This is perhaps the most glorious email to wake up to.
This summer, we will be embarking on a journey from Yosemite Valley to Whitney Portal. 223 miles of glorious trail through the heart of California (the BEST state ever in case you didn't know). Let me just start by saying the permit application process is a NIGHTMARE at Yosemite (Wilderness permits are always issued from the place you start at). If you want to hike the REAL John Muir Trail, you have to fight the crowds that flock to Yosemite + the Half Domers + all the others wishing to backpack in Yosemite + all other JMTers. They accept phone call permit requests, but I gave up at call number 205 or so of getting busy signals. But they DO accept fax applications. Deceptively easy? There are only a handful of spots available per day if you want to leave out of this trailhead. As soon as the office closes at 5pm, you're free to fax in your request, along with the rest of the world. One night we were trying to fax for an hour straight (busy signal the whole time). In the morning when the one ranger gets there and checks his archaic equipment (if it's even been working through the night, which sometimes it doesn't...it is a government funded operation after all), you'll be lucky if he pulls yours out of the stack to award you a permit. They call this "the lottery" system. Psshhh...Well, it took us multiple tries. For work and timing purposes, we knew we had to start on a Monday or Tuesday. So every week for two days this was our life until we got a permit.
Finally, luck was on our side. We even scored Half Dome Permits!!! 7th times the charm?
We'll post a lot more information on logistics, gear choices, and resupplies as time permits and we figure it all out ourselves. It seems there is a wealth of information out there, but not really all in one place. Our hope would be that someone could maybe go to one place and get all (or most, let's be realistic) of the information they need to plan a successful JMT Thru hike.
Happy Trails.
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