Happy to report that I summited 14,505-foot Mt. Whitney August 21, capping off a 208-mile hike of California’s John Muir Trail.
The JMT, which starts in Yosemite National Park and ends atop Whitney, was one of my most challenging backpacking expeditions ever, requiring more than 40,000 feet of climbing over 22 days. But the spectacular views along the trail were always more than reward enough for the effort.
One of the trail’s biggest challenges for a lifetime sea level resident like me was the elevation. Fortunately, I was able to acclimate before the hike during a three-day camping/fishing trip with my brother in Mammoth Lakes CA. The center of this mountain resort town is 7,800 feet above sea level, and the surrounding areas are higher.
By the time I reached Whitney, its elevation was really not a problem.
One of my bigger blunders was to bring fishing gear. As it turned out, I was too tired to fish after hiking, and so I shipped the gear home during one of my resupply stops.
The closest I came to disaster was almost stepping on a timber rattler, which was apparently napping in the trail. I didn’t see it. Fortunately, the tapping of my trekking poles awakened the surly beast, which rattled and struck repeatedly in my direction but moved off the trail.
One of the more interesting people I met on the trail was Chris Haaland, an engineer whose company—Canyon Bridge Co.—was replacing a critical trail bridge across the South Fork of the San Joaquin River. The original bridge was severely damaged during the heavy snowfalls of 2023. By the time I passed by in August, Haaland and his crew had installed a temporary suspension bridge across the river, and the permanent bridge was being prefabricated in Bishop.
Haaland hoped the permanent bridge could be installed by early September, depending on the availabilty of a helicopter large enough to transport it.
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| Haaland |
Two of the nicest people I met were Craig and Kathy, a father/daughter team that was preparing to summit Whitney. My tent was designed to be set up with two trekking poles, and I broke one of my poles on Whitney. They loaned me one of theirs for my last night on the trail.
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| Craig and Kathy |
The most impressive duo I met during my adventure were Tom and Crazy Jack. Tom gave me a ride from Whitney Portal to my hotel, the historic Dow Villa, in Lone Pine. Both regularly vacation in the Whitney area. Tom says he has climbed Whitney 25 times, often via the Mountaineer’s route. Crazy Jack, who lives in San Diego, says he has done 212 ascents. On some occasions, according to Tom, Jack has done daily doubles from the portal. A single lap is 22 miles. So that means 44 miles in a 24-hour period. Tom told me Jack has also done laps starting from Lone Pine, which is 13 miles down the mountain from the Portal and is 4,023 feet above sea level. So one lap to the top of the mountain is 48 miles and climbs more than 10,000 feet.
Pretty amazing. I’m a slacker by comparison.
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| Tom and Crazy Jack |
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| Traffic jam on Mather pass |
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| Llama express |
