I'm off for the JMT

Posted by: Pika

I'm off for the JMT - 07/13/14 08:09 AM

It's 5:00 am MST here in SE Arizona. I'm leaving in about 20 minutes for California and a southbound hike of the JMT. I'll start walking on Wednesday morning. Wish me luck!
Posted by: aimless

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 07/13/14 01:00 PM

Good luck! Walk briskly, but don't burn up the trail, because the fire danger is too high this year to risk that! wink
Posted by: bluefish

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 07/13/14 02:31 PM

You gave me good advice for my first trip into the Grand Canyon, Pika. I can only wish you an absolutely safe and fantastic trip.
Posted by: 4evrplan

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 07/14/14 11:13 AM

How often do you do this Pika? I think it was just Friday I read an almost identical post of yours from a few years back (and skimmed through your trail journal as well - I would have read it all but I was exhausted at the time).
Posted by: hikerduane

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 07/15/14 01:49 PM

I'm off to Bishop Thursday after working half a day. Evo Vly over Lamarck Col. on Friday 07/18 for a week.
Duane
Posted by: bluefish

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 07/15/14 07:48 PM

Originally Posted By hikerduane
I'm off to Bishop Thursday after working half a day. Evo Vly over Lamarck Col. on Friday 07/18 for a week.
Duane

I'm jealous. Enjoy
Posted by: rockchucker22

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 07/15/14 11:01 PM

Originally Posted By hikerduane
I'm off to Bishop Thursday after working half a day. Evo Vly over Lamarck Col. on Friday 07/18 for a week.
Duane
i look forward to meeting you on Thursday.
Posted by: hikerduane

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 07/15/14 11:44 PM

It's been 10 years since I was thru Evolution Valley in late August, only plan to go as far as Muir Pass, XC up to Ionian Basin hopefully, looping out over Piute Pass, not looking forward to the slog to Hutchinson Meadow, hot along that trail getting there. Time before by Hutchinson Mdw, Pooch and I caught some Cutthroats in Oct. there. It should be greener this time, real nice.
Looking forward to meeting you Tyson.
Duane
Posted by: bobito9

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 07/16/14 11:11 PM

Happy trails, Pika. But I have one quibble: why are you posting in the "over the hill" section? Seems to me you have some very steep hills to go up before you get to go over them wink
Posted by: Pika

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 08/08/14 11:01 AM

Well, I'm back now from a successful but rainy, stormy, snowy and windy southbound JMT hike. I had a good time though and finished on August 6th. I'll be posting my journal on Trail Journals but not till I rest a bit. I'm tired from a 15 mile last day over Mt. Whitney and a 700 mile drive yesterday
Posted by: bobito9

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 08/23/14 12:54 PM

Hey Pika,
Glad to hear you made it through. Your start time sounds like it was a week or so earlier than mine. That was some crazy intense weather for the Sierra! Fortunately, for me, everything got back to clear and normal by Forester Pass and Whitney (Pinchot and Muir passes were pretty wild, lots of hail and lightning, though). But I'm wondering about you, how was the weather for you? Did you hit much at Forester and Whitney? I heard both were closed briefly a week or two earlier than me.
Posted by: Pika

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 08/23/14 03:11 PM

Bobito,
Yeah, the weather was "interesting" to say the least. I got rained on east of Donahue Pass, south of Thousand Island Lake and briefly near Deer Creek. These were typical Sierra afternoon thunderstorms. Then, I had fairly nice weather until I got to Evolution Lake.

It started raining shortly after I left McClure Meadows at 8:00 am and kept it up until mid afternoon. It rained while I was crossing Muir Pass and again when I crossed Mather Pass. It rained most of my time in the LeConte valley too. No rain over Pinchot Pass or Glen Pass but I did get rain at the Rae Lakes. I had a dry day walking from the Rae Lakes to the Center Creek crossing. Then, about 3:00 am on Aug. 3rd it started raining hard and continued to rain till mid-late afternoon. This was a zero day for me. The storm had the creeks over their banks and snow above about 12,500'. The next day I crossed Forester Pass in rain, thick fog and through 6" of wet snow. The rain stopped before I got to Wright Creek crossing where I camped for the night. To get there, I had to wade both Tyndall and Wright Creeks: mid-thigh deep and fast flowing. The next morning I waded Wallace Creek and then made my way to Guitar Lake in sunny weather. Whitney day was clear and sunny but there was snow on the summit and on the trail from Trail Crest.

Overall, I had a good time and my gear was OK for the weather (barely). If I'd known what the weather was to be, though, I'd have taken more clothes and different raingear.
Posted by: bobito9

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 08/26/14 12:19 AM

Huh! Interesting!. Wild and wooly. Aug 3 we were in the Mono Creek drainage and all we got was a little light rain, not much. Our biggest precip days were after you got off the trail, but no snow, just a lot of hail on Pinchot and Muir (Pinchot was especially intense, especially heading down the last couple hours to Woods Creek) We saw some signs of creeks that had flooded in recent days, but no high crossings like you had. Forester Pass was clear, warm, and sunny. I'm guessing your vacation pictures and mine problem look a little different from each other wink (though I got stuck also with some smokey days up until about Mono Creek, which sucked)
Posted by: hikerduane

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 08/27/14 08:53 AM

Wow, some harsh conditions.
Duane
Posted by: professor

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 09/03/14 03:54 PM

Pika,

Thank you for taking the time to write and post your trail journal, it was great. Not only was your journal interesting, I found your experiences and insights valuable. All of my treks in the Sierras have been only one week long and I have never had more than one short afternoon thunder shower during any of those trips. I have no experience with storms or prolonged rain while backpacking. Your experience has caused me to evaluate myself and my rain gear’s suitability for a prolonged rain storm.
Posted by: Jimshaw

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 03/05/15 10:00 PM

Hi Pika
So how would you pack differently? What different rain gear and clothes. Any other preperations you would make for bad weather to do it over?
Jim
Posted by: Slow Hiker

Re: I'm off for the JMT - 12/31/15 06:50 PM

I'm jealous, that's on my bucket list. Glad you had a safe trip.

Dave