One of my favorite sunrises while backpacking the full JMT last August, was at Thousand Island Lake. It was just spectacular.

June 30-July 22
290 total miles
Canon Canonnette
Kodak Gold 200

Life moves so fast. Emails, school, work, money, family illness, all set against the backdrop of a world often disconnected from nature. And when boredom, fear, or sadness come, we pacify by scrolling, eating or smoking. I’m grateful to have slowed down in those beautiful mountains. I pushed myself to limits I didn’t know I had, saw grandeur I didn’t know existed. There is an immense satisfaction in summiting a challenge that once felt impossible and an even greater satisfaction when it's done amongst the Sierra.

Thank you to the many kind commenters of this subreddit. And thank you to John Muir.

I sat down to shoot sunset and waited for alpenglow over the range.

As I was setting up my shot with a tripod, I saw a black bear about 30 yards from me and wasn't sure what to do. Ranger in that area asked me to show myself bigger and I made a few noises which turned the bear away from me. Then came the moon alignment right on top of painted ladies at Rae Lakes; one of the most cherished beauties in Sierra Nevada region. I have to admit this is probably one of the the most scenic locations in JMT stretch with all things in one frame. I will surely return to shoot Milky Way here on a moonless night. But hey, I will take the moon if it shows up this way anyday over a MilkyWay

I ​had the opportunity to hike the John Muir Trail way back when,  when I was 13, with my dad. Fast forward 36 years and I got the chance to get back on it, though at a bit of a quicker pace than the 3 weeks it took the first time. 

A few weeks ago I had the immense pleasure of hiking the trail with my cousin in just under 7 days.  It is funny some of the things I recalled clearly from the first hike and also sections I had no recollections at all on. It was an amazing journey that I am still trying to process.

 Hopefully I can get back there sooner than another 36 years. 

Summitted Whitney and Half Dome in 1987 but didn’t hike the JMT in between. Now at 67 I did. It was awesome!

My first time in the Sierra mountains.

Did an overnight backpacking trip to Rae Lakes area and saw this notice on the Charlotte Lake/JMT junction sign. Would love to hear other’s thoughts, but I think chasing the bear for as long as you’re physically able is perhaps not good advice…?

Just finished NOBO via cottonwood pass on 9/25 with my brother. We had and AMAZING time! Don't get me wrong it's hard but so rewarding and cool. For the record the most I've been out before this was a 5 day trip like 10 years ago. If you're thunking you don't have enough experience I'm just here to say that you don't necessarily have to be an expert to get out there. The mistakes I saw beginners make were mainly just taking way too much weight and hurting themselves. Get out there and have fun!

I don't know when exactly my cousin first brought up the idea, likely a couple years ago, but I do recall my initial response being something along the lines of an immediate "Not a chance. Hell no." and that was that. Then in the winter of 2024 as I was deep into tax season he sent me a rough itinerary of the 7 days he planned out. Of course my initial response was, yet again, "hell no". But, then I looked at the individual days......and dammit if that crazy part of me started to wonder.....So, I gave a very very tentative "maybe, a tiny maybe, but not this summer. It would have to be '25". And thus the seed was planted.

Around New Years of this year we had kind of a silent agreement that we'd give it a go and we both started purposefully getting ready for it. It was still just a pipe dream when we applied for Whitney Permits. "Has to be Portal to Happy Isles" he repeatedly said. Wouldn't do to start from Horseshoe. And then..........shit.......I actually won the lottery. July 31 start date from Whitney Portal. It was freaking real now.

So the workouts increased, adding in more short hikes here and there where I could find the time. A combination of mountain biking, some running, lots of rowing, pump track riding, doing 25 flights of stairs a day at the office, pickleball and the last couple months some mountain movement specific weight training, and more hikes, all along just thinking I didn't want to let my cousin down by being the weak one, got me to where I hopefully needed to be to pull it off.

The plan was thus:

Start on the trail exactly at 9am. That would give us until 9am the following Thursday to try and do the trail in less than 7 days. Sign to sign, Whitney Portal to Happy Isles.

Here is the CalTopo I mapped out:  https://caltopo.com/m/KDS0DHR

Day one would be Whitney Portal to Wallace Creek. Accomplished.

Garmin stats: 12hrs 39 minutes, 22.86 miles, 7,481 elevation gain

Day two would be Wallace Creek to Woods Creek at the bridge. Accomplished.

Garmin stats: 15hrs 57 minutes, 31.06 miles, 6,712 elevation gain

Day three would be Woods Creek to Bishop Pass junction (probably my most difficult day). Accomplished.

Garmin stats: 17hrs 33 minutes, 32.9 miles, 7,474 elevation gain

Day four would be Bishop Pass Junction to Sallie Keys (and it is here we would fall short of the goal for the first time, only making it to Senger Creek)

Garmin stats: 15hrs 53 minutes, 32.35 miles, 6,620 elevation gain

Day five was supposed to be Sallie Keys to Duck Creek, but we made it about a half mile before Lake Virginia, so even further behind, which was ok we figured, as this was the last (or so we thought)of the big elevation gain days and we could make up the lost miles the next couple of days.

Garmin stats: 16hrs 03 minutes, 31.75 miles, 7,212 elevation gain

Day 6 became Lake Virginia to Island Pass (apologies to the folks we might have woken when we pulled into camp around 11).

Garmin stats: 17hrs 12 minutes, 35.16 miles, 6,682 elevation gain

Day 7 was Island Pass to Clouds Rest Junction (where we had originally planned to stop the last night, so miles were made up).

Garmin stats: 17hrs 47 minutes, 35.36 miles, 4,980 elevation gain

Day 8 (continuation of day 7 really, since we had until 9am) was the last 6.7 miles or so to Happy Isles.

Garmin stats: 3hrs 14 minutes, 7 miles

Hiking that many miles a day we figured we would be burning around 4 to 5 thousand calories a day so we tried to eat every hour to maintain our strength. We were both around 3 pounds of food per person per day. Luckily we had a lot of support and we were able to set up 3 food drops. First at the Charlotte Lake junction, second at the MTR junction and last at the Mammoth Pass junction, since the Red’s Meadow road was closed. As it turns out, we took too much food, prolly as much as 1\2 to 3\4 a pound per day too much (mostly protein bars. Those are just horrible). Which was fine. The packs were never more than 23 pounds full so it worked out ok.

Now, if you will indulge me some thoughts on the whole thing.

Many have asked since if it was even fun or worth it or why even do it that fast. I always pause cause how to answer that to someone who wasn’t there with us? They didn’t feel the elation of getting to the top of every pass, the new amazing views over the next rise, the struggle of putting another painful step in front of the other, over and over and over, not sure if you could continue to do it but continuing anyways because that’s what needed to be done. They didn’t feel the silence of hiking under the stars or the energy of the sun when it first hits you in the early mornings, or the pure delight of how delicious the Ramen Bomb is for lunch.

Was it fun? Absolutely yes. Absolutely not. There were moments, more than a few and not short, where it was really freaking hard and daunting and overwhelming and painful. But I knew going into it it would be. My cousin and I do a backpacking trip every summer and I joke with him that our trips are not “vacations”, and that a bumper sticker I saw once perfectly summed up our backpacking trips: “My vacation is your worst nightmare”. Hah. So, yeah, I knew this was going to have moments of suck. It did, we worked through and overcame those moments and dangit if I don’t enjoy that nonsense.

As to the why? Well, first was we wanted to do the JMT together. He had done it a couple times solo in the previous 5 years or so and I hadn’t done it since I was 13. But I’m a CPA and married with 4 kids so taking 3, even 2 weeks off was not in the cards. And we liked to challenge ourselves. We work remarkably well in the mountains together and this felt like a culmination of the previous years of off trail wandering and peak bagging and pushing ourselves on longer hikes.

So was it worth it?  That was asked me the other day and it gave me pause. Like I never even considered that it wasn’t, pain and suffering and all. I just got to hike the freaking John Muir Trail in my favorite mountain range with my best friend. In just 7 days! I got to dig as deep as I’ve ever had to just to finish a day or get up a pass or just to keep moving. And then lay a weary head down for way too short a period and get up and do it all over again. But every morning I got up looking forward to a new day. I got to see the sun kiss the tops of mountains with its last light and hear the symphony of creeks as I soaked flogged feet in them. I got to see smiling faces and tired faces all along the trail, but on all those faces was still the awe of being where we were. I got to laugh at the absurdity of it all and cry at the blessing of just getting to be there and the fantastic company I was sharing it with. I got to look from one pass to the other and wonder how the hell I was going to get over to that thing way over there in the same day, then look back at that previous pass and just think “hell yeah”.  So, yes, it was more than worth it.

Many more pics here: https://cmoney.smugmug.com/Adventures/JMT-7 If you feel so inclined.

My phone reminded me where I was a year ago. I woke up at Gladys lake, went swimming in Thousand Island Lake and summited Donahue. One of the most beautiful days on trail. I hope your hike was/is as memorable as mine.

Just finished my JMT hike from Lyell to Whitney.(already did half dome and clouds rest) What an experience it was, ended up taking 13 days to summit Whitney and by god the hiking wasn’t even the hard part.

Just some advice for others, zinc sunblock and make sure to get the inside of your thighs and the creases behind your knees(don’t put sunblock on while sitting down). My sunburns and purple there and rubbed all day long.

SPF lip balm and tons of it, applied every 3 hours or so.

Weird thing I used was a 10L gravity filter that I never filled above 4L. Made life superrrrr easy, especially when it came to having a safe fire.

Nobody really needed/used microspikes

Brother dropped off at Red’s because of torn feet and excessive pack weight. So take those two seriously, food should be the heaviest thing by FAR.

There was a father-daughter duo that I would pass during the day and they would always come walking past my campsite around 8:30pm. So time on trail will always beat timing the trail. And a snail can get anywhere with enough time. (For anyone discouraged by fitness/age(I met an amputee on trail)

One of the craziest parts was running into people doing small trips who were amazed by what I was doing and congratulating me. On the other hand then running into a ton of PCT hikers over 800 miles into their walk to Canada. Super interesting to hear how they felt about the experience being about 1/3 of the way through.

This became sort of a ramble, but it’s all fresh in my head as I’m recovering in a bed that would deflate in the middle of the night. If anyone has any question for their upcoming trip, feel free.

I recently finished my solo NOBO JMT thru hike! Started on 8/17 to 9/5 for a total of 20 days. Started at Cottonwood Lakes trailhead, ended at Happy Isles. Total mileage about 270, averaged 13.5 a day, with one 20 mile day. No zero days, but one 5 mile day on day 3.

Weather Rained more than I expected, 7 days total including once in the morning from 6-9am. Lightening each time (except morning shower). Hail once after forester pass. Air temp during the day was 60s-70s but UV index pushed it well into the 80s so it was hot. Nighttime lows typically in the 30s-40s, and twice woke up to frost. A few hazy days from the garnet fire, some ash falling, and a steady smoke smell between evolution basin and Reds.

Resupply My friend hiked up Kearsarge pass on my 7th day to drop off a full bear can (BV500). On day 12 I completely filled my bear can from the MTR hiker boxes. VVR on day 14, Reds on day 16 I only topped off some snacks. Two 4oz fuel cans used, new one bought at VVR. I only cooked a hot dinner though so my usage may be less than others. Granola, nuts, salami, cheese, and any of the above on tortillas with honey were my go tos for breakfast and lunch. And of course candy. Water was plentiful with the longest carries being Whitney, after Duck Lake outlet, and Cloud’s Rest where I carried 2 liters.

Gear Tent: Lanshan 1 pro (single wall trekking pole tent) was overall good, but significant condensation built up almost every night with/without rain. Most days I setup around lunch to dry it out. Super easy to set up with rocks instead of stakes.

Sleeping: Kelty Cosmic Down 20° worked well. Never cold at night, but also wore my down puffer if needed. Thermarest Neoair Xlite was very comfy, but a bit narrow.

Pack: Granite Gear Crown 60L. Great pack. Left the brain at home. Trimmed a bunch of the straps by 4-5 inches and burned the edges. Black trash bag inside for waterproofing worked well. Big side pockets were great for food and water which makes up for tiny hip belt pockets.

Shoes/clothes: Altra Lone Peak 8 performed well, but foot soreness continued to build throughout the trip. A little more cushioning in the sole would have been nice for the seemingly endless downhill stomps. Never felt I needed gaiters. Socks were dusty but this probably would’ve happened regardless. Large cowboy hat, long sleeve shirt, and pants eliminated need for sunscreen, and hat only annoyingly flapped in the wind once.

Highlights: Miter basin (off trail), LeConte Canyon, Yosemite (first time)

Pics: Middle Crabtree lake, looking east off Whitney, sunset from Lake South America, somewhere before Forester pass, East Vidette, East Vidette again, upper Rae Lake, golden trout, thousand island lake, pretty cloud :), fog over Lyell canyon, Yosemite valley from Cloud’s Rest

 The Basics

• Who: Two 67-year-old seasoned hikers.

• Dates: August 9 to August 25.

• Stats: ~10 miles/day average. ~170 miles total (including ingress, egress, and resupply side trips and trail connections) from Rush Creek to Onion Valley.

• Temps & Weather: Daytime highs in the mid-70s; lows in the low 40s/high 30s. Mostly sunny, with 1 day of intense rain/hail and overcast conditions for the last three days.

• Base Weight: 12.5 lbs without bear can. Average weight at 24 lbs; topped out at 32 lbs with a full pack after resupply.

• Maps: Far Out app and the JMT Data Book.

Quick Loadout Breakdown

• Pack: Durston Kakwa 55

• Shelter: Durston X-Mid Pro 2

• Sleep System: Patagonia Fitz Roy 19° Bag; Nemo Tensor Elite

• Apparel: Patagonia UV Hoodie, Stoko Leggings (Gen 1), UFM Bamboo 5” underwear, Injinji Merino Liners + Darn Tough ¼ socks

• Footwear & Rain Gear: Topo Athletic Traverse shoes, OR Helium top & bottom

• New Additions: Flextail sleeping pad pump, Alpha Direct 90 fleece, Pact wipes, Pact shovel

Trail Conditions & Realities

• Water: Readily available. No need to over-carry—40 oz was usually plenty.

• Footing & Trail Dust: A mix of crushed granite stone (¼” to 7” chunkers), granite sand, and the occasional plush forest path. It’s all dirty and incredibly dusty—expect frequent bloody noses and dirty feet that refuse to get clean.

• Scenery: Multi-thousand-foot ascents and descents, endless alpine lakes, roaring rivers, and dramatic waterfalls.

• Bear Activity: Basically non-existent.

• Direction Strategy: Southbound is unquestionably the way to do this. Watching north-bounders climb made their ascents look interminable.

Highlights

• Marie Lake: Outstanding, unspeakable, otherworldly.

• The Passes: Muir, Mather, and Glen for rewarding ascents and top-of-the-world views.

• Daily Rituals: Napping and snacking in the shade by lakes and streams—it doesn't get better. Cold alpine swims almost every day were absolutely priceless.

• Marjorie Lake: Incredible changing light against the granite walls.

• Golden Staircase: Felt like hiking inside an M.C. Escher drawing. Loved every bit of it.

• Sierra Junipers: Gnarled, gorgeous trunks with golden-red bark and an amazing fragrant scent. Hug one when you see it.

• Rae Lakes: Oh my.

Breakdown

• The Beginning: A Half Day Lost: Frontier Airlines lost our baggage, instantly burning half a day. We drove up from SF, stayed at June Lake, dropped off our resupply with Rainbow Outfitters, and parked at Onion Valley. Lone Pine Brian shuttled us back to the trailhead, and we finally put boots on dirt by noon.

• June Lake to Gem Lake: Not a pleasant start. Starting at noon is never a good idea. We slogged past Agnew Lake on mixed terrain—hot, an 1,800-foot climb, and just plain hot. We pulled over under a tree at Agnew to snack and nap until the heat subsided. It didn’t. Running out of light and steam before Waugh Lake, we snagged a lakefront spot at Gem Lake. We made dinner, soaked our aching feet and knees in the lake, and crashed hard.

• Gem Lake to Garnet Lake: Pushed past Waugh Lake despite warnings it was dry—and behold, totally dry. Turns out it's the first in a string of old reservoirs feeding Gem and Agnew. The weather cooled down for an easy climb up to JMT elevation, opening up to Thousand Island Lake. It’s a total masterpiece: deep blue water, rolling green landscapes, wildflowers, and winding rivulets. We snacked and napped in the shade, passed aptly named Emerald and Ruby Lakes, and crossed the wooden bridge at Garnet Lake. Turned right to camp along the lake edge (30–40 feet below the trail) and caught a golden sunset against the surrounding peaks.

• Garnet Lake to Red Meadows Resupply: An easy downhill day. We took a river swim, then grabbed a snack and nap at Lake Vivian. Passed north-bounders struggling and hurting for water, which was odd considering they’d just passed Lake Vivian. On the way down, we checked out Devils Postpile—a wild wall of stacked rectangular rock pillars and Rainbow Falls. Squeaked into Red Meadows at 4:58 PM (two minutes before closing!) to grab our next 6-day resupply. Ate burgers and pecan pie inside because the yellowjackets outside were insanely active. Road closures left the campground virtually empty—bring cash for the site fee, and the bathrooms are worth the price.

• Red Meadows to Purple Lake: A slow, heavy-pack ascent day where we officially adopted our trail mantra: "Slow like a pro." Climbed past huge red volcanic cones nestled between granite peaks, topping out near 10,000 feet near the Duck Pass junction. Worn out, we called it a day and camped at (or near) Purple Lake—memory is a bit foggy on this one!

• Purple Lake to Silver Pass to Pocket Meadow: A modest 30% rain forecast turned into getting pounded by large, freezing hail snowballs. The Gossamer Gear Sunbrella helped briefly until high winds threatened to snap the frame. We pushed through the dark weather up Silver Pass—an ascent that felt like it would never end, constantly revealing lake after lake. The mountain just wouldn't give it up. When the skies opened up again, we ducked between boulders and brush until we decided to carry-on through the weather to Pocket Meadow. Soaked, we pitched camp and dried out. Nylofume pack liners saved the day—everything inside stayed dry.

• Pocket Meadow to Upper Bear Creek: Spent the morning drying out wet gear in the sun. Enjoyed a pleasant walk along creek contours before dropping under 8,000 feet to the VVR junction bridge. Then tackled the slow, humid switchbacks of Bear Ridge. After what felt like an eternity, we coasted down to a sweet, spacious campsite.

• Upper Bear Creek to Marie Lake to Sallie Keyes Lakes: One of the single best hiking moments of a lifetime. We reached Marie Lake—immense, gorgeous, and windy. Tucked behind boulders for a snack and a nap. Despite the wind, the water was too tempting to pass up. So, went swimming on the south end, and laid out in the sun, staring up at the blue sky. Completely alone and marvelous—words don't do it justice. We crested Selden Pass with renewed energy and dropped past seemingly source-less waterfalls and lush meadows to camp at the perfectly manicured sites at Sallie Keyes Lakes.

• Sallie Keyes Lakes to Muir Trail Ranch (MTR) to Piute Creek: Walked down to MTR, which is basically four picnic tables, clean water, and a small shack. The main event here is the 10+ 5-gallon discard buckets labeled by category ("dinners," "worn clothes," "health"). Honestly, you could resupply out of those buckets alone. The trickle-charge setup is clunky and painfully slow—do not rely on it to power a long leg. We hung out for 3 hours eating as many calories out of the buckets as possible while holding out hope our electronics would charge. Then hoisted 32-lb packs another 8 miles to camp at Piute Creek and soak.

• Piute Creek to McClure Meadow to Evolution Lake: Cruised through Aspen Meadows and stopped for a snack by the Evolution Valley waterfall. I like Outdoor Herbivore meals, so I tried eating a dehydrated Waldorf Salad for lunch instead of light snacks—terrible idea. It was like eating Thanksgiving turkey; instant brain fog and lead legs. Luckily, reenergized with an incredible swim at the south end of McClure Meadow, where the creek narrows and sluices over giant boulders. Then we pushed up the switchbacks to Evolution Lake for camp.

• Evolution Lake to Muir Pass: A stunning, exposed climb through the lake-filled Evolution Basin. The sun and heat sucked up our energy as we passed Lake Wanda; but reaching the iconic and legendary Muir Hut at the top provided pure bliss—it felt easily 20 degrees cooler inside than out. Dropped past a boiling hot, exposed Helen Lake to camp in a shaded oasis pocket of trees alongside rushing water.

• Le Conte Canyon to Dusy Basin to Bishop Pass to Grouse Meadow: From just below Muir Pass, we reached the Bishop Pass junction by noon. The 1,800-foot climb up the switchbacks to Dusy Basin in peak afternoon heat was brutal (3–4 hours of grinding). We edge-crawled to a waterfall along a switchback to dunk my head in freezing water to survive. The next day, we met the mule pack train at the top for our resupply, dumped trash, and hiked 9 miles back down into Le Conte Canyon just past Grouse Meadow. Le Conte Canyon itself was comparatively unremarkable.

• Grouse Meadow to Golden Staircase to Palisades Lake: Hiked straight into an M.C. Escher drawing. The Golden Staircase was spent navigating endless stone steps, tight corners, and hidden nooks where hikers ahead appear, disappear, and reappear directly above you. Loved every bit of it. Camped at Upper Palisades Lake. Getting up to the upper lake was really cool—a slow but fun walk hugging the steep lake walls to the hikers' left.

• Palisades Lake to Mather Pass to Marjorie Lake: A tame contour walk led into steep switchbacks up Mather Pass (~12,500 ft). The descent down the other side was a dramatic, knee-grinding workout. We snagged a shade-nap under the pines by a stream, then ascended through a bouldered forest and past Bench Lake to camp at Lake Marjorie—another massive lake with towering walls and shifting sunrise/sunset colors. A bit too windy for my personal taste, though!

• Marjorie Lake to Pinchot Pass to South Fork Woods Creek: A total breeze of a climb up Pinchot Pass (12,200 ft). Steep descent on the other side with great views of Crater Mountain and Twin Lakes. A random, rogue wind gust blew my Gossamer Gear sunbrella inside out, snapping the splines after 13 flawless days. We followed a roaring river down to Woods Creek Junction for a snack, nap, and pit stop. Four miles further up the trail, we scored a perfect 2-tent site along South Fork Woods Creek between Dollar and Arrowhead Lakes, right next to a hidden waterfall.

• Rae Lakes (Nero Day): A short 3-mile uphill stroll set us up for a perfect nero day. We spent the rest of the day swimming, sun-lounging, and napping under the shadow of Fin Dome and Glen Pass. Zero bear sign the entire trip... until now. A bear literally swam straight across Middle Rae Lake into camp. After being diverted, he casually sauntered right back through camp past 20 hikers and 10+ tents like he owned the place, just doing his daily rounds for food. Ended the day with a spectacular sunset.

• Glen Pass, Kearsarge Pass, and Out: The final gauntlet. A steep, rocky grind up Glen Pass (12,000 ft)—took my buddy 50 minutes and took me 90. A long, nasty descent down to the Kearsarge junction (again, how do north-bounders manage this?). Then, a gradual, "slow like a pro" climb up Kearsarge Pass. At the top, it was surreal to realize the hike was over. All that was left was a bumpy, unwelcoming descent down to the parked car at Onion Valley.

• Icing on the Cake: We wrapped up a phenomenal journey with a scenic drive back to the Bay Area, cruising past Mono Lake, through the town of Sonora, and over Sonora Pass.

Key Gear Reviews

• Durston Kakwa 55 Pack: Ready for retirement. The frame is sliding out and the seams let in too much rain.

• Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Tent: Great tent—a total palace! Love it, though the footprint is pretty large. I'm going to start looking for a 1-person tent for future trips.

• Patagonia Fitz Roy 19° Sleeping Bag: Absolutely love this bag

• Patagonia UV Hoodie: Over 1,000 miles on this top. Officially retired.

• Stoko Leggings (Gen 1): Nearly 1,000 miles on these. Retired.

• Injinji Merino Liners: Still on the fence about these.

• Topo Athletic Traverse Shoes: I'm a loyal Topo customer, and the soles are great, but the uppers got completely shredded (a recurring issue for me with Topos). Plus, the rand isn't thick enough for my old toes. Looking for something with more toe protection.

• Flextail Pad Pump: Loved this! Pro-tip: save battery by not fully inflating or deflating with the pump—do the last 20% manually.

• Alpha Direct 90 Fleece: Incomprehensible. What a piece of gear! Great for hiking warmth layered with a shell, breathable enough to hike in solo, and amazing to sleep in. Love it.

• Pact Wipes & Shovel: I’m a total convert! The wipes are phenomenal—light, compact, and easily tearable into quarters so you don't waste them or make a mess. The shovel, however, is garbage—it bends easily and is no match for hard ground.

Just finished a 5 day North/South Lake loop with my wife and daughter. Weather was spectacular and a treat to experience introducing some of the best of the Sierra to my daughter (particularly Evolution Valley/Lake/Basin).

We started on Friday afternoon after a long drive from the Bay Area, getting a ride from David Peterson from South Lake to the North Lake trailhead. Camped a bit below the pass that night, then over the pass and down to the junction of the JMT the next day. Piute Pass was OK, not spectacular, as was the Humphrey’s Basin. A long downhill, tough on the knees. Next day was awesome as we covered trail we’d passed on our JMT hike in 2020. McClure Meadow is so cool, and Evolution Lake is a wonder. We were able to get the same camp site we’d had before that’s next to the waterfall at the end of the lake, a spectacular place to watch the sun set over Evolution Meadow. Met a family from NC consisting of a young man, his mother, and his 91 year old grandfather who had all hiked in together from MTR - very cool.

Next day’s hike thru Evolution Basin was so cool… it’s really a special place. Quick stop at the hut before dropping down to where the trail up to Bishop Pass turns off the JMT. The last day was a long one… an initial 2,000 foot climb up to Dusy Basin in 3 miles, though it wasn’t as hard as we thought as the trail was well graded. Dusy is beautiful and likely worth exploring sometime. Another fairly easy 1,000 foot climb to Bishop Pass before descending to South Lake thru a very pleasant set of lakes.

I was tormented over the decision of what camera to bring on the JMT for months. I went back and forth over whether to bring a DSLR, a point-and-shoot, or nothing at all (relying only on my phone). This hike was a dream of mine, which meant that I wanted to remember it with great photos. A DSLR would maximize my chances of capturing those. On the other hand, it also meant that I ought not rob myself of a genuine first-hand experience by watching the trail go by through a lens.

I ultimately decided that, for me, the proper way to simultaneously photograph and experience the trail was to (1) significantly limit the number of photos I was able to take, and (2) choose as simple a device as possible

I ended up carrying a Nikon AF6000, a 28mm f/3.5 compact p&s camera introduced in 1993, which I got on eBay for $100. I shot three rolls of Kodak Gold 200, and two rolls of Ilford Delta 400, for a total of 180 photos over 21 days on-trail (including a nero, zero, and travel days).

I absolutely fell in love with this humble little camera. The fully-automatic metering and limited frame count meant that my sole creative focus was on composition. This gave me the privilege of viewing the trail through such a beautiful perspective. In the end, I have a huge sense of gratitude for this little camera, and for each of those 180 moments that presented themselves to me.

The camera itself is 6.24 oz. Each roll of film was 0.71 oz, and I carried one spare battery in a tiny zip bag for 0.61 oz. A total weight of 0.65 lbs of camera gear. The battery turned out not to be needed, and could have been left back home. Here's my LighterPack. I've been meaning to do a larger trip report going over all of my gear... one day.

Bonus points to anyone that can name all 13 locations!

Edit: anyone know how to stop Reddit from uploading photos at horrific quality?

Photo of the temporary cable bridge over the south fork of the San Joaquin in Kings Canyon! The original bridge was destroyed in the heavy snow of winter 2023, and hikers have had to reroute or risk fording the river. Now there is a safer option for workers and hikers to cross! But please respect the worker’s right of way so that they can complete the permanent bridge this year. Source: Muir Trail Ranch Staff

Sunset over University Peak at Kearsarge Lakes

Took this on the way to the steep but amazing Glen Pass!

Beginner to editing photos.

I am starting a section hike from Bishop pass/South Lake to Whitney in a few weeks and I am struggling to understand where I can camp on the Inyo side, before I cross Bishop Pass. Can anyone give some advice?

I will be driving down from Reno and getting into Bishop in the early afternoon. As such, I would like to not go too far or gain too much elevation before camping for the night. I know I can get dropped off at the South Lake trail head. Is there a campsite not far down the trail that people would recommend? What is the elevation at before the climb up the pass?

I have a thorough map of the JMT but I am missing information about the Inyo section of Bishop pass/South Lake trail. Can anyone also recommend a map for the area?

Thank you!

(attached photo is my view exiting the JMT in 2022, coming down Bishop pass. I believe Bishop Lake is visible)