Solo hiking the John Muir Trail

No right way is easy in this rough world.  We must risk our lives to save them.  -John Muir

JMT = the hardest most amazing thing I have done

Approximately 223/230 miles in 14.5 days solo hiking

Exactly a year ago I set off to hike the JMT, it has taken me a year to figure out how to put this trip into words that would express how amazing the experience was.  I decided I just had to commit to writing about it and hope that it comes close.  The experience of solo hiking heightened my senses, my vivid memory of the landscape stay with me long after the adventure ended.  Often at night when I can’t sleep or am stressed I mentally relive the hike remembering the landscape, the passes, the light, the trail and my campsites. 

My Experience of the JMT:

The first day – getting an extra day start but leaving in the afternoon on a Saturday, the crowds were extreme – like a busy NYC sidewalk, very overwhelming.  The landscape was stunning but I was in a hurry to move on away from the crowds.  It didn’t take much distance to achieve that – after Nevada Falls it became a different trail.  I had extra excited energy and a coveted permit to Half Dome, which added about 7.5 miles to the day.

Day two – early start, establishing a routine to my days.  Pack the tent up, eat breakfast, load the pack up and head off on the trail.  I only cooked at night.  I decided to go caffeine free, I brought a few café vias in case I regretted my decision but did not break into them.  The hike to Tuolumne Meadows was all up.  At Cathedral Lake I stopped, soaked my tired feet, thought about spending the night but true to my nature wasn’t sure what I would do for the rest of the day and pressed on.  Along with giving up caffeine I also decided to not use a watch to establish my own rhythm of the day.  I did have my phone – and my treat became checking to see if I had cell coverage at night just before I went to bed and texting a special someone. 

Day three – I tried to get rid of anything in my pack that was not essential.  Realizing right away that my pack was too heavy; 41 pounds with food and water.  From my journal

            WOW! Beautiful! Hard – challenging, amazing – ouch! Sore feet.  Moments of despair, moments of gratitude, moments of greatness

Donahue Pass - first pass

Day four – Beautiful morning just below Donahue Pass, I woke to frost on my tent.  Early morning hiking is my favorite the light is stunning, everything feels peaceful and still plus there are very few people up.  Very sore feet, working on blister management.  My feet find 10 miles fine but 16 gets them fired up and angry, soaking them at lunch in the ice-cold rivers helps immensely.  I camped with a guy who had terminal brain cancer and was doing chemotherapy on the trail – WOW! 

Reds Meadow rest stop

Day five – I didn’t know it at the time but I took a wrong turn at Reds Meadow and was on what is know as the “Alternate JMT”.  It runs parallel at a lower elevation and then joins up again.  I suspected as much but was not sure - which created a bit of stress especially hiking alone and not seeing anyone for a while.  Lots of self talk and doubts to work through.

Day six – Totally turned this day around.  Started early, anxious to get confirmation about where I was.  Stumbled across a hot spring, fell off a log headfirst and was inches away from stabbing my face with the branches of the log – good reminder to be careful and not let the anxious feelings take over.  I finally ran into a hiker who confirmed that I was not on the JMT and that this trail would meet up with the JMT at Silver pass; huge relief.  I stopped and went swimming at a beautiful waterfall to celebrate.  The cold water, beautiful landscape completely wiped my anxious feeling away and restored me.  Pressed on, I met a guy who was running the trail and logging about 35 miles a day self supported with a 25 lb pack.  Silver Pass I broke down and pocketed a few small beautiful rocks – I knew I had to be careful and limit my rock collecting, a habit I have had my whole life.  It would be very easy for me to finish the hike with 10 + pounds of rocks tucked away in my pack.  Hiking in this landscape feels like I am in beautiful landscape sculpture garden, it draws me out and inspires me in so many ways.

Day seven – Today was the day that would set the tone for my rest day at JMT Ranch, I needed to put in a big day and I did. I was tired but pushed on to Sallie Keyes Lakes. I have not seen a solo female hiker yet and have had many people tell me they admired me, one guy even high fived me.

Day eight – JMT Ranch, a magical place after 7 days on the trail.  The ranch far exceeded my expectations; the hot springs, the tent cabin, doing laundry, the delicious food.  Mail pick up; letters from my family, one with photos of Thanksgiving that were fun to look at the remaining trip.  That afternoon more mail came in for me.  So sweet!  At that moment it meant a lot to me to know that I am loved and cared about, I was and am grateful.

Camp site at Evolution Lake

Day nine – From journal; FUCK! 9 days solo camping - this is getting old.  The landscape continues to inspire me but the solo dinners do not. Tonight I have a beautiful windy campsite overlooking Evolution Lake.

Day ten – Labor Day.  Muir pass today, magical, like being in a moonscape.  Logged 138.2 miles total, 78.4 miles to go.  All mileage is approximate from my maps, which don’t always seem accurate.

Day eleven – Long climb up the golden staircase to the Palisades.  I felt like I was in a Japanese watercolor painting.  First lightening rainstorm as a went over Mather Pass.

Day twelve – Rallied my tired legs over Pinchot Pass 12,130 feet, then down, down, down to the lowest point in the trail.  Up, up, up to Rae’s lakes.  Tomorrow is a new day, press on!

resting tired feet at Guitar Lake

Day thirteen – It seems that I feel strong every other day, still put in the miles but just feel better.  Today was a strong day, two passes; Glenn and Forester.  Feeling very grubby, dusty, my clothes are so stretched out they barely stay on.  I am developing interesting sores on my back and hips from my pack, all part of the adventure.

Day fourteen – Guitar Lake!  I can see Mt Whitney from my amazing campsite on the rocks next to the lake.  This area is really crowded with clean hikers; guess they are on a weekend trip.  My last tent night, feels strange and a little sad to be at the end of this journey.

Summit of Mt Whitney

Day fifteen – I count my first day as .5 because it was an unexpected late start and low miles.  14.5 days on the trail, looking forward to a shower and some crunchy vegetables.  Early morning hike up to Whitney in the dark.  This is the official end of the JMT.  The hike to Whitney Portal where my car was parked was probably the hardest miles of the entire trip – mentally I was done.  All down hill, switchbacks in the heat, so happy to see my car, change my clothes.

I met many interesting people on the hike, spent a lot of time alone plodding along.  Would I do it again?  Definitely – but with a lighter pack.

Preparation:

The preparation to hike the JMT or any long distance hike cannot be over looked.  This hike took months of planning; food, food drop, weight of gear, what gear to bring, shuttles for point to point hiking, permits, maps and again weight of gear.  Once that was figured out the hiking plan – I had limited time to hike the JMT, I came up with a very ambitious hiking schedule with one rest day a Muir ranch about ½ way through the hike.

Like all well laid plans they promptly change.  I arrived at Yosemite Valley the day before to pick up my permit for an early start the next day.  Because of the fires there were a lot of cancelations and I was able to start that day.  Everyday I had three plans; most aspirational, miles I needed to log in and the absolute minimum.  It is important to be flexible and not get upset by the little things that don't go like you thought they would.

Hiking:

Day 1 – Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley + Half Dome = 4.5 + 8

Day 2 – Little Yosemite Valley to Tuolumne Meadows = 19.5

Day 3 – Tuolumne Meadows to just past Donohue Pass = 13.4

Day 4 – Donohue Pass to Trinity Lake = 16

Day 5 – Trinity Lakes to alternate JMT route = 17.7

Day 6 – Alternate route to Motts Junction = 18.9

Day 7 – Motts Junction to Sallie Keys Island = 17.8

Day 8 – Sallie Keys Island to JMT Ranch = 3.9 rest day!

Day 9 – JMT Ranch Evolution Lake = 16.1

Day 10 – Evolution Lake to Middle Fork Junction = 16.9

Day 11 – 1 mile past Middle Fork Junction to J Bench Junction = 16.7

Day 12 – J Bench Junction to Rae Lakes = 16.5

Day 13 – South Rae Lakes to Forester Pass = 16.5

Day 14 – 2^nd lake south of Forester Pass to Guitar Lake = 16.4

Day 15 – Guitar Lake to Mt Whitney! And then to Whitney Portal = 14.2

JMT

211 miles

46,700 feet total elevation gain

7 mountain passes

14,505 feet highest point – Mt Whitney

Coming off of Island Pass coming down to Thousand Island Lake

Maire Lake trail to Selden Pass

Muir Pass

Raes Lake Camp site

Resources: there is a lot of information out there on the JMT below is a limited selection that helped me prepare.  

Almost Somewhere by Suzanne Roberts

The Muir Project - Mile Mile and Half

Yahoo Group on JMT

Blogs:

Discover the Trail - John Muir Trail

John Muir Trail

Backpack45

JMT Book

Social Hiker - John Muir Trail

Permit info:

National Park Service

I used the Tom Harrison Maps - John Muir Trail Map-pack.  13 waterproof and tear resistant pages. 

Equipment list:

Bear barrel

Mountain hardware supermega UL2 tent

Mountain hardware phantom 32 sleeping bag

Therma-rest – I had a super deluxe heavy one because I thought it would help me sleep better, I was wrong.  I will use a much lighter pad next trip

Gregory Deva 60 pack

Clothes:

Lightweight pants that converted to shorts

2 long sleeve shirts, one wool and one tech fabric (I hike with long sleeves for sun protection)

1 short-sleeved shirt

wool zip hoodie

down sweater

rain jacket – never used

rain pants – never used

down jacket – used to sleep in if it was cold at night or as my pillow.  Ended up wearing it almost every night at camp

2 pair socks

1 bra

3 underwear

bandana

2 hats; warm + sun hat

gloves

Montrail mountain masochists II Outdry – great shoes once my feet got use to the high mileage with weight.

Food: I never felt hungry but I think I would need more calories if the trip were longer, I lost 10 lbs.

Freeze dried meals every night for dinner

Granola with water for breakfast

mid morning snack = larabar

lunch = 3 slices of salami, almonds, dried fruit

afternoon snack = mojo bar

hot chocolate

View From Mt Whitney

Here ends my forever memorable first High Sierra excursion.  I have crossed the Range of Light, surely the brightest and best of all the Lord has built; and rejoicing in its glory, I gladly, gratefully, hopefully pray I may see it again. / John Muir

Please, come have some tea - Travels in Morocco

“Whereas the tourist generally hurries back home at the end of a few weeks or months, the traveler belonging no more to one place than to the next, moves slowly over periods of years, from one part of the earth to another. Indeed, he would have found it difficult to tell, among the many places he had lived, precisely where it was he had felt most at home.” 
― Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky

Unlike Paul Bowles, I have a regular job that roots me in one place. Granted I do get generous vacation time, but I have to reluctantly confess to being a tourist and not a traveler as described by Bowles in his novel The Sheltering Sky.  Morocco is one of many countries I have been to where I could easily see transforming from a tourist to a traveler. Many places in the world seem the same now with restaurant, retail and hotel chains; for some people this is reassuring and makes travel more comfortable for them.  However, for me that is disappointing.  Morocco felt genuine and authentic, even in the short 12 days I was able to be there and the few restaurant chains I spotted.

I went to Morocco for a Morocco Explorer Multi-sport trip through Mountain Gurus that included 3-days mountain biking through Berber Villages, climbing Mt Toukal the highest Peak in North Africa at 13, 671 feet, followed by a camel ride in the the Sahara for an overnight stay.  The majority of the time was spent in the High Atlas mountains - not nearly enough time to explore the country, but enough time to know I want to go back.

The group was small with a variety of experience, just five which included the owner of the outfitting company plus a Moroccan guide.  The first day was an adjustment to the time zone and to get a feeling for the country.  We had a tour of Marrakesh that included the many vibrant souks that specialized in carpets, metal work, shoes, olives and clothing.  Followed by three days of biking up the Toubkal Valley on dirt roads through Berber Villages.  We were invited in for Moroccan tea many times by families -  Moroccan tea is a mint, green tea with a lot of sugar and is consumed all day.

The group transitioned in Imlil, 5,200 ft, from biking to hiking.  After a night at an auberge we headed up the Toubkal Valley to the refuge at 10,350 ft.  The refuge is open year around and is popular with Europeans for back country skiing in the winter.  Early the following morning we had our tea and breakfast and headed up Jebel Toubkal.  The climb is not a technical climb, there are a lot of scree fields and loose rock.  Everyone in the group summited - at a variety of different paces.  The next morning we packed up early and walked back to Imlil, on the way down we stopped at a carpet shop and ended up each buying a Moroccan carpet.  

Back to Marrakesh for dinner, for our group that was pizza and coke at a cafe on the second floor that allowed for a dynamic view of the Jemaa el Fna where there are snake charmers and story tellers during the day and performers at night and fresh orange or grapefruit juice anytime of day.

Again an early morning, we piled into a van for the 9.5 hour drive to Zagora - the town we would travel from to ride camels in the Sahara.  The drive, while very long and curvy road, took us through beautiful country side.  We drove over the Tizi n'Tichka pass through the high Atlas mountains and into the Draa Valley.  The Draa valley has not changed much in the past centuries - it is notorious for the figs, apricots, almonds and pomegranates that are grown in the valley in the same way they have been grown for generations by the tribes.  We reached Zagora in the late afternoon, found a herd of camels and rode them through the dunes to the Berber Tent camp for sunset and sunrise viewing.  A quick note on camel riding - it looks a lot more interesting in the photos then in reality.  Camels stink, they spit, they carry diseases, and their gait is awkward to ride plus they amble along at a slow pace.  

Marrakesh market - spices

Marrakesh market - metal working

Marrakesh market - olives!

Marrakesh market - dates and nuts

Marrakesh - Jemaa el Fna, snake charmers

Atlas Mountains - views from the bike ride

Atlas Mountains - views from the bike ride

home stay - dinner

Bike break - our bike guide serves us tea at a Berber home.

View of the Atlas Mountains and Berber Villages from the bike.

High Atlas Mountains - trail up the Toubkal valley to the refuge.

Toubkal Valley refuge - 10, 350 feet

Post hike tea at Toubkal refuge

Jebel Toubkal - 13,671 feet

Camel riding in the Sahara - just outside of Zagora

Ait Benhaddou UNESCO Kasbah

Marrakesh - Majorelle Garden

Morocco is a moderate country in both their political views and religion, they have managed to steer clear of the Arab Spring uprisings.  Morocco is primarily Islamic, a majority of the women wear had scarves and long dresses, not a lot of full burkas.   I felt safe traveling in Morocco, I did not don a headscarf but I did dress modestly - at least from a western perspective it was modest.  I look forward to traveling back to Morocco and getting to know the culture better.  أنتل و ميت عجين.

Haiti 2014 - Medical Student Mission: Learning Through Experience

Medical Student Missions - volunteering experience as a non-medical person

pharmacy line at the hospital

You are going where???  Why?  You are not a doctor, or a medical student, what are you going to do there?  These are the questions I got from people about the trip to Haiti that I just got back from.  I am not a doctor or in school to become one, I am not even in the medical profession.  I do have interest in public health in developing countries as it relates to infrastructure, sanitation and planning.  I learned about this organization from a friend who has been on six trips with Medical Student Missions as a team leader.  I expressed interest in going on a trip similar to this one; I was drawn by the hands on volunteer experience.  I travel a lot and am interested in travel that is more than just tourism.  When I was informed that being a medical student was not a prerequisite I signed up.  This was just the opportunity I was looking and it turned out to be very rewarding experience.

Before the trip started there were many organizational changes.  The pre-trip emails said to be prepared for camping and setting up a compound when we arrived, the usual lodging for this trip was not available because of a contentious divorce.  There was discussion of canceling the trip.  A few days before the trips departure lodging was secured at a local hotel in Verrettes, the town we were staying in, along with three meals a day.  Whew!  No camping!  As it turned out this seemed to be a very Haitian experience - chaos that works itself out.

The group met up in Fort Lauderdale and flew to Port au Prince.  As we exited the airport we were met with a wall of humidity and heat then lead to a school bus that would take us to Verrettes; a town just under 50,000 people that is somewhat politically stable and was not directly effected by the earthquake.  We arrived at the hotel after dark not knowing what to expect, I think the hotel far exceeded all of our expectations.  It even had air conditioners, which worked periodically.

Neighborhood water well - provided by Rotary International

Monday morning we started the day with a briefing by Dr. William Forgey, known as Doc by everyone, one of the founders and primary organizer of the organization.  Doc covered the basics of how we would set up the clinics each day, common Haitian medical issues, chikungunya fever that was rising at epidemic rates through Haiti and Haitian culture as it relates to medical issues and medicine.  After the briefing we launched right in to seeing people.  At 1:00 pm we set up a clinic at the hotel and started seeing patients, many of whom were employees at the hotel.  I was set up with two other people at the pharmacy and eyeglasses area.  After the patients saw a medical student and were diagnosed they would then come to the pharmacy for something; usually Tylenol and glasses.  We brought 7,000 Tylenol pills down with us.  By Thursday we were out of Tylenol, after donating 3 bottles of 1,000 pills each to the hospital and approximately 900 to a local partner clinic in the area.  The Doc went to the market and bought three more bottles (150 pills) at $50 a bottle to cover the last two days of the clinics.

ready and waiting for us to set up the clinic 

Each morning we would set up clinic in a school or church from 9ish to 3ish; a few medical students worked at the local hospital and a couple students went to the local partner clinic and worked.  Each station had a Haitian interpreter to translate to French or Haitian creole.  It was pretty amazing and inspiring experience for me to be part of this team, to see the confidence grow in the medical students through out the week and Doc’s unlimited energy and compassion for the Haitian people.  The medical, educational and infrastructure need is unlimited in Haiti – I have no illusions that I “helped” but I think this type of experience is not intended to alleviate the need but more to raise awareness of it and have compassion in overwhelming poverty.

primary school just outside of one of the clinics

"Feast God" Holiday 19 June - The Haitians told us
it was the day God abandoned the Haitian people.

Rice fields

Other organizations doing good work in Haiti:

Partners in Health

Doctors without Borders - Haiti

HAS: Hospital Albert Schweitzer