A while back Sharon and I watched a documentary titled, “Mile – Mile and a Half“. A handful of artsy-fartsy friends gather to through hike the 210 mile length of the John Muir Trail. I ended up not caring much for the folks in the film. But after seeing the amazing scenery, my thought was “Wow! That is definitely on the list!!”

Fast forward a year…an email arrives. Steve Randazzo and Michele Boyer have gotten a permit and are planning on hiking roughly half of the JMT. Would we be interested in joining them? Short answer – yes!!! The long answer was a bit more involved. For a group hike with folks of varying fitness levels and different ideas of “fun” – Steve’s itinerary was deemed to be a bit…aggressive. Steve and Michele planned to use ultralightweight gear made of pixie dust, unicorn blood and baby seal tears, thus enabling them to log major miles every day, with no rest/weather days planned. Steve claims not to be German, but the plan seemed crafted in the finest Teutonic fashion. “Vee hike NOW! Macht Schnell!”  This led to an endless series of emails with folks debating distances,  different starting/stopping points, people dropping out, agreeing to go, deciding not to, etc. Eventually we managed to agree on a slightly modified version of Steve’s original plan and from that point on the discussion was all about gear, food, logistics…the fun stuff.

Fast forward to Friday, August 19th. Dan Boss Backer, Steve, Michele, Phil Petersen (of Green Bay fame) and I made the long, long, drive from Flagstaff to Mammoth Lakes. We took one short detour (and wild death ride – thanks Steve) to South Lake outside Bishop to leave a vehicle for the end of our trip. A short time later we were in Mammoth Lake with our permit in hand. Next morning, there we were at Red’s Meadow, all showery fresh smiles and delirious optimism, ready to take on the JMT.

As I prepared for this trip, I purposely did NOT read the countless blogs that gave mile by mile descriptions of the trail, complete with beautifully composed photographs. I wanted (as much as possible) to “discover” the trail all by myself and leave open the possibility of being surprised by what I found. With that in mind, I’d like to offer a slightly different travelogue. We started at Red’s Meadow. Nine days later we came out over Bishop Pass and ended at South Lake. I’d like to simply share a few highlights of the area between those two points…broken down by campsites, high lakes, rivers and memorable moments. Hopefully you’ll like what you see enough to want to explore it for yourself.

Campsites: Pulling into camp was one of the highlights each day – in part because almost all the sites offered amazing views – in part because we were glad to be done so we could relax – and in part so we could relax, chat, eat and get supine.

Rivers and Lakes: If you’re in the Sierra Nevada mountains, it is kind of obvious that mountains would be the main scenic feature. They certainly did not disappoint. On our trip along the JMT though, it was water in all its glorious forms…waterfalls, streams, ponds, hot springs, marshes, high alpine lakes, even rain and rainbows that made it such a magical place.

Memorable Moments: With the passage of time, memories of a good trip merge together like the seasoning of a fine meal. All the individual ingredients no longer stand alone in sharp relief, but meld to create a warm glow or a pleasant sensation when brought to mind. Pictures and journals help to capture some of the individual memories that make a trip special. Here are a few!

Trail names seemed a natural part of the hike…

“Nevermore, however weary, should one faint by the way who gains the blessings of one mountain day; whatever his fate, long life, short life, stormy or calm, he is rich forever.” John Muir