Let me preface this post by saying the Grand Canyon is just over an 8 hour drive from Los Angeles, NOT 6 hours (as we had planned for). But once you behold the majesty of this hole, you forget all about the drive. We left abruptly Friday Night (10pm) after we realized this, planning to crash at a Motel 6 just 2 hours outside of the Canyon entrance (in a town called Kingman). We got in at 3:00am. In the morning, the drive out to the park was much more pleasant than I expected, Northern Arizona really is beautiful, and I am already looking forward to visiting the North Rim of the Canyon next time!

It was opening week for the National Parks, so the entrance fee of $25 was waived--awesome! We had a good trip planned, entering Tanner Trail on the Eastern side and going along the Escalante Route and Colorado River back West, and exiting near Grandview. When we arrived, there was a slight storm brewing in the West...

We stopped by the Backcountry Permit Office to check the weather to see what we were in for. Luckily, it was the end of a storm headed out and the weekend forecast was clear. We asked the ranger a few questions about water supply options down in the hole, and off we went....to pack and hitch hike. Can I just say how much of a bum I felt like hitch hiking in Arizona? People would drive to the other side of the street and speed up to go around us. We have never experienced a problem hitch hiking in the Sierras. In fact, we've always been picked up by the first car that drives up. But I think maybe there is a "mountian-nature-lover-you-must-be-safe" mentality that people in the Sierras have. Must be.

We parked at Grandview so it would be there when we exit the trail and eventually got our ride to Lipan Point, where we would head down the Tanner Trail as far as we could for the day. This all took much longer than we had anticipated, and we didn't get on the trail until nearly 4pm! That's ok, we were going downhill, and it should go fast, right?...

I tried to capture how steep the trail was right out the door, but its always hard to document that sort of thing. Plus, its slows you down to stop and take pictures, and we were racing the light to get as far as we could. The trail was also slippery from a little bit of rain, and some of the rocks were loose. Every step took caution. Sam fell twice, once almost sent him tumbling all the way down. It only takes a tiny miss-step or loose rock and off you would go...

I hadn't prepared myself for the mental challenge that hiking into a (ginormous) hole would be. In the mountains, you hike up and up and up...and every step you take up, you know the way back is still easy and downhill. So in a way, home and safety don't feel so far away. As we hiked in, with every step all I could think was "I have to hike back out of here..." It kind of gave me the feeling of being trapped, and I felt a little nauseated. But in and down we went...

We got to enjoy a little sprinkle as the storm passed by on its way out.  It was actually nice, because we wanted to test out these emergency ponchos we picked up for only $1.50 at Target. They fit over our packs too! 

The terrain as we headed down was beautiful. The Sun even started to come out and cast light on the mountains, making the colors more vivid...

We had to stop about 4.5 miles in, but it was worth the epic camp spot we found on a ridge, boasting 360 degree views of the canyon. 

Home for the night...

Catching that last glimpse of daylight...

We woke up at first light, around 5am, packed up camp and hit the trail. We've learned its better to get on the trail and work up an appetite than sit around camp and not get going right away. As a plus, you get to watch the sun rise from the trail. Have you ever seen a sunrise in the backcountry? I could hear the canyon singing for joy...the glory of the morning had arrived. 

As we went further in and further down, the terrain changed dramatically. Trees turned to bushes and then grassy fields. Flowers turned to cacti with the sweetest blooms. 

And finally, we reached the Colorado River. She was beautiful, blue and green and shimmering in the morning light. I was glad is wasn't all brown from the sediment run off as it often after storms. We didn't even need a pre-filter. 

We took a short break to eat breakfast, drink as much water as possible, and fill up with as much water as possible, and kept on going. We had a long day ahead of us. We had originally planned to reach the river the night before so that we could trek about 10-12 miles today, but we had lost some time in traveling, packing, and hitchhiking. So today was going to be a long one. 

The terrain continued to change. We had this idea that we would be walking next to the river the whole time, cruisin' on mostly flat ground, so the mileage would be a piece of pie. Well...no, it wasn't pie. Or cake. Definitely not ice cream. It was hard, that's what it was. Constant ups and downs, halfway back up the canyon and down to the river and up again only to come back again. Don't get me wrong, it was soooo beautiful. I mean...

I assure you, these are not photoshopped. For the record, I don't even know how to photoshop. 

We stopped for a lunch break and these river dudes gave us (Sam) a cold beer and offered to let us use their grover. We said yes to the first, the second seemed weird...

That was refreshing, and got us through the rest of the day. We had to hike straight through the hot part of the day because we had so much mileage to make up for. 

It starts to look the same after a while, but that's ok, because its still beautiful.

We found the only shade in the canyon that day...

Everyone we passed on the trail asked us where we were coming from, and where we were headed to (that's just what you do on the trails). When we told them our route, the usual response was nervous laughter and/or "Really? WOW! You guys must be fast!" So we started thinking...are we crazy? Did we calculate this wrong? We busted out the map and realized, Oh, ok, so today is more like a 14 mile day, not 10-12. Ok, fine, we've done that lots of times before...

The trail would constantly go up and in, and then drop into a canyon/wash back to the river, and then up and in...etc. It was really cool, but really steep and tiring. Plus, there was some more shade in the canyons.

This is Sam's "Are you serious right now, trail?!" face. It was loose sand, straight up. 

And then came the scrambling the ranger only mentioned to us as it if was a 5 minute section. Nope. How about 2 miles of straight crawling on your hands and feet and passing our packs to each other. Then there was this wall we have to CLIMB up. Like a ladder.

You can see me sitting at the bottom of the wall, Sam had climbed up first to make sure it was actually the trail.

Then Sam came back down to spot me as I climbed. I snapped this of him still climbing to try and show how big of a drop it was should you fall. 

I have no idea how some of the people we passed on the trail had come from this direction. It's much easier to climb up a wall than go down one. Neither of us are rock climbers nor have we done any bouldering, so this was exciting, and scary. 

We were so tired by the end of the day, and also started to believe the people that had convinced us we were crazy. We were not going to make it to the Grandview trailhead in time, we need to bail early. We looked at our map, and our permit...doh! New Hance Trail was the trail we were SUPPOSED to be leaving from. Details...ha!

So, it was a loooong day. Our maps did not have trail mileages on it, so we were relying on the "one square is a mile" kind of thing. When we got home we looked it up: 17 miles we did that day (2 of which we were practically crawling). Dang. No wonder we were dead tired. 

That night we set up right next to the river at Hance Rapids. I had never been so happy to be next to water...

The sunset that night was beautiful, and I sat by the water watching it, too tired to snap another picture. Too tired to even eat dinner. I started crying because I was so tired. All I could think about was "Now I have to climb out of here..." But that's me: I cry about everything. 

I was sound asleep by 8pm. We had set an alarm for 5am, just in case. But I woke up wide awake at 4:45am. So we just packed up and started walking. I had the most terrible nauseating feeling in my stomach. I ate my "safe" food: dried mangos and beef jerky. No matter what, I will always eat those two foods on the trail. They got me up Whitney. They're my go-to trail food when everything else tastes like crap. 

We hiked for about 1.5 miles up this wash...

And finally the trail started to go up....and boy did it go up. We were quickly way above the Colorado River and halfway up the canyon. 

This was our last water source. Thank you MSR filter. 

Look how far we have come already! 

I apologize for lack of photos going up (just the previous few), but I was not doing to good. We are pretty sure I had heat stoke, and every bit of food and liquid that I ate/drank managed to came up shortly after (sorry if that's TMI). To sum it up, this was a loooong 8.2 miles. I had to take a lot of breaks because I was weak...a LOT of breaks. Like every 2nd switchback....or more as the day went on. Luckily we had gotten an early start and were tucked into the canyon in such a way that we stayed out of the sun for the most part. The last mile and a half took us about 2 hours. We were sitting on a rock in the shade, I was crying, feeling like I had come to the Grand Canyon to die...then I heard what was the most glorious sound ever...A CAR! I nearly ran up that last switchback and we were out...

Wow. What a trip. We managed to eventually get a ride back to the car (because it was parked in a different place than we came out). I couldn't believe how many cars would fly by us like we were serial killers. I was crying and waving my arms...good job Arizona for training your people to not pick up strangers. I made it out of the hole, and now I was going to die on the road (the car was a good 15 miles away). Finally an elderly couple from Colorado rescued me (us). She even gave me a coke, and it never tasted so good.

I'm not sure I would backpack the Grand Canyon again with such high mileage expectations. So we learned our lesson: Canyons are much different than mountains. I did not realize how tiring bouldering and scrambling would be. Now we know. 

But it was worth it. Because...

"God never made an ugly landscape. All that sun shines on is beautiful, so long as it is wild."

-John Muir

John Muir was a Scottish environmentalist, and one of the founding members (and first president) of the Sierra Club (think hippies with beards trying to protect the outdoors from modern day development). It's a shame John Muir died shortly before the 211 mile trail was actually completed. Now, hundreds of people make the trek every year, usually between June and September. We are stepping foot onto this legendary path on August 4th. For 12 days we'll be drinking out of streams, dining on dehydrated food, and sleeping under the stars...yes, we DO consider that a vacation! :) 

The trail is 211 miles, stretching from Yosemite Valley to the summit of Mt. Whitney. But once you reach the Whitney summit, you still have to get down. By the end, most hikers will have walked 223 miles over the most scenic passes and through the most glorious Valleys of the Sierra Nevadas.

The logistics of planning a hike this long are somewhat of a nightmare right at the beginning. There is so much information all over the web, some true, some false, some mere opinions. Here are some basic things to consider: 

1. Decide When To Go.

The hiking season generally runs from late June (for those not afraid of crossing some snow packs), all the way through September (for those not afraid of early snow surprises and colder night temps). The snow usually melts off by July...but then come the mosquitoes (typically referred to as mozzies in backpacker language), which can be a total joykill. Unfortunately bugs go hand in hand with wildflower season, so if you want to see that, stock up on deet, be willing to wear a bug net over your head, or plan on not stopping by lakes or slow moving creeks (where they tend to be the worst). Usually by August the swarms of mozzies have died off, the creeks are more passable, and the temps are perfect. 

2. Decide How Long To Go For. 

In a perfect world, we all have summers off (just like kids). Unfortunately, most of us have those annoying job-things with those boss-things that wont accept "I was just frolicking in the woods for 5 weeks" as an acceptable excuse for missing work (if they did, I would be on the PCT right now, and not blogging). Your work schedule very well could be dictating the When and How Long of your JMT adventure. Because we only have 2 weeks off work, we are opting for a 12 day trail itinerary, with a few days beforehand to get acclimated, and a few days after to recover (Yes, this means an average of 20 miles a day. Yes, we are training NOW).

3. Get a permit. 

Got a date? Now it's time for a permit. Permits are always granted from the place where you start the hike. If going South Bound (SOBO), then Yosemite (with the desirable trailhead being Happy Isle/Sunrise Passthrough--Half Dome permit optional). If going North Bound (NOBO), then Inyo National Forest. We are going SOBO (most people do). Count backwards from your desired start date 24 weeks and thats the first day you can reserve it. Permits are relatively cheap, ($5/person + $5 transaction fee from Yosemite). Here's a handy calculated calendar to help, Here's the application, And Here's the instructions for applying. Can I just rant for a minute about the nightmarishly archaic permit system at Yosemite? Calling doesn't work--my phone stopped counting the number of outgoing calls at 200. I still didn't get through. So, we opted for the fax option. Basically, in the morning when a ranger gets there he "randomly" pulls an application out of the piles of faxes that poured in overnight and you hope he picks yours...and thats how the 6 open spots from Happy Isles are assigned. Kind of a crapshoot. And no, you can't fax in a bunch of applications to have a better chance, they'll probably get mad and toss them all and still charge you. We did it for several nights in a row before we got ours. We found it best to use an online fax system like FaxZero (and its free!). There's always the walk up option if you have flexibility in case you don't get one for a few days (this option makes other things difficult, like resupply, planning shuttle rides, etc). Good Luck...

Now we can start the fun part of planning: tentative trail itinerary, food resupply, and most importantly: GEAR SELECTING!

   
     Never been backpacking but want to get into it the right way? Been backpacking a couple times but hated it ‘cause your pack was so heavy and uncomfortable? Or maybe you’ve been backpacking a long time and have just come to accept the pain. Then on your last trip you saw someone deep in the back country with what you thought was a day-pack. Do you want to know how that was possible? Well, let me introduce you to benefits of ULTRALIGHT BACKPACKING!

      I don’t know all the rules of backpacking, but I’m pretty sure there aren’t any that prohibit being more comfortable, hiking faster, going farther, being safer, or having more fun. These are just five of the advantages Ultralight backpacking has over “Traditional” backpacking! 

     The first and most obvious reason for carrying less weight, is that it’s more comfortable. Traditional packs typically weigh between 30-45 pounds— sometimes much more! That typically represents base weights (carried gear without food, water, or fuel) in the 25-40 pound range, plus food, water and fuel for a particular trip. Ultralight hikers typically have base weights at, or bellow, 10 pounds.* With the proper food selection and water sourcing, you could be on the trail for several days carrying much less than 15 pounds for the majority of your trip! I’m not sure how else to convince you if this isn’t enough, but I’ll try…

     If your pack is smaller and more comfortable, you’ll be able to hike faster. Hiking faster means going farther, and therefore seeing more. Imagine covering so much more ground that you get to see as much in one trip, as you would in two or three previously. Sounding better?

     But, you might say, “It’s unsafe not to take all my gear.” I beg to differ! Your single greatest asset while backpacking is your mind. Being mentally flexible and prepared will go a long way towards having a safe Ultralight backpacking trip. That means a lot of different things, which I will unpack in later posts. For now, all I can say is that knowledge of basic first aid, and how the gear you do carry can be used to address emergency situations, will be adequate enough to address at least 75% of the emergency situations you might encounter. For the small percentage requiring more than that, well now you only have 10 pounds to carry or split up when you or someone in your group is dehydrated, injured, sick, or otherwise too impaired to exit the wilderness safely. 

     The last advantage follows directly from the others: being more comfortable, seeing more, and being safer all add up to having more fun! We all love the outdoors and want to spend time there because… well, it is fun…

...Getting there as an Ultralight backpacker is just more fun!

*There are other designations such as “Super Ultralight” that are used to designate even lower base weights but the general principle is the same. All that needs to be said is, always be aiming lower and call it whatever you want!


Convinced about the awesomeness that is Ultralight Backpacking?! Now you're ready to become LITEminded! If you've got the mindset down, then its time to thing SYSTEMatically. Or maybe you're ready for "The Big Three." (Coming soon!)

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.