Sierra Nevada John Muir Trail (JMT) Class of 2022 - We Did It!
While working from home during the global pandemic of 2020-2021, I got into the habit of watching hiking videos on YouTube at lunch (thank you Kraig Adams). During one of these virtual escapes, I learned about a 211 mile trail in California’s Sierra Nevada wilderness called the John Muir Trail (aka the “JMT”). Intrigued and inspired, I stuck a post-it note on our United States wall map that read “JMT August 2022”, which was 10 months away. If you can visualize it, you can do it! We had never back-packed long distance carrying a tent and multiple days of food. Our previous hiking excursions in Slovenia, China, and Nepal had been hut-to-hut style. This was gonna be a whole different adventure!
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John Muir Trail: Expect the Unexpected
My biggest take-away from our 24 days on the John Muir Trail is that every person’s journey on any trail is going to be unique, shaped by prior hiking experience, physical conditioning, ability to acclimate, weather, gear and many other variables. Sure - watch and read other people’s reports to get a sense for what to expect. But walk into the wilderness expecting the unexpected…because it’s the “unexpected” that turns a planned through-hike into a memorable adventure. The posts below are in chronological order, with our hike split into five phases. We traveled southbound, starting from Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite on Friday, July 22nd and exiting 24 days later on August 14th through Mt. Whitney portal. Also included are some posts detailing our acclimatization strategy in Colorado and our packing list.
JMT Packing List + Pre-Hikes in Yosemite National Park
JMT Training and Acclimatization in Colorado
