Backpacking the John Muir Trail

This August a group of us backpacked part of the John Muir trail in the Sierra Mountains. We spent 5 days on the trails ups and downs for almost 50 miles from Yosemite to Mammoth. I didn't take my camera but here are a few pictures taken by my friend Janet.

                                           The group at the beginning of the trail,

                                       
                                           Kathy and I pumping water together. There was plenty of water from lakes                                             and rivers along the trail . We pump water to purify it for drinking.
                                           It  tasted wonderful.

                                        Absolutely stunning scenery everywhere

                                         
                                         After ascending Donohue pass we are above the tree line

                                       These 3 are out of sequence, taken on the way into Yosemite and hiking the                                            mist trail as a warm up to the big one. This is actually the start of the JMT                                            but we didn't have a permit to hike in from there.

                                       
                                          Mary and Randy had not backpacked before but we trained them well and                                                they loved it.

                                           This group picture was taken towards the end and we are all still smiling.                                  To be honest we really didn't want it to end. The difficulty of getting back to                                              "city" living was getting a shuttle bus with room enough to take us and our                                            packs into town, finding our hotel rooms not ready, finding our mexican                                                meal was way too much food to eat, but it was fun to go to dinner grubby                                             and gloat about what we had just accomplished....and of course, the                                                        margaritas tasted good.

                                        Thousand Island Lakes where the JMT crosses the Pacific Crest trail. I went off to pee where I thought was off the trail and to my surprise a young man walked by indicating I was on the trail. So I have peed on the pacific crest trail, cause for a chuckle as there is a friendly rivalry between hikers on the two trails.

                                     
                                         Each of our camping spots each night were wonderful.
                             
                               Notice the black bear canister which we each had to carry to store all of our food.

Joel and I at the end, Devils Postpile Mammoth. I still am amazed that we hiked from Yosemite to mammoth. Next year we are already planning to do the next section of the trail.

note: Mike didn't go with us this time because he is still cautious about his knees holding up. He does all the day hiking with us and plays tennis so maybe next year he will give it a try.