that, sigh) to the Muir hiking hut. This was the only busy section of the trail below VVR so we knew we weren’t far from civilization anymore with all the day hikers surrounding us.
Day 8 — McClure Meadows (16.5 mi)
I don’t have a single pic so it must not have been memorable. Or, I simply let TAJ take all the pics, haha. I’m 90% sure this is the meadow where the thought, “If we’re going to run into a bear, this would be the one.” flitted through my mind 10 minutes before running into a black bear chomping on a bush. Responding like a cartoon train reversing until I bumped into TAJ who didn’t have seizing vocal chords, I didn’t fair as well as the bear who had already fled before I even blinked.
We hiked to as close to the Muir Trail Ranch as we could and still have a water source to utilize. The mosquitos picked up in velocity at this point. And I began to restate Muir quotes to amuse myself. “Into the woods I go to lose myself and find mosquito bites.” I wanted to share a pic of my rear riddled with bites but I’ll spare you. Don’t forget to spray your backside so you aren’t assaulted when squatting behind trees or rocks like I foolishly was. Wink, wink.
Day 9 — Muir Trail Ranch (Resupply) + Seldon Pass
Ahhh, a place to recharge all of our electronics, donate anything we didn’t feel we needed (I know you want that list!), sift through our resupply stash and admire the new meals to come, and purchase anything necessary for the path forward (lipchap with spf!). We were in and out quickly and the staff was patient, kind, vivacious. We appreciated them and the Muir Ranch being there.
A note on electronics: Yes, we carried solar charging docks and they worked well. Yes, we carried our Kindles to read ourselves to sleep in the evenings. Yes, we listened to podcasts, books, and music in one of our ears. Yes, I understand this seems opposite of what you hike through the wilds to experience. Does it distract from the pain of steep switchbacks though? Yes, yes it does.
Seldon Pass was easy to navigate, hardly a pass really. The rest of the day proved easy and straightforward. I suppose I don’t have pictures to share of this day either. We were really rockin’ and rollin’ at this point and seeing more and more humans on the trail.
Day 10 — Vermilion Valley Resort
In case, you want to escape...
Edison Ferry Landing
A shower, a burger, a nap, and boat ride! Need I write more? What a glorious rest day to experience! Ok, I did not nap, instead I giggled at a squirrel exploring Joey’s hat disturbing his slumber. He was not amused.
VVR was definitely worth the extra 8ish miles through mosquito infested swampland! A lady kindly stopped and picked us up along the road, saving us a few miles. Hopefully, she also took the gentleman with the dislocated shoulder to the hospital. Fingers crossed.
The general store is fully stocked in case you need to resupply and a hikers box to swap out meals for tastier dinners (aka something different and foreign. Information about the trail and an opportunity to socialize with others also attempting the trek makes VVR a special spot.
Day 11 — Silver Pass
The pictures tell the full story here. View, views, and more endless views. Have I enticed you to try this trail yet? The pines are tall and the air fresh.
Day 12 — Reds Meadow + Donahue Pass
We discovered Hotel California. I kid you not! Reds Ranch may have the best breakfast on the trail but if you’re direction is northbound, you can never leave. The lack of signage didn’t only stress us out but other tourists staying there who kept getting lost in loops as well. I still wonder how we finally broke the code.
From here, you either have to pull up short or hike an extra six miles since you cannot camp within six miles of Tuolumne Meadows. We pulled up short, concerned with how busy the Yosemite trails were and thinking about timing for getting off the trail. We didn’t want to drive to Reno in the dark or risk not procuring a hikers hut in Yosemite Valley. So we slowed our roll.
Day 13 — Tuolumne Meadows + Cathedral Pass
Opposite of Reds; worst breakfast on the trail. We not only wasted time waiting for the general store to open and waiting in line to order breakfast then waiting to receive said breakfast, but we wasted too much money on tiny, gross breakfast sandwiches. Only bad part of the trail though, I promise!
Most SOBO hikers resupply here. And at Reds. And at VVR. And yep, at Muir Ranch. They take advantage of the ability to only wear day packs and the lower elevations to acclimatize before hitting the high mountain passes. However, the passes are steeper in this direction with the gradual downs after summits. So keep that in mind.
Day 14 — Yosemite
The sight of half dome was surreal. Knowing we were so close, bittersweet. As we passed the junction to Half Dome, I joked that we should just go for it despite the inability to get a permit to hike it. It should be automatically included if you’re hiking the JMT! Rangers happened to pass at that precise moment so, to this day, I still have yet to hike the famous trail.
I already mentioned that we pulled up short so we could finish in the morning and here’s where we camped 5.5 mi before the ending at Happy Isles TH. A ranger did check our permits at the campground (the only time we were questioned) and we ensured her that we did plan to remain in agreement with our permit to be off the trail the next day.
The hike out the next morn offered ridiculous views as the sun rose to shine on Half Dome and the waterfalls. Glorious. No other words are apt. How lucky we were to have such perfect timing. To have perfect weather for the entire trek. To remain safe, healthy, and elated at all the views. The luckiest humans, truly.
After Effects
Proof. Also, don't be me. Invest in spf lipchap. Please.
When we made it to Reno, we gorged on a buffet to the point of laying on the hotel bed in pain. It wasn’t pretty. haha But we were fine the next day and savored time laying around the pool. I don’t think we gave ourselves too much time before roadtripping over to Lake Tahoe to hike the Tahoe Rim Trail. That’s up next.
For now, what did I miss answering for those interested in hiking the JMT? TAJ has the mileage saved in his watch so I’ll steadily add those in as he gets them to me. And maybe I’ll fill in descriptions for the pictures too. What else do you want to know? And more importantly, who wants to invite me on their version of this trek? When are you planning to go? If not the JMT, then where? ‘Tis the season to start planning!
Thanks for tagging along for this extra long winding tale.
I hope you can find ways to stay wild this week.
~ Sprite