Introduction

Photo by Peretz Partensky

It's official.  The Three Amigos are hiking the iconic John Muir Trail (JMT) in the Sierras this August 2019.  Our permit application was accepted.  Our trek, if all goes well, will begin in Yosemite Valley and end atop Mount Whitney some 208 miles away some 9 1/2 days later.  

  

The JMT is the longest maintained hiking trail in the United States that is entirely contained within wilderness areas. From north to south the trail traverses, in nearly equal lengths, the Yosemite Wilderness, Ansel Adams Wilderness, John Muir Wilderness and Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness.  Additionally the JMT crosses four national park units; Yosemite National Park, Devils Postpile National Monument, Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park where Mount Whitney sits.  After summiting Mount Whitney at 14,505' there are an additional ten or so miles down to the Whitney Portal trailhead which lies at 8,374'.  This trail is also entirely contained within the federal Wilderness area.

The black bears are legendary but closeups of the High Sierra tarns and granite spires and the panoramic views from nearly a dozen iconic passes are the real reward.  We'll be challenged each day to make great distances through some pretty rugged wilderness while at altitude.  The average altitude of the trip is well over 10,000 feet and the total climbing approaches ten miles in vertical. The remoteness also poses a challenge for resupplies, there is a stretch of more than 100 miles through the most difficult portion.  While there are no roads that intersect the sanctimony of the trail it is by no means a lonely one as there are some 45 to 60 backpackers permitted every day.  

             

Who are the Three Amigos?  We are three middle age dads juggling job responsibilities and raising kids in Boulder.  We all have spouses who run so perhaps this is why we got the green light to do this trip.  We've all run ultras and are currently working on getting rid of our winter hibernation weight. Anyone who lives in the Western United States will know this was one cold and snowy winter.  While none of us have done a backpacking trip more than 100 miles, we are not exactly newbies either.  Some of our other epic trips include a single day R2R2R of the Grand Canyon, a 2-day run from Aspen to Crested Butte and back to Aspen, and a 5 day 95 mile running trip along the West Highland Way in Scotland and many runs in the Indian Peaks Wilderness together.  Dan did a winter climb of Mount Whitney a decade earlier so has some inkling of the magnitude of the challenge. We will need to augment our training this summer with some additional overnight backpacking trips.  We have done less of this than in the past few years than we would have liked.   

Dan, Doug and Ricardo "The International Man of Mystery" are the Three Amigos.

Picture Needed Here. 

To pull this off, we'll need some areas of heavy focus over the next four and a half months. You'll see a mix of blog posts in these areas and around wilderness, hiking and trail running in general.

1. Fitness Training
2. Diet/Health
3. Trip Logistics
4. Gear
5. Day of Travel Logistics