I’m leaving Friday to hike from Tuolumne Meadows south half way on the JMT. I’ll have seven full days to hike. My question is this: is Bishop half way between TM and Whitney, and what’s the best way to get out to Bishop?
Thanks for any help, tips, wisdom.
Doug
it is about 110 miles from TM to the junction with the bishop pass trail near the ranger station at LeConte . then it is about a 13 mile hike east to the trailhead at South Lake where one could hitch to bishop.
jerm
Another option is to get off the JMT at the Piute Pass Trail junction and climb over Piute Pass. The trail junction is just before you cross Piute Creek and is 1.8 miles south from JMT/Muir Range trail junction. Once you’re on the trail, you need to hike 5.3 miles to Hutchinson Meadow and then another 12.1 miles to the North Lake Trailhead. The trail basically ends near the same road (RT 168 out of Bishop)as the Bishop Pass option. I would only take this option if you are on a tight schedule. If not, take Bishop Pass and follow it to South Lake Trailhead.
TRIHIKER
The hike coming out the Bishop Pass Trail is very nice. It is a climb up to Dusy Basin, but you are walking beside a long slab of rock with water pouring over it. Dusy Basin is a great place to camp - we were there the night of the Pleiades Meteor shower and had a terrific view. The pass is a gentle climb from Dusy Basin, much easier than all the other passes. South Lake Trailhead is busy with day hikers, backpackers, and fisherman. We were able to get a hitch into Bishop. Enjoy your hike!
Turtle Walking
Thank you for the great detailed info. Now I’ve got to figure out if I think I can hike 123 miles in seven days. I had hoped to do more like 100 or so miles.
Are there other places to exit before Bishop? I know there is a bus from Bishop to Mammoth (and another from Mammoth to TM) to get to my car. Any other ideas for a slightly shorter hike? Thanks again.
Doug
It sounds like you want to exit to the east while on the JMT and based on your quoted mileage, you need to average about 18 miles per day. Depending on your physical condition, it may be difficult. There are several trails closer to Red’s Meadow to consider. They include side trails to Duck Lake and Duck Pass, and Mammoth Pass. They both end a Mammoth Lake. You could continue to hike around Mammoth Mountain, or hitch a ride into town. There you could get a ride on YARTS back to Tuolumne Meadows.
There is one other option, a trail along Mono Creek and out to Mosquito Flat. I don’t know where and how it get’s back onto Rt 395, but if you look on a good road map, it may tell you. I looked at MapQuest, and it’s not on it.
TRIHIKER
Between Red’s Meadows and Bishop Pass there are several other trailheads on the eastside that you could use to exit the JMT. Mammoth Pass, Duck Lake/Pass, McGee Pass (out of Tully Hole) and Paiute Pass. I’m in the process of moving so I can’t check my JMT maps/books right now, but if I were you I would work out the mileages for each of those options and choose what works best given your planned hiking speed. Of course, if you are planning to hitch back to your car, it doesn’t really matter which one you choose – I would recommend being familiar with all the likely alternatives so you can adjust your plans on the trail if your hike is going faster than planned. Good luck, and happy hiking!
Kanga
Thanks for the good ideas. I’ve been trying to decide whether to park at Bishop and take buses to TM to start, or park at TM and hitch back to Mammoth (and bus to TM) or TM at the end. I have no idea how easy it would be to hitchhike to either place on a Saturday. I’ve never hitchhiked in my 47 years! Hitching back would give me flexibility of how far to hike, and would require much less driving on both ends of my trip.
Any thoughts on the difficulty/likelihood of hitching to Mammoth or TM on a Saturday afternoon?
Thanks again.
Doug
We have had good luck renting cars in both Mammoth and in Bishop after finishing sections of the JMT, but you must have 2 drivers. A one day rental was not very costly.
We finished a hike at Red’s Meadow, took the shuttle bus to the ski lodge and the car rental place came and picked us up and took us to their office. Then we drove the rental car back to the trailhead and both cars back to Mammoth. We had the car for less than 8 hours. We did something similar when we finished a hike at South Lake Trailhead after a hitch to Bishop.
We found the car rental companies using the Highway 395 website www.395.com I just looked at that website again and did find any rental car links. I hope you have better luck.
Turtle Walking
I’ve found Mammoth Pass, Duck Lake, Piute Pass. I also found Mono Creek going out to Mosquito Flat (up the road from Tom’s Place on 395). It looks like another good option.
(It’s just me going, so a car rental wouldn’t work. Thanks anyhow.)
Wish me luck hitching back to Mammoth Saturday afternoon! I can camp there and take YARTS to TM Sunday morning.
Thanks everyone for the quick and helpful info.
Doug
Ask the Leconte Canyon ranger, or look for the campsite by the helipad. Nice site to camp on a knoll above the intersection of JMT and Bishop Pass Trail, along the Dusy creek.
markv
Well. I didn’t go fast enough to get out at Piute Pass or Bishop Pass. So I came out Mono Pass… two days early. It was a good trip, but I’d never want to go over Mono Pass again-tough and lunarlike landscape.
To continue next year (?) I’ll go in on the boat shuttle from Vermillion Resort and go south from there.
Thanks again for all the ideas and help.
Doug