Planning a turhike of the Muir Trail next year. I understnad you need permits for back country Yosemite and Mt Whitney (Inyo). The websites I looked at made the permit process a little confusing. Can anybody clarify. It seems like it is pretty easy to get a permit for Yosemite, but difficult and somewhat risky to get one for Whitney.
Grimace
i hiked the jmt last year and permit-attainment was easy–an extreme contrast to the intimidating reports that i, too had read about prior to going. the key is to arrive early at the ranger station, on an early weekday. i hiked from north to south, and started at tuolumne. there was a line of perhaps eight people when the doors finally opened (i think around 8am) at the ranger/permit station. who knows, maybe it was a miracle, but there were a good number of permit availabilities for the first night in lyell canyon. the ranger will help you with your entire itinerary, breaking down the number of days that you will be spending in each different area on the jmt (for example, i guessed that i would be spending two days in yosemite, eight days in kings canyon, etc…). the itinerary is printed onto your permit, and you carry this with you. and this permit will get you all the way up mt. whitney, as long as you arrive there on time. if you have any more q’s, lemme know, i’ll be happy to help.
tim
Tim, Thanks for the info. Wasn’t aware that one ranger station can get you all the way through. I was anticipating having to reserve in advance and play the lotteries.
You offered, so I’m firing away.
Any advice on heading NOBO or SOBO?
Did you use bear cannisters? I’m an east coaster and our little black bears out here haven’t quite figured out the human=food thing yet.
Is there a better time in the season to go?
Thanks in advance
Grimace
hiking southbound, for three reasons. one, by starting from yosemite, you start at a much lower elevation (yosemite valley’s ~6000 ft. compared to whitney’s startling 14,000+), and thus have a much easier time acclimatizing. secondly, imho, the scenery gets more spectacular, desolate, and wild the further south you go. this probably has something to do with the fact that you climb higher and higher with each subsequent mountain pass when heading southbound. and thirdly, there are more opportunities for resupply/rest on the northern half of the trail. this means you have more flexiblity and the chance to carry a lighter pack at the beginning of the hike, a time when most of us are out of shape. i resupplied at both red’s meadow (35 miles from tuolumne) and vermilion valley resort (~30 miles further). carrying the lighter pack definitely made adjusting to the incredible ruggedness of the sierra easier, and also prepared me for the final 120 miles or so from vermilion south to whitney (a great length of difficult trail that i would not want to start on).
to answer your second question, yes, i used a bear canister. if and when i hike it again, i won’t use a bear canister. it’s bulk and extra weight aren’t worth it to me. just to fit it into my smaller pack was a great effort each time. maybe i’m just lucky, but since i began cooking my dinners a mile or two before stopping for the day (thus eliminating any camp odors) i have had no encounters.
there is a new Ursack model out that claims to be 4X stronger than the original. i think i’ll try this next time i venture into the sierra. one thing to remember is that if a bear did happen to shred all of your food, you are not doomed. there is enough traffic on the jmt and surrounding areas to where someone would be around to help you out. this risk, to me, seems worth it. but i guess it all really comes down to Weight vs. Security.
as for the season, i started on august 18. this was a solid time to go, i believe, because it is post-mosquito season (in normal years). the days are still very long, and the nights got down to the comfortable mid-thirties. they did receive normal snowfall the winter before, but the mountains didn’t receive any rain during the late spring and early summer, so grasses were very dry and yellow (not the river beds though, there was plenty of water). the window of august seems to be the primetime to hike. any earlier, and you could deal with tricky snow crossings. this might be worth it though, because then you would feel the land in a more fresh, pristine state, the waterfalls would be flowing, and the mountain tops would still hold the grace and beauty of snow.
hope this helps! any more q’s feel free to shoot em’.
tim
tim
So many things to think about when hiking in the Sierras. Makes the AT seem like a walk in the park. I’m assuming, when you went in mid august, there was no snow. Any earlier we’d encounter it in thehigher sections? I’m accustomed to backpacking/hiking in trail runners. I’d hate to lug boots for the 200+ miles. How much snow are we talking about if we went closer to spring to catch wild flowers and waterfalls?
I’ll look into those bear cannisters and whether they are worth it. Did you camp at pre-existing campsites? Even if you cooked food before reaching camp, I’m sure others don’t. Are there preexisting campsites?
Grimace
what it all really comes down to is snowfall. but even after winters of the heaviest precipitation the entire trail should be free of snow in august. from mid-to-late july, i believe that you would be safe hiking in shoes, with the occasional snowfield to traverse here and there. but any earlier, boots in most cases would be necessary, and i, too, would not want to lug boots on this trail.
you make a good point about campsites. i attempted to ‘stealth’ it whenever applicable to avoid the scents of others who would have stayed at the more established campsites prior (not to mention that these bears know where these campsites are). oh, and there is a plethora of preexisting campsites available throughout the length of the trail. stealthing is easy too. if you are flexible with where you sleep, i would say that you are never any further than a stones throw away from a possible campsite.
in case you didn’t know, you can actually rent a bear canister from just about any ranger station in the sierra.
it’s only 5 bucks for the entire trail. then you send it back to them. and the rangers will really, really, push these canisters on you. they make it sound like they are required. but the rules are vague. a canister is required in some areas, but only to a certain elevation (as long as you camp higher than 9500 ft., a canister is not required). i only found this out recently. but beyond the rules, i talked with a number of people who hiked the jmt without canisters and they mentioned nothing of confrontations with bears or rangers.
btw, tom harrison makes a great john muir trail mapset. you can order it from the pacific crest trail website.
Tim
good to know about the maps. I ordered the Guidebook to Muir trail from PCTA and was dissappointed by the maps that are in it. I’m kind of a map freak, so I’ll check them out.
Grimace