JMT Pre-Hike: Day Trips to Yosemite from Mammoth Lakes, California
It was Friday, July 15th, when we rolled into Mammoth Lakes, California, after picking up our friend, Dan Chung, from the Las Vegas airport. Our through-hike of the John Muir Trail was scheduled to start a week later. Dan is a professional photographer living in Washington D.C. (you want to see his photos!), so Mammoth Lakes — at 8,000 feet above sea level — was the perfect place to acclimate before starting our through-hike. As we drove into the eastern Sierra valley from the dry White Mountains, we stopped to photograph thunderstorm clouds in the distance. We had no idea at the time just how common this would become.
Since our wilderness permit had us starting in Tuolumne Meadows, rather than Happy Isles, Mammoth Lakes was also a good place to do a little site-seeing in Yosemite. This post covers a few of the pre-hikes we did, including a trial hike on the JMT from Tuolumne to Cathedral Lakes and a short hike to Dog Lake. These hikes were CRUCIAL in helping us to determine whether or not Caffrey would be capable of doing the longer through-hike… just a week prior, he had sprained his ankle.
First, a Little Context: Angel’s Landing in Utah
It had been a nerve-wracking week before arriving in California, each morning carefully inspecting Caffrey’s black and swollen ankle for ANY sign of improvement. We had spent over a month in Colorado, training and preparing for this through-hike. On our drive from Colorado to California, we stopped in Zion National Park in Utah to climb Angel’s Landing, which we had done several years ago. It’s a no-brainer, concrete trail that we had no reservations about hiking. The heavens offered us a strange twist of fate that day, reminding us that the best laid plans are never guaranteed. Just before the last little climb to the ridge of Angel’s Landing, Caffrey mis-stepped and sprained his ankle.
He made it back down with sheer grit and determination, hobbling on his poles. We were SO grateful we didn’t need to call a rescue team. By the evening, though, it was clear that he had a grade 2 sprain. We were 10 days from our start date on the John Muir Trail and the entire trip was in jeopardy. We called Dan, who was still in D.C., to let him know that he might be having a solo adventure. We spent the next two days in Hurricane, Utah, visiting an acupuncture clinic and witnessing yet another prescient phenomena: a super-moon flash-storm.
The acupuncture clinic owners were a sincere and earnest couple, originally from mainland China. They provided needle treatments, herbal remedies, and advised Caffrey to rest… and recommended that he delay hiking with a 30 pound pack for at least 2 months. We appreciated their kindness and the acupuncture definitely made a difference. We did, however, ignore their advice to delay our hike. We had invested too much time, energy, and excitement to just give up without trying.
Trial Hikes: Cathedral Lakes, Yosemite Valley, Dog Lake
Fast forward a few days and we were in Mammoth Lakes, with Caffrey having rested as much as possible. He was still in a lot of pain, the ankle still bruised and swollen — a week from “Go” day. We prepared a multitude of back-up plans — Plan A: Dan and I start on the trail and Caffrey meets up with us at our first re-supply point; Plan B: Dan starts solo and we meet Dan at Reds Meadows; Plan C: Caffrey joins Dan and me at pre-determined meet-up points along the way for day-hikes; Plan D: Dan and I hike to Whitney and then I hike back to Yosemite with Caffrey…. You get the point.
Yosemite’s Cathedral Lakes
In the meantime, we had to test — and site-see! On the first day of our 3-day Yosemite pass (acquired separately from the Wilderness Permit), we drove to Tuolumne Meadows to see where we would pick-up our wilderness permit in a few days. Caffrey joined me and Dan for a short hike on the sandy and somewhat rocky John Muir Trail path. It was slow going, but he managed about a mile before turning back (didn’t want to overdo it). Dan and I continued to Lower Cathedral Lakes. I had been excited about the hike and a little nervous about the trail itself. Returning from Cathedral Lakes, I was amped and ready to go! The scenery was stunning and the trail was easier than I had expected. I was PRAYING that Caffrey would be ready, willing, and able to go.
Note: For image slide-show, click on any photo.
Yosemite Valley
The next day, we drove into Yosemite Valley and slowly hobbled along the flat trails as a longer “walking test” for Caffrey. It took us FOUR hours to enter the park because of some road construction delays. About half way in, I suggested we “turn around” — “this is dumb” “why do we have to sit here?” “how good can a tourist zone be?”. This turn-around statement contributed to my eventual trail name….. I digress… We ended up seeing the usual tourist stuff, such as the waterfall, Sentinel Rock, and Half Dome. On the return trip to Mammoth, we stopped by Olmstead Point and Tenaya Lake. We walked about 4 miles all day and C was still smiling (‘cause he’s always “carefree” — Caffrey’s eventual trail name).
Note: For image slide-show, click on any photo.
Yosemite’s Tuolumne Meadow and Dog Lake
The third day, we rode the shuttle to Tuolumne Meadows to pick up our permit from the ranger station (and test the shuttle service). From there, we did a short hike past Lembert Dome to Dog Lake and then walked along the flat paths of Tuolumne Meadows to Soda Springs and Parsons Memorial Lodge. We walked maybe 6 to 8 miles, along a variety of trail conditions. Caffrey was holding up strong and he decided that Plan A would be ALL of us starting together at Tuolumne Meadows, headed for Lyell Canyon.
Note: For image slide-show, click on any photo.
I had enormous trepidation, but also a strong desire to get this 3-amigo show on the road. In hindsight, we didn’t truly understand just how remote we would be from help (if we needed it). In hindsight, I would probably have made a stronger case to delay our start date. But we didn’t know THEN what we know NOW and that made all the difference (actually, thank goodness!). Hence, our John Muir Trail adventure began on Friday, July 22nd, 2022.
