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Prologue... (JMT #1)

 A little history. I have been dreaming of hiking the JMT (John Muir Trail) for a long time. Like years. Five years ago I actually started applying for a southbound permit. (This website was instrumental in assisting me in planning and getting my permit.) Getting a southbound permit from Yosemite is a lottery process. Yosemite limits the total number of hikers starting each day to 45. You can apply for a range of dates from a range of actual starting points. The golden ticket is a permit from Happy Isles, the classic north-to-south route and the official northern terminus of the trail. So, you enter your desired starting dates, starting trailhead, first night's camp and exit trailhead (Whitney Portal is the exit trailhead that allows you to summit Mt Whitney, the official southern terminus of the trail.) It's a rolling lottery so you then cross your fingers and obsessively check your email each day. You can enter up to 21 starting days. The first few days you are excited to check your email, then after seeing "Not Selected..." for many days, checking the email becomes less of a priority. 4 years of "Not Selected." On February 2, 2021 late in the afternoon I opened my email and saw, "This confirms your reservation..."



Yes, that smile is as real as it gets. Let the planning begin! And boy did the planning begin. It's rainy and cold in the PNW in the winter and thank goodness because I obsessively watched YouTube videos and combed blog sites dedicated to the JMT. After months of planning and dreaming, July rolled around and it was GO TIME! Just like that. I sat in my house amidst the pile of my gear not really believing it was actually going to happen. Between COVID and wildfires, I couldn't believe I was actually packing up (and no I didn't take the Roll Flex).



A quick flight from Sea-Tac to Fresno (on a very small plane), an Uber adventure in Fresno to find fuel, one night in a motel and a YARTS bus ride later, we found ourselves in Yosemite Valley ready to begin. And by we, I mean my step-dad Dick and I. He's been my backpacking partner for years so he was the obvious choice for my co-adventurer.










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Yosemite. (JMT #2)

 Yosemite National Park is one of my favorite places on the planet. I first went there two years ago (after dreaming of it for years) and as we entered the park via Tioga Pass, I cried. Cried. We spent 3 days in the park, hiked Cloud's Rest, did the tourist thing in the valley and laid in the meadow and stared at El Cap for many, many hours. I've been trying to figure out how to get back ever since so I was very happy to have a day to spend in the Valley before we started the hike. YARTS brought us in through the Mariposa Grove entrance and dropped us in the middle of the action in the Valley. We went to the Wilderness Permit office and picked up the coveted permit and then set off to find the backpacker's camp which turned into a hot, sweaty, frustrating adventure. That sucker was not easy to find! We did, many, many, many steps, wrong turns and maybe a few cursies (ok, I cursed, Dick did not) later find the camp and got ourselves all set up. Time to be a tourist! We heade