How To...Hike the John Muir Trail: A First-Timer's Story & Comprehensive Guide

50 Pounds of Bad Decisions: My First (and Completely Unplanned) John Muir Trail Thru-Hike

Hi! I’m Jake. I’m 25, new to Bishop, and the latest addition to the team here at Eastside Sports. Sit back, buckle up, and get ready for the wild, mildly unhinged story of a complete noob attempting the John Muir Trail - the JMT for those of you who already know. If you’re just here for the quick-and-dirty version and my overall take, I got you.

Hiking the John Muir Trail was, without question, the best wilderness experience and adventure of my life. I started from Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park on August 1st and wrapped up at Whitney Portal near the end of the month. If I had to sum up the JMT, I’d call it the Sports Center Top 10, nature edition, on a nonstop loop for three straight weeks. And even better: if sore feet, dreading every pass, hiking 10–20 miles a day with a 20–40 lb pack (ultralighters, we know you’re better than everyone else, no need to flex in the comments), and smelling like absolute trash sounds like your vibe, then yeah… the JMT is right up your alley.

Not sold yet? Ask yourself these things before you commit:

•  Am I physically prepared for long days with a heavy pack at high altitude? (Mental prep matters just as much.)

•  Do I have experience with multi-day backpacking in remote wilderness? (Or at least a friend who does?)

• Have I secured the necessary permits well in advance? (Or are you ready to deal with the consequences?)

• Am I comfortable navigating without cell service? (If you need Wi-Fi to survive, maybe stick to the mall.)

• Do I actually understand Leave No Trace and plan to follow it? (Seriously. Pack out your TP!)

• Is my gear lightweight, reliable, and ready for whatever the mountains throw at me? (Base layer, mid layer, wind layer, something waterproof. Don’t mess this up.)

• Have I planned realistic daily mileage and rest days? (Be honest. If you haven’t done 10 miles at 10,000 feet with a 30 lbs pack, you’re not ready.)

• Do I know how to store food safely to avoid bear encounters? (Common sense goes a long way here.)

• Am I prepared for injuries, altitude sickness, and sudden weather shifts?

As previously stated, before embarking on the trail I asked myself not a single one of those questions. So learn from my mistakes and be more prepared :D

Alright, story time.

I never actually planned on hiking the John Muir Trail. I had just moved to California from Minnesota and was wandering around Yosemite Valley, more lost in thought than on a map. Around lunchtime, I ended up at Curry Village grabbing pizza from the Pizza Deck. Side note, that pizza is FIRE. Mid-slice, a German girl walks up and asks, “Can I sit here?” Totally caught me off guard, but I said sure, and just like that, my life was about to get a whole lot cooler. 

We start talking, and she tells me she’s about to hike the JMT. I go, “The what?” I had zero clue. Fast forward a bit: she either convinced me to do it with her or I invited myself along. The details are fuzzy.

Somehow, I scored a permit from Tuolumne Meadows to Whitney Portal within days of my start date; turns out the late bird does get the worm. So on August 1st, I hit the trail to meet her at Upper Cathedral Lake, which is the perfect moment to explain my experience level at the time. 

None.

The John Muir Trail was my first backpacking trip ever. First time spending more than a day at elevation, too. I was a full-blown noob. When I left the Tuolumne Meadows Wilderness Permit Center, I was rocking a 50lb+ pack and carrying my bear can… in my hands.

How do you end up with a 50lb pack, you ask? Great question. I thought bringing a 3lb machete was smart. Packed three full outfits. Brought an entire jug of Listerine. And a few other items I’m choosing not to confess for the sake of my dignity.

I told my new German friend, Sabrina, I’d meet her at Upper Cathedral Lake around 2PM. Her permit had her starting from Happy Isles down in Yosemite Valley, so she was already a day or two ahead of me. 

About five minutes after leaving the permit center, my shoulders were screaming. Nobody had explained that a hip belt is called a hip belt for a reason. It should actually sit on your hips and be tight enough to carry the load. Mine was floating somewhere above my belly button like a confused life vest.

By 5PM, I still hadn’t made it to the lake. Sabrina got so worried she hiked down to find me. When she finally did, she gave me a hug and then immediately hit me with something along the lines of:

“You absolute moron. Why are you carrying your bear can in your hands?”

I, on the other hand, thought this was a normal practice. Please take it easy on me in the comments.

The rest of that day was quite lovely. We camped near Lower Cathedral Lake. Immaculate setting.

The next day was a wonderfully flat stroll through Lyell Canyon. That may have been our coldest camp spot on trail. Side note, the river that runs through Lyell Canyon has some excellent fishing and bathing opportunities. Just be prepared for cold water.

Day 3 was our first pass: Donohue. For someone who over-packed and had never spent any time at elevation, this was a rude awakening. I thought the climb was never going to end. But once we hit the top, we were pleasantly greeted by marmots and a view that spoke directly to my soul. I thought to myself, “This is what the wild really feels like.”

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South facing view from the top of Donohue Pass

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Breathtaking Thousand Island Lake

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Nothing could have prepared me for Thousand Island or Garnet Lake. Looking back on it, they were some of my most picturesque views on the entire JMT.

Hot take: the first part of the trail, not including Thousand Island or Garnet Lake, had a gentle vibe. Not boring, serene and low key, soul-cleansing kind of way. Around day 8, we arrived at the Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) ferry point on Lake Thomas A Edison. This was my first time getting cell service. I received communication that I secured a job interview. Long story short, I had to hike out from VVR to Mammoth, then hitchhiked my way back to my vehicle. After the interview, I knew I wouldn’t be hearing back for a while, so I decided to jump right back on the trail where I left off and put in some solid days, averaging 18 miles a day, until I caught back up to Sabrina near the Kearsarge Pass - JMT junction. While I did enjoy my solo miles, it was great to be back with my boisterous German hiking partner again.

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The breakfast burritos at Red's Meadow --> SLAP

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Morning sun illuminating Marie Lake from the easiest pass on the JMT

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Some of my favorite camp spots in no particular order:

1. A secret rocky abode atop a hill overlooking Shadow Lake.
2. A solitary rocky & dry riverbed near Papoose Lake: accessibly via Goodale Pass (not technically part of the JMT). Descending down from Goodale and seeing Papoose next to Lake of the Lone Indian was peak Sierra magic in the late afternoon.
3. An unnamed lake near Tyndall Creek: approximately 36.635023 N, 118.384328 W.
4. Northwest Shore of Lake Virginia (better camping than Purple Lake in my opinion).
5. 37.12016 N 118.64108 W (this site is not the most scenic, but you are perfectly distanced from the trail while having privacy and a creek 50 steps from your tent - exactly what I needed after Muir Pass).
6. Lower Palisade Lake (the very western tip).
7. Lyell Canyon.
8. 37.43973 N, 118.91122 W (a granite playground with incredible canyon view near VVR, freestanding/semi-freestanding tents only).

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Rae Lakes

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View from Forester Pass

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Some insights for first-time JMT hikers or newbie backpackers:

• Red's Meadow has a charging station for electronic devices and the backpackers campground is $5/night & about a 1/4 mile walk from the store and restaurant.
• Maybe consider a sun hoodie? Your dermatologist would approve.
• Careful with your trekking poles on talus and scree fields (major rocky sections of the trial) - consider aluminum poles for the JMT rather than carbon unless you unconsciously protect your poles with constantly safe placement.
• Babybel cheese and summer sausage are amazing on trail.
• If you're okay with gambling a bit, going light on your resupplies could be a valid option as long as you're able to raid the hiker boxes at Red's Meadow and VVR.
• Bring some homemade dehydrated meals! Saves money and gives a nice dinner backbone to your daily eating routine (Peak Refuel Beef Pasta Marinara is delicious, though).
• Download a movie or two on your phone for late night tent vibes.
• Bring more snacks and food than you think you'll need. You get really hungry out there!
• Consider sleeping on top of a pass for the cool memory as long as you prepare ahead of time - having more water than you think you'll need, and checking the weather/wind conditions (most passes don't have any water sources).
• Zero days (rest days with no mileage) are a fantastic idea! Consider planning for one when you reach places like Red's and VVR.
• The VVR food is low key overrated, but make sure you take advantage of your first beverage being free as a thru-hiker.
• Mentally prepare yourself for a slog leaving VVR if you take the bear creek trail on the south side of the lake. Taking the ferry out of VVR to hook back up to the JMT costs $20.

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Sabrina and I during a stroll around the lake of our last campsite

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I don’t mean to brag, but the last two days aside, we had the best possible weather for the John Muir Trail. Not a single raindrop until our last "campsite". We ended up emergency pitching a 1-person tent and cramming inside the day before our Mount Whitney summit day near the Crabtree Meadows ranger station. Ten hours cooped up, cooking on a Jetboil, swapping stories, the classic Sierra thunderstorm waiting game.

9PM rolled around, and it FINALLY stopped raining. I was obsessed with the idea of a Mt. Whitney summit sunrise, so on essentially no sleep, we packed up the tent and set out to ascend the highest peak in the lower 48.

When I hit Guitar Lake, I was the quintessential embodiment of pure adrenaline and caffeine, a jittery, unstoppable force hurtling toward destiny. The anticipation coursing through my veins was so intense it could have powered a small city. Elevation gain? Pfft. Flat. Like I was sprinting on a treadmill set to “hero mode.” You know that feeling where you’re basically invincible, like the universe itself is a mere suggestion? That was me.

Unfortunately, Sabrina was not feeling as primed as I was for the JMT climax. She ended up falling behind. 

And then I had reached the junction at Trail Crest. The fork between the summit and the descent to Whitney Portal. A sign loomed over me, all ominous and foreboding, practically screaming, “Lightning Will Murder You. Seriously. Don’t Test Me.” Perfect. Just perfect.

Let’s talk conditions, because the universe clearly wanted to remind me I was mortal. It was 1AM, pitch-black, and not a single human was in sight ahead or behind me. A storm was brewing, wind was howling like an angry John Muir critiquing my inadequate reverence for alpine suffering, lightning flickering in the distance, and cold radiating through my tissue like the interior of a Jersey Mike’s freezer. And me? My waterproofing strategy was a German trash bag draped across my torso. That’s right. Nothing says “prepared for dicey Whitney conditions” like wrapping yourself in premium German engineering.

Meanwhile, my Patagonia Houdini jacket, the best decision of my entire kit, was doing the Lord’s work against wind and rain - and no, it's not a waterproof jacket... Every step toward the summit felt like I’d strapped on my Vivobarefoots after a 72-hour bender and decided hiking Mount Whitney was a reasonable life choice.

After a low-light, sketchy shuffle of the last mile to the summit, I was primed for the reward of a cozy little shelter - my brain had Muir Pass-level comfort on autopilot. But no. The “hut” I found was a cruel joke: no door, rickety planked floors with suspicious holes, and a tiny pika (or maybe a mouse) glaring at me like it owned the place. Wind howled through the doorway and I stood there, blinking, thinking, Are you serious?

I was exhausted, though, so I went ahead and tried to sleep, and somehow, I did... until two hours later, voices and flashlight beams jolted me awake. A couple of stressed-out hikers were insisting I evacuate immediately. Lightning. The storm was knocking on the door (sike! remember I told you it was door-less). My heart said, maybe stay, maybe wait for Sabrina, maybe die. The signs inside the hut were about as helpful as that random guy at the crag spraying beta no one asked for. I’d pictured summiting together, watching the sunrise, and suffering for the glory. But the universe had other plans.

Safety won. I followed them down. And holy moly - we were flying. I swear, we redefined “record descent”: summit at 5AM, café at Whitney Portal by 9AM. I barely kept up.

Turns out, Sabrina had decided to pitch her tent along the trail somewhere to catch a few more hours of zzz's and wait out the bad weather conditions before summiting. 

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Soul-touching sunrise descending from Whitney

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The descent was a stark reminder that mountains don’t mess around. We saw someone being carried off by Inyo County Search & Rescue - just a vivid snapshot that altitude sickness, exhaustion, and lightning are very real threats. Huge props to the heroes risking it all to save lives.

By the time we hit Whitney Portal, the sun was warming my wrecked body. I was smacked, exhilarated, and more than a little humbled. Mountains don’t just test your body - they test your patience, your judgment, and your sense of humor. And somehow, despite the chaos, that’s exactly why we climb.

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Posing with the Mt. Whitney sign (and my boujee trash bag rain jacket)

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Going on your own trek along the John Muir Trail?

Check out our new Comprehensive JMT Guide to get you started on your planning and gear purchases!