Day 1 - July 12

Today's route would take us about 9 miles from Tuolumne Meadows campground to just below Donohue Pass.  Speaking of passes........  we would complete 12 mountain passes by the time the trip was done.  The entire route would be through fairly high elevation.  We started at about 8600' and topped out at over 14,500' on Mount Whitney.  We would occasionally drop down into the 7000's but as the trip progressed we generally stayed higher and higher.  This was a bit of a concern for me.  I really struggled with altitude in Nepal a few years ago.  We certainly got higher there (over 21,000') but I seem to recall having problems as low as 10,000'.  Time will tell.........

We were awake about 6 on this the first day.  I don't recall how long it took us to pack up and get ready to go but we definitely became more efficient as the days went on.  Our morning routines were established - wake, start to pack up, hot drinks, more packing, breakfast (prepared and cleaned up by Alex & Katie (& Sierra on this first day)), then final packing including claiming your bear canister.  It is a requirement that JMT hikers carry a food-storage container, aka a bear canister.  This is a hard plastic container about the size of a 10 litre water bucket - it has a capacity of 11.5 litres.  It has a twist-on lockable lid so that even Yogi (smarter than your average bear) can't break into it.  As the trip went on certain members of our group came up with various creative and endearing names for this boat anchor.  All of our food was carried in these containers and at night any other smellies (toothpaste, etc.) were stored in them as well.  Only rarely did we have the benefit of a food locker at a campsite.  Each morning our lovely guides would load up the containers and either hand them out or leave them out for us roughly in order of descending/ascending weight.  Generally those who hiked faster got the heavier weight and the slower or smaller ones got less weight.  Any way you cut it, I was pretty much in the middle so I got a bear canister in the middle of the pack.  Apparently since these containers have come into general use the problem of bears separating campers from their food has become significantly less.

Packing up was pretty simple with the limited amount of gear that we had.  The sleeping bag went in its own compartment at the bottom of the pack  This made it handy to take it out at noon on many days to dry it in the sun.  It was usually a bit damp from condensation first thing in the morning and we were generally on the trail before any sun-drying was effective.  Then the sleeping pad, the bear can, and finally a few mesh bags of clothes and rain/warm layers on top.  My tent went on the outside, which made leaving it up as long as possible to dry out in the morning very convenient.

Just a month earlier I had completed a 4400km bike trip from Florida to Maine.  So while I had not been a couch potato, neither was I in prime backpacking shape.  My shoes had been well broken in over the past 5 or 6 years so I wasn't too concerned about my feet.  The boots themselves are overdue for replacement so hopefully they'll hang in for another 200 miles.  Of concern, though, my ribs were really, really sore from simply getting my backpack from Calgary to California - yikes!  It was painful to put the pack on today and also to breathe really deeply.  Good thing we weren't going uphill too much; for some reason I seem to require a bit more oxygen for that!  Hmmm.....  And - I developed some substantial rubbing wounds on my hips from the first day with the new pack.  Other body parts weren't too bad - hip a bit painful but OK, knee was fine and feet a bit tired.  All uphill was a bit of a challenge.  Hopefully I'll work my way into better shape..............

Here are the happy campers ready to head out.

Enough about me............

The routine with the guides was that one would lead the way all day at a rather brisk pace and one would bring up the rear.  The trail was straightforward so there was not much chance of losing anyone along the way.  We stopped and re-grouped at all trail junctions.  Alex and Katie would trade roles each day.  Both were incredibly strong and competent hikers, so the pace at the front was well beyond my comfort zone all the time (with one exception on day two and also on the last day).

Day one for us was a great way to start the trip.  It seemed to take forever to get out of the rather large campground but once we finally exited civilization we entered beautiful Lyell Canyon and followed the Lyell Fork pretty much all day.

"There is easy walking for much of the day, with the only significant climb being at the end of the stage.  Lyell Canyon is an absolutely beautiful, long, relatively flat but steep-sided mountain valley.  The waters of Lyell River, which  have gouged out the canyon over millions of years, are pristine pure."

Until we started our final climb of the day we only gained about 300 feet - very gentle!  There were tons of really pretty spots along the river.  Lots of little riffles, which were particularly pretty with the sun on them.  We took lots of little breaks during the day and there were always large granite slabs to spread ourselves out on.  There were lots of pretty meadows and some waterfalls too.

A sampling of the scenery............

About 2:15 in the pm we started to climb and continued uphill until about 4:30.  We would get partway up Donohue Pass and then camp for the night.  In the morning we would complete the pass and head southward from there.  This seems to be how we approached many of the major passes - do part of the climb late the first day, camp, complete the climb the next morning and then head on from there.  A smart way to do this, I think.  It breaks the climb up into more manageable pieces.  We are able to more fully appreciate the views from the top when we are fresher earlier in the day.  If there happens to be a thunderstorm rolling in, it is more likely to happen in the afternoon.  You don't want to be on the top of a pass during a thunderstorm.........

Back to Donohue Pass...........  we had some nice views back down the valley to the meadows as well as ahead towards Donohue Pass.

We pulled into a lovely "campsite" about 4:30.  Despite the fact that we were sharing with a Boy Scout troop and some other folks, we had lots of room for ourselves.  I use the word "campsite" loosely because they are not really designated campsites - no tent pads, no outhouses, no food lockers, no picnic tables, etc.  The rules are that you need to camp at least either 25 or 100 feet (depends on which park you're in) from both water and trail, and that you don't camp on vegetation (very fragile and takes years to recover).  You want to be near a water source and you want enough flat-ish spots for the number of tents that you have.  As a result of these restrictions there are lots of "campsites" that are well-established and well-used.  One of the books I have states that there are over 200 legal established campsites over the length of the JMT.

"Home" for the next 21 nights..........

  Some views of & from camp:

Stats for the day:  Mileage was about 9 - 10 miles.  1900 feet up, 400 feet down.  Camped at just over 10,000'.