permits

Easy Permit and Long-Weekend Friendly, This JMT Alternative Might be Perfect

Published by Ray Rippel on September 3, 2018 8 Permalink

Map courtesy CalTopo

I’ve long been of the opinion that the John Muir Trail represents the best that the Sierra Nevada has to offer when it comes to medium-distance hiking. That doesn’t mean it is the only trail that can provide great scenery, easy navigation, and a just-challenging-enough level of strenuousness. If you are looking for a JMT alternative that has no permit obstacles to overcome, and can be done in three or four days, look no further than an Ebbetts Pass to Highway 50 hike along the PCT.

In this three-part series I will try to give you all you need to know to tackle this mini-JMT. In part one I’ll relate the data you need to determine if this hike is right for you. Part two will be a photo-heavy trip report, and part three will describe possible campsites for each evening.

Profile courtesy CalTopo

The hike is about 42 miles and climbs 6,200 feet (and descends 7,700). This is the Sierra Nevada, so don’t expect many long, flat stretches. Water, when I hiked it at the end of August after a less-than-average snow year, was plentiful, although I did make a mistake on day one assuming that the lake I intended to camp near had good water. For the first time ever hiking in the Sierra Nevada I found water I didn’t want to drink. More on that in part three.

Permitting couldn’t be simpler: at the parking area, just south of Highway 4, there is a kiosk with trail information and a supply of permit forms ready to be filled out. (If you have trouble finding the kiosk, look behind the restroom.) Fill out the form, leave a copy in the box provided, and be on your way. There are two ways to begin: either start at the trail right near where you found the permit forms and walk about 1/2 mile to Highway 4, or jump back in your vehicle and have someone drive you to the trailhead on the north side of Highway 4.

This touches on what is probably the one area where this hike is tougher than the JMT. There is public transportation to Happy Isles (and hitchhiking to Whitney Portal is easy). There is no public transportation of which I am aware on Highway 4; you are going to have to find a ride to the trailhead. No matter if you are coming from the west or the east, the road is narrow, winding, and two-lane (one-and-a-half lane?). Don’t be put off by the road, though. It is in great shape and is perfectly safe if you drive at a reasonable speed.

I strongly recommend you hike these 40-plus miles northbound. The last three miles (going north) were tough enough going down; if you were to start in the north, and do this climb first, it would be a beastly way to begin.

Going north, your hike will culminate near the Adventure Mountain Lake Tahoe snow resort. In fact, the driveway off of Highway 50 into the resort is a great rendezvous spot at the end of the hike.

In late August I saw lots of other hikers, but never too many. You’ll see day hikers near the beginning and ending trailheads, and where the PCT crosses Highway 88 at Carson Pass. I also met three PCTers who were hiking southbound. On day one I saw about dozen people, day two about half that, and even fewer on day 3. That means there was plenty of solitude.

I think most hikers would take between two-and-a-half and three-and-half days to complete this hike. I did it in three days without struggle, and I’m 63 years old. It is a beautiful walk; more on that in next week’s post.

Good hiking, Ray

Filed under: Blog and Tagged: JMT-alternatives, maps, permits

Hiking the JMT in 2018? Here is what you should be doing now.

Published by Ray Rippel on December 11, 2017 2 Permalink

The new year is fast approaching and many of you are thinking about a John Muir Trail hike in 2018. Depending on how much snow we get (more on that later), there are at least six or seven months before you take that first step on the trail. Is there anything you should be doing now to prepare? I think so; here is my list:

» Make some assumptions. The most significant assumption you will need to make is also the hardest to predict: how much snow are we going to get in the Sierra Nevada this winter, and how late will it linger. The experts refuse to commit themselves, but the consensus seems to be that we will get less than last year (2016/2017) but more than the year before. If I were forced to guess when the trail would first be clear enough to hike without special gear for snow and ice, I would say mid-to-late July. Other assumptions you may have to adopt are how much time you can get off for your hike and how many miles per day you are likely to be able to walk (which is more than you can, now, since you will have completed your training).

» Make some decisions. In my planning guide I discuss five critical decisions you need to make to start your planning: will you hike alone or as part of a group, what route will you take (southbound, northbound, or JMT alternative), what time of year will you hike, what will you eat on the trail, and where will you rest and resupply. I suggest you decide early the second, third, and last item on this list. Settling on a route (and perhaps an alternate, if you are unable to get the wilderness permit you want) and developing an itinerary will make decisions on where to rest and resupply much easier.

» Make a list of reservations you need. Unless you live close to the Sierra, you will probably need reservations for accommodations before your begin and after you finish. You may need airline reservations as well, though they can be more problematic since it usually costs money to change them. I like to take a rest day at Red’s Meadow and Muir Trail Ranch. In the past I have even stopped at the Lodge in Tuolumne for a good night’s sleep and a couple of good meals. All of those places require reservations. (Reservations at Red’s and MTR usually become available in January; reservations at Tuolumne can be made one year and one day in advance.) If you are going to have a resupply brought in via packer, that will need to be arranged. Having a comprehensive list to work down means you can start early and secure the reservations you need.

» Develop a permit strategy. To quote from my planning guide, “With the possible exception of actually walking 211 miles, securing a wilderness permit to hike the John Muir Trail is the most difficult part of a thru-hike.” Although there are lots of way to approach this (I devote a whole chapter to it, including several pages of alternatives), most strategies boil down to one of two: either focus on a particular trailhead (e.g., Happy Isles) and be flexible as to when you begin your hike (and when I say flexible, I mean be willing to start anytime from early July to late September), or focus on a particular time and be flexible in regards to your route. If you are like most hikers, the second alternative is probably superior. If you are retired and have no other commitments for the summer, the first might be just the thing.

Planning your hike is part of the fun; starting early not only increases the odds of success, it increases the enjoyment.

Good hiking, Ray

Filed under: Blog and Tagged: itinerary, permits

A Second Look at the Isberg Alternative

Published by Ray Rippel on June 26, 2017 10 Permalink

One of the most scenic areas on the route: Hemlock Crossing.

This year is shaping up to be one of the strangest in memory for John Muir Trail hikers. Some are suggesting that hikers just stay out. Those who are venturing into the Gentle Wilderness are finding raging streams, difficult navigation over snow-covered trails, and swarms of mosquitoes ready to exsanguinate any patch of bare skin. There is so much snow in the backcountry that the Tioga Pass Road is still not open (I hear July 1 will be the date), and the Wilderness Center at Tuolumne Meadows won’t be open until who knows when. This is going to compress the hiking season, with optimum conditions, to perhaps as little as eight weeks. Per-day quotas for wilderness permits remain the same, which means lots of people are looking for alternatives.

One you might want to consider is an entry into the wilderness at Glacier Point, and an exit from Yosemite at Isberg Pass. I did this route a few years ago. The hike from GP to Red’s Meadow, where it joins the John Muir Trail, is about 70 miles. It is also, on average, a little more strenuous than the more conventional Happy Isles/Donohue Pass route. Part of that is because you go over two passes (Red Peak Pass being a particularly tough one), and part is because you don’t get that long relatively flat stretch through Lyell Canyon.

Red Peak Pass is very interesting geologically. While standing on the trail you can literally see a red peak to your left and a gray peak to your right, obviously completely different rock.

I’m no geologist, but even I couldn’t miss the juxtaposition of the red on left and the gray on the right. Neat stuff!

The view is what makes Isberg Pass special. It is not very strenuous to get over and when you get to the top you can see the backside of Banner and Ritter as well as the Minarets. Looking back towards Yosemite I was sure I could see Unicorn Peak and think I could see Donohue Pass, which was kind of neat.

Looking toward Yosemite from the top of Isberg Pass.

Wait! I’m used to seeing Banner to the right of Ritter, not this way!

The other real highlight of the hike is Hemlock Crossing and its two waterfalls and beautiful scenery. I had intended to camp there for the night, but didn’t quite make it that far that day, so I ended up having second breakfast there.

Otherwise it is mainly a forest walk, which is something I like quite a bit, but won’t appeal to everyone.

One thing it definitely is, is deserted. I saw a total of five hikers and six Rangers from Glacier Point to the Devils Postpile. From about 1 PM on Monday until 7:20 AM on Thursday I saw no one. I might recommend any solo hiker intending to do this stretch to carry a personal locator beacon (PLB). Otherwise, one might have to endure a broken leg for a few DAYS until someone comes along.

I’m not sure if this is because I was hiking in a relatively deserted area, or if this is something trending throughout the Sierra Nevada, but I saw a lot of bear scat on the trail. I saw no bears, but they are out there and apparently they are also on the trails!

Those of you who may have considered this route may have heard that there is a portion that is hard-to-follow from Naked Lady Meadow to the east. I had no problem. In fact, it hardly slowed me down. I’m not sure if that’s because by the time I got there more people had walked through the area and marked the proper route, or if perhaps some trail maintenance was done, but there was no real issue. Some tips for that area: look for cut logs, the trail probably goes next to or between them. Look for trail markings on trees, i.e., the vertical cut in the bark. Look for obviously man-arranged rock formations. Lastly, I found that taking my sunglasses off and on sometimes revealed subtle shadings in the vegetation that gave me a hint.

If this is your first JMT it would be a shame if you had to take the Isberg Alternative. You are giving up Vernal Falls, Nevada Falls, Cathedral Peak, Cathedral Lakes, Tuolumne Meadow, Lyell Canyon, Donohue Pass, Thousand Island Lake, and Garnett Lake. In return you get the fabulous Hemlock Crossing and a terrific view from the top of Isberg Pass. On the other hand, if you are looking for a somewhat more challenging route, or if you can’t get another permit and you are determined to walk from Yosemite to Whitney, this is a very interesting alternative. I’m glad I did it!

Good hiking, Ray

Filed under: Blog and Tagged: permits

A New Permit Reservation Process in Yosemite

Published by Ray Rippel on January 16, 2017 27 Permalink

There has been a change to the way Yosemite National Park issues wilderness permit reservations, and it is one that will make it much more convenient to apply. Your chances of getting the permit will probably decrease (more on that later), but it will be much less of an administrative nightmare. Here is the outline of the process.

A 21-Day Window. The biggest change is that a single request will be good for three weeks of lotteries. (That, alone, might save you twenty iterations of trying to get your FAX through to the Wilderness Center). If it is your intention, for example, to hike starting around Labor Day, you could submit a request for a permit to enter the wilderness on August 26. If you don’t “win” the 26th, your request will rollover to the 27th. No luck on the 27th? Without any action on your part you get entered into the 28th’s lottery. This process would continue until September 15. If you don’t get your reservation on the 15th your request is no longer considered.

A Larger Window for Submission. A second significant change is that the window during which the FAX must be sent has expanded from 24 to 72 hours. Using that example of an August 26 entry into the wilderness, the old requirement was that you FAX the request on March 13. Now, hikers can send the request anytime between March 11 and 13. (In other words, you can now submit the request from 170 days in advance to 168 days in advance.)

Daily Updates. The park service promises daily updates. Once the window opens and your three-weeks of lotteries begin, each day you should get an email notification. If the notification is negative, you should expect another email the next day. If you get your reservation, you will stop getting emails. If you get twenty-one consecutive emails, and if the last is still bad news, your request will no longer be considered.

A New Request Form. The new request form can be found here. The park service did a nice job of making it easy to fill out, including the ability to prioritize the five different permits you can reserve that will allow for a departure over Donohue Pass. (One minor quibble: it would have been nice if, after selecting the Happy Isles->Little Yosemite Valley option, it would automatically put “Little Yosemite Valley” as your first night’s campsite.)

If you go zero & 21 on the lotteries, you can submit another request for the next twenty-one days, assuming you have that much flexibility on departure dates. (I’m looking at you, retirees!)

Although I applaud this change, I’m concerned this will make it somewhat harder to get a permit. Here’s why: I suspect (and I have some data to back this up) that the majority of hikers in past years gave up after some number of FAXed requests; I also suspect that the number was much less than twenty-one. In my communication with readers I get the impression that after about ten failed attempts, a different alternative was considered. There are different reasons for that, including the difficulty of changing vacation dates and the unpleasantness of FAXing the request every single day.

This new process eliminates the hassle of FAXing every day, but that hassle was an obstacle that eliminated some who were less committed (or less flexible). Even if the total number of hikers who make the request stay exactly the same, the number of hikers per day will likely increase, because of the automatic rollover.

Good hiking, Ray

Filed under: Blog and Tagged: permits

Announcing the Second Edition of Planning Your Thru-Hike of the John Muir Trail

Published by Ray Rippel on November 7, 2016 7 Permalink

On my first thru-hike of the JMT, back in 2009, one thought occurred to me again and again: more people should do this hike. I know that many consider the beaten path between Happy Isles and the summit of Mount Whitney to be far too crowded, but I’m not one of them. That’s not to say I wouldn’t like to walk the entire 211 miles without seeing another soul – I would! I just take a wider perspective.

Here is how I see it: those of us who love the outdoors in general, and the Sierra Nevada in particular, need allies – lots and lots of allies. We need private sector and governmental decision-makers who understand what a treasure the Range of Light is, and why it needs to be protected. We need teachers, coaches, clergy, and celebrities – leaders who others look up to, and who influence and persuade – who have spent a night at treeline, who have had a memorable wildlife encounter, and who have felt the sense of accomplishment of finishing a thru-hike. Most of all, we need voters who have a direct connection to the wilderness we all love.

If there is a better place on earth to do all that than the John Muir Trail, I don’t know where it is.

But won’t we love it to death? Don’t misunderstand me; I am not for unlimited access. I support the wilderness permit system. I do believe, however, that there is nothing wrong with having substantially more hikers on the JMT than you might find in other parts of the Sierra. I’m not saying that there isn’t a cost; I just believe it’s a price worth paying.

It was never my intent to write a John Muir Trail book aimed at expert backpackers. I have little-to-nothing to teach those hikers, and lots to learn from them. I do have a knack for planning, though, and the ability to put myself in the shoes of someone who has never tackled something as complex as a multi-week (for most people) hike. Planning Your Thru-Hike of the John Muir Trail was always aimed at those who, after exiting at Whitney Portal, may never spend another night in the wilderness.

The second edition is substantially expanded, and still aimed at the relative novice. I’m particularly proud of the wilderness permit section, which has been expanded ten-fold (and will probably have to be substantially revised within a year).

The format – it is strictly an ebook – takes advantage of the simple fact that megabytes are cheap. If I were ever to take this to a publishing house, the first thing they would tell me is to take seventy-five or more of the photos out, and they could not be color. Instead, there is a photo on almost every page. A good planning guide should not only tell you what you need to do, it should motivate you by showing the rewards for wading through the preparations.

I’m about to retire, which means I’ll no longer need business cards. But, I may have some printed anyway. If I do, here is my new title:

Raymond E. Rippel, Chief Evangelist, John Muir Trail

If this book gets a few more decision-makers, leaders, and voters into the woods, I will have succeeded.

Good hiking, Ray

Filed under: Blog and Tagged: guide, permits

The Draft Yosemite Wilderness Stewardship Plan

Published by Ray Rippel on September 26, 2016 14 Permalink

“Everything changes; even the continents drift” ~ George Will

There is much to love about Yosemite National Park. One of the more obscure virtues I’ve always appreciated is its unwillingness to change. From the view as you exit the tunnel on Highway 41, to the trail intersection signs, to the upholstery on the overstuffed chairs in the Great Room of the Ahwahnee*, there is something enormously comforting about knowing that, even if I am away for a few years, all will be exactly the same when I return.

[*If you try to tell me to use that other name, I’ll stuff a live pika into your sleeping bag!]

Don’t look now, but change is coming for those of us who enjoy hiking and camping in the backcountry – especially John Muir Trail hikers.

The National Park Service is in the final stages of releasing the new Wilderness Stewardship Plan. Two groups will likely be impacted in a big way: overnight backpackers and those who travel with stock. For backpackers, the changes are going to involve wilderness permits.

I’m going to write this article in two parts. First, I’ll describe, as dispassionately as possible, and while attempting to see things from the NPS point of view, the alternatives they are considering. I’ll do my best to convey, “Just the facts.” Then, I’ll tell you what I think. I am only going to discuss the impact on wilderness permits for hikers. If you are interested in stock, I suggest you click on the link, above, and do some reading.

The park service is supposed to keep the wilderness, well, wild. That means few facilities (although you will find some), no mechanized equipment (with some exceptions, mostly for emergency responders), and solitude. For the vast majority of the Yosemite backcountry, the NPS is doing pretty well. Take a look at the chart, below. (All charts from the NPS, which, by the way, did an excellent job preparing documents for the public to review.)

There has definitely been an increase over the years, but it’s a big backcountry. It can swallow an extra eight or ten thousand hikers, spread over an entire hiking season, without too much trouble.

Now take a look at the same data for John Muir Trail hikers.

Although the gross numbers are far lower, the percentage increase is substantial. And the John Muir Trail (and the campsites along it) represents a tiny fraction of the Yosemite backcountry. The Pacific Crest Trail statistics are just as alarming.

To digress for just a moment, I was really surprised at this number. Nearly 4500 hikers are making it this far from the Mexican border? Wow. (Or, perhaps, this is just permits and not actual hikers? If it is the number of permits, how many get as far as Donohue Pass? I would guess less than half.)

All of this is calling the NPS to action. The current technique of managing how many backpackers are in the wilderness at any given time is an indirect one – through trailhead entry permits. The idea is to limit the number of campers in a particular zone by limiting the number of entries via trailheads near that zone. The park service believes this approach is no longer working. Actually, it’s working fine in most of the fifty-three travel zones that the park service has divided Yosemite’s wilderness into, but it is failing (in their view) in some. They are considering four courses of action.

Course of Action 1: leave the current system in place and substantially reduce the trailhead entry quotas. The disadvantage of this course of action is pretty obvious: it will be much harder to get a permit. On the other hand, this also has an enormous upside: once a hiker entered the wilderness, he or she would be free to travel anywhere.

Course of Action 2: retain the current system, but add “camping permits” for certain high-use areas. The park service believes that this course of action would not require a reduction in trailhead entry quotas, which is a good thing. The number of “camping permits” would presumably be very limited, but that could be a relatively minor inconvenience. Much would depend in how many and how large the “high-use areas” were. If there are just a few and they are a mile square, it should be no big deal to hike through them to a spot where no “camping permit” would be required. If there were dozens and they were eight miles square, well, that’s a marmot of different color.

Course of Action 3: require reservations, within one of the fifty-three zones, on every single night of the trip. This would have a pretty significant impact on the way hikers experience the backcountry. Random divagations while I’m in the woods are as much a part of the trip as the scenery. On the other hand, once a hiker secured a permit for each night of the trip, entry could occur at any trailhead and you could spend the night anywhere within the zone you reserved. Entry permits would be discontinued completely.

Course of Action 4: same as #3, above, but add a requirement that campers spend the night at a designated campsite, within the zone where you made your reservation. The “designated campsite” rule would only apply to high-use zones.

So, there you have it. The first hiking season affected by the new Wilderness Stewardship Plan is expected to be 2018. The park service is collecting comments and you can make your voice heard here. The comment period ends on the last day of September, 2016.

Having digested this as well as I can, I have a few comments.

First, I think it is deeply misguided if the park service intends to try to make the John Muir Trail, within Yosemite, as unpopulated as most trails in the park. Even with the numbers we have now, it is possible to camp alone almost every night. And while it is not possible to hike the trail all day without seeing someone (at least between June and September), I think the NPS is choosing to view those hikers the wrong way: they are not interlopers spoiling the experience, they are novice backpackers on their one great wilderness adventure. To me, it is a small sacrifice we JMT hikers make to seed the rest of the population with citizens – and voters – who know why we need to spend money and write rules to protect the wilderness.

The park service also tends to conflate more hikers in the wilderness with more fire rings and depletion of firewood. Those problems could be eliminated completely with a blanket ban on fires – a prohibition that would have almost no impact on the vast majority of hikers. Certainly limiting fires is a better alternative than limiting people.

That said, I am not unsympathetic to the park service and their often conflicting objectives. If I had to choose a course of action from the list above, I would go with #2, with the caveat that high-use areas could not be more than a mile or so long (or perhaps a couple of miles long but no more than a quarter mile wide) and there would be as few as possible.

Good hiking, Ray

Filed under: Blog and Tagged: campsites, permits

Hiking the JMT 2017? Here is what you should be doing, now.

Published by Ray Rippel on August 15, 2016 27 Permalink

My next major John Muir Trail hike won’t occur until next year. Wrapping up a fifteen-year effort to write, publish and release a book; wrapping up my “day job” here on Oahu, and moving to our new home just north of Lake Tahoe and west of Reno is keeping this year quite busy enough. I’ve spent a lifetime dreaming of living near the Sierra Nevada. Skipping a major hike this year seems like a small price to pay to finally make it happen.

My wife and I are planning a complete thru-hike in 2017 – fourteen months from now. Since we’ll be a short drive to Yosemite, there can’t be much to do this far out, right? Wrong! Here is what is on our list for the next few months:

We have about a week to pencil out an itinerary. We need to decide how much of the hike we want to do after Labor Day. If we decide to wait later in the summer we’ll see fewer hikers and mosquitos, but will have to contend with colder nights and potential transportation and accommodations issues along the way. Labor Day comes a little early in 2017: September 4. The JMT population falls precipitously after the holiday. I suspect we’ll settle on a start date around the last day of August or the first couple of days in September. That means the Tuolumne Meadows Grill and Tuolumne Meadows Lodge will still be open, and transportation to and from Red’s Meadow to Mammoth Lakes will still be in full swing, when we arrive at each.
Although we can’t be assured of getting a permit on the day we want, at this point we are going to assume we will be stepping onto the trail at Happy Isles on day 1. We will need someplace to stay the night (perhaps two) before, so we must decide if we are going with the convenience of Curry Village, the comfort of the Yosemite Lodge, or the opulence of the Ahwahnee. Why? Because reservations there fill up quickly in all of them, and they can be made a year and a day in advance.
We are planning a half rest day on day 3 in Tuolumne Meadows. If we want to spend a night in the Lodge (which is really a tent cabin), we’ll need to make that reservation a year and a day out, too.
We are going to start discussing our permit strategy. There are two ways to approach this: try repeatedly for the date and place you want and then re-arrange everything else around the date you ultimately get, or make your reservations along the way and figure out a day and place to start your hiking so that you can arrive when planned. We will go with the second option. That means we need to carefully assess what permits are available, when, and we need to be prepared to request them on the first day available. Since one of our back-up plans is to leave from either Chiquito Pass Trailhead or Quartz Mountain Trailhead, we need to be ready a year ahead to request the permit.
The last step isn’t absolutely necessary, but has the potential to help us avoid some unpleasant situations: we will start publicizing to our friends and family that we are going to be in the woods for three weeks in September next year. That way no one will depend on us being somewhere else!

Good hiking, Ray

Filed under: Blog and Tagged: itinerary, permits, zero day

Hiking on the Right Side of the Rules

Published by Ray Rippel on July 25, 2016 3 Permalink

As interest in the wilderness increases, so do the rules and regulations. Although it could be argued that the Sierra Nevada is much more lenient than many places, where a hiker must get every campsite approved prior to entering the wilderness, there are still opportunities to get yourself in trouble. Here are some simple ways to keep your interaction with Rangers pleasant and friction-free:

Don’t build a fire where you shouldn’t, or in a way that is improper. With all the news about wildfires, does this even need to be said? Sure does. The last time I was at Purple Lake, at the same time that the Rim Fire was raging in the north, I saw a large group build a huge bonfire during a time when no fires were allowed at all. The rules vary based on the conditions, so ask about them when you pick up your permit. There are few rules you can break in the wilderness that might result in you spending the next several Christmases eating Nutraloaf and waiting for your turn to use the weight bench next to the guard tower, but this is one of them.
Don’t camp where you are not supposed to. For most of the trail that means no closer than 100 feet from water and the trail. When you pick up your wilderness permit you will be informed of areas where camping is not allowed under any circumstances, like near the Thousand Island or Garnet Lakes’ outlet streams. You will also encounter areas that are closed so that they can recover. Staying on the right side of the law on this might sound easy, but it takes a little planning. Be sure to pick some primary and alternate spots before you start your hike. You don’t want to reach the end of the day, exhausted, with no good choices except for an illegal site.
Keep your permit handy and be prepared to show it. I’m not sure why – perhaps because I am older; or carry relatively expensive gear; or because I’m 6′ 3″, weigh in around 200 pounds, and am industrial-strength ugly – but Rangers seem to be reluctant to ask me for my permit. In fact, in all my years in the Sierra Nevada, I think I’ve only been asked once. (I have volunteered my permit many times, and always get the feeling that the Ranger in question is relieved that I did so.) Don’t assume you will be so lucky. Have your permit handy. If you are traveling in a group, consider asking the Wilderness Center to split the permit into individual ones, so that everyone can carry their magic ticket, especially if you hike at different paces during the day.
Beware of “day-hiking” the Happy Isles to Tuolumne section. For fast hikers, one alternative to solve the permit problem is to hike the first twenty-something miles as a day hike. Unfortunately, in order to do this you have to do something you probably shouldn’t. Your first choice is to do the hike with the full complement of your gear. The problem with taking your gear is that you may have trouble convincing a Ranger that you are really on a day hike. There are documented cased of hikers getting tickets in just this situation. The second alternative is to hike that stretch without your gear, which, in my view, violates the common sense notion that you should not be a dozen miles from any road or civilization without a shelter, warm clothes, extra food, etc.
Bring a legal bear canister and use it. They may be a pain, but the evidence that they work is overwhelming.

There a lots of other rules, mostly revolving around Leave-No-Trace principles that will get you a ticket as well, but these five are the ones that will land you in trouble quicker than anything.

Good hiking, Ray

Filed under: Blog and Tagged: campsites, fire, permits

Should You Skip Happy Isles to Tuolumne Meadow?

Published by Ray Rippel on April 4, 2016 35 Permalink

The Southern Terminus of the John Muir Trail!

As wilderness permits for a traditional Happy-Isles-to-Mount-Whitney hike get harder and harder to get, many people are considering alternatives. Some of those alternatives (e.g., hiking northbound) include the northern twenty-one miles of the trail. Others (e.g., starting north of Yosemite National Park, in the Hoover Wilderness) mean that you will not see anything between Happy Isles and Tuolumne Meadow.

If you decide to skip Happy-Isles-to-Tuolumne-Meadow, are you missing anything? Here is my take.

Why You’ll Be Sorry

The first 2.7 miles of the John Muir Trail (when hiking southbound) are among the most popular miles on all of Yosemite’s trails. There are reasons for the popularity. Before you get the straps on your backpack fully adjusted you will cross the Merced River on a footbridge with an amazing view of Vernal Fall. As you continue to ascend you will do so in the shadow of the back of Half Dome, Liberty Cap, and Nevada Fall. At a little less than three miles from Happy Isles you will cross the Merced again (and again by bridge) just a few feet upstream of Nevada Fall. When I take this route my first break of the day always comes on the warm granite just south of the bridge.

Vernal Fall, looking a tad anemic in the fall.

Once across the Merced you will walk parallel to the river for a little less than a mile before turning north and beginning your ascent to the Sunrise Creek area. Many hikers find forest walking boring, but I rather enjoy it. You will be in lots of trees for several miles until you start the climb that culminates at the Sunrise Wilderness Camp.

The hiking is generally flat and beautiful once you get pass Sunrise Camp.

Most people find the next four miles to be quite beautiful as the trail meanders through meadows that provide great views of the unusual geology of the area, best typified by Unicorn and Cathedral Peaks.

Lower Cathedral Lake at Sunset

At around eighteen miles from Happy Isles you will find the first of the two Cathedral Lakes. Both are beautiful (Lower Cathedral Lake is a mile or so off the trail) and either would be a great place to spend the night. Cathedral Peak reflected in the first or second, around sunset, is not a sight you will likely forget.

The last few miles to Tuolumne Meadow are unremarkable, although it does have the advantage of being downhill!

Why You’ll Be Glad You Missed It

Did I mention that the first 2.7 miles of the John Muir Trail are among the most popular miles on all of Yosemite’s trails? That means lots of people on the trail with you. Almost none of them will have backpacks like yours, which means you will draw the attention of day hikers. Expect lots of questions. (One way to avoid 90% of the inquiries would be to attach a sign to your backpack that reads, “No, I am not afraid of being eaten by a bear, and, no, I do not have a gun.”)

Having said that, if you are going to have an unpleasant encounter with a bear, this is where you are most likely to have it. Particularly between Happy Isles and the bridge near Nevada Fall, I always keep my backpack close. Bears in this area are so conditioned to having humans nearby that they will literally sneak up behind you, lift your pack without making a sound, and then find a convenient spot (like on top of a boulder in the middle of the river) to do a not-too-careful inspection of the contents. Your hike could be complete before noon on the first day.

You will be ascending almost all of the first several miles, but you might as well get used it it!

Lastly, hiking the John Muir Trail is all about ascending. That makes the first eighteen miles a perfect introduction. Even if you stop at Little Yosemite Valley the first night you will be climbing in excess of 3,000 feet. There is a lot of climbing between Happy Isles and Tuolumne.

My Recommendation

There is no doubt in my mind, even with the inquisitive crowds, the felonious bears, and the relentless climbing, that this stretch is worth the effort. To my mind, that isn’t even a question. Unfortunately, with the current wilderness permit process that is also kind of dodging the issue. A better question is this: if I can’t get a permit that allows me to start at Happy Isles should I just wait until next year? To that I have to say, “No.” This is a wonderful twenty-one miles of the Sierra Nevada, but there’s lots more on the other 190 miles of the JMT. You’ll never regret taking an alternative from another trailhead.

Good hiking, Ray

Filed under: Blog and Tagged: permits

Is this the Golden Age of hiking and backpacking?

Published by Ray Rippel on March 7, 2016 15 Permalink

We are in the middle of a fairly substantial interior renovation where I work. One by-product of the undertaking is that a small space will be sealed up behind a drywall partition, sort of like Fortunato in Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.”

On a lark, I suggested to my employees that we hide a time capsule in the abandoned space – you know, one of those boxes full of trinkets, newspapers, and the minutiae of the day, which (one hopes) will be of interest to whomever unseals the repository fifty years, or more, from now. I tossed in a copy of my new book, as well as a personal “letter to the future.” While writing that letter I couldn’t help but reflect on how lucky I felt to be living in the early 21st Century.

That gratitude extends to my forays into the woods. I think we may very well, for the past twenty years and for at least another decade or so, be living in the Golden Age of Hiking and Backpacking. Why do I concentrate on those thirty years? Three reasons.

The internet. Nothing – no piece of gear, no change of government policy, no technological advance – has done more to improve my backpacking trips than the internet. Through forums like the John Muir Trail Yahoo Group I am able to learn from hikers far more experienced than I. Cottage industry manufacturers are able to innovate and to stay in business by reaching customers they would have never reached in the past. (Unbiased reviews of the tents, backpacks, quilts, and other kit are also readily available.) Local knowledge about specific trails, specific campgrounds, transportation alternatives, even places to stay and to eat before and after a hike is just a few clicks away. Perhaps best of all is the wide variety of online mapping alternatives available, coupled with high-resolution satellite photos. I’ll bet I spend almost as much time doing map and photo reconnaissances of a route as I do actually walking it. I’ve visited countless delightful spots, usually within a five minute walk of the trail, I would have never known existed if not for finding them while scrutinizing the maps and satellite photos. But, once you find these spots, how do you ensure you don’t walk by them? That brings me to the second great advantage of hiking in the current day.

Small, lightweight, handheld, accurate, rugged GPS. I learned land navigation well before the era of GPS, and I am so very glad I did. But I’d be lying if I said that GPS wasn’t a huge part of how I find my way around the woods. A GPS does two wonderful things for me. First, it tells me where I am. Anyone who has done any serious land (or aerial! or nautical!) navigation knows that 90% of the solution to any route-finding puzzle is knowing where you are. (Nearly 100% of the navigation errors occur, not when you go the wrong way, but when you go the RIGHT way from where you THINK you are, when you are actually somewhere else.) Second, it allows me to name and pre-load specific points on the ground so that I can easily find them later, whether they are trailheads, campsites, water sources, rendezvous spots, or that perfect break area I discovered while pouring over a satellite photo. I can still use a map when necessary, but GPS is a wonderful thing.

Relatively permissive government policy. We all complain about how hard it is to get the permit we want to enter the wilderness, but does anyone think it is going to get better? Right now, once we get that Sierra Nevada permit, we can pretty much walk anywhere we want, camp anywhere we want, and stay as long as we want (exit dates are rarely a problem; only entry dates). I may be wrong, but in a dozen years my guess is that the constraints will be far more restrictive and the permits even more difficult to obtain. (Often – but not always – those constraints are for valid reasons, but that doesn’t make them less restrictive.) I can imagine our descendants, forced to walk only on designated trails and to camp in a few overcrowded campsites, wondering what it must have been like back in those magical times of 2016.

I’ve read that the happiest people are those who are also the most grateful. I’ll plead guilty on both counts, and one thing I’m most grateful for is that I’m alive during this Golden Age of hiking and backpacking.

Good hiking, Ray

Filed under: Blog and Tagged: permits, psychology

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