Kelley Buell

JMT Report Part 1: Days 1-6
[Stats from Garmin Fénix 7]

Day 1: Happy Isles/ Yosemite Valley 4,025’—Mist Trail—⛰️Cathedral Pass 9,700’—⛺️Upper Cathedral Lake 9,600’ [🥾18.5 mi, ⬆️ 6869’ ⬇️ 1296’]. FINALLY beginning the journey! Feeling ALL the feels!🤍 Killer elevation gain, feeling well trained/ready/prepared. Lots of bear poop around Cathedral Lake camp 🐻… slept maybe an hour. (Pics 2-5)

Day 2: Upper Cathedral—Tuolumne Meadows—⛺️Lyell Fork ~1.5 mi below Donahue Pass 10,203’ [🥾18.4 mi, ⬆️ 2545’ ⬇️ 1942’]. Making really good time on flatter terrain. Thunderstorms rolling in. Camped early to avoid getting caught in ⛈️ on the pass. Poured rain all night. Terrible sleep again due to loud rain. Stayed dry! (Pics 6-9)

Day 3: 🏔️Donahue Pass 11,073’—Thousand Island Lake—⛺️Reds Meadow 7705’ [🥾25.8 mi, ⬆️ 4143’ ⬇️ 6729’]. Early start- made it over pass before more 🌩️. Epic views! More stormy weather ⛈️ Broke a carbon trekking pole in river crossing & got soaked. Marauding bear in Reds Meadow campground, so no sleep again. (Pics 1, 10-12)

Day 4: Zero Day—6am soak in hot spring. Feeling sick/lost voice. Resupply at Reds Meadow. Hitch a ride to Mammoth. Buy new poles. Hotel stay- town food/ lots of juice, shower, and laundry.

Day 5: Shuttle to Reds Meadow—⛺️Nuumu Hu Hupi Lake 10,286’/Silver Pass [🥾21.5mi, ⬆️ 5347’ ⬇️ 2795’]. Start hiking at 10am, feeling good after rest day. Late arrival at camp. (Pics 13-15)

Day 6: 🏔️Silver Pass 10,778’—☠️Bear Ridge—⛺️Marie Lake 10,568’/Seldon Pass [🥾22 mi, ⬆️ 4822’ ⬇️ 4537’]. This was my lowest low. Mid day Bear Ridge—hot, dusty, & buggy, 2000’+ climb—broke me. Feeling lonely, questioning my choices. Wanting to quit. (Pics 16-20)

To be continued…

#jmt #backpacking #yosemite #mammoth #sierra