My 23-day hike through the Sierras is complete! It ended up being my longest hike ever… outside the state of Utah! The final tally was 348 miles and included most of the John Muir Trail plus portions of the PCT and the Sierra High Route plus a few days of off-trail travel. It was a great trip from the desert near Ridgecrest to the high-country of Yosemite. The hike was another one of my “Curb Pavement” hikes which traverse the longest pavement-free stretches in the United States. Past hikes have included two different sections of southern Utah and a scouting trip to the backcountry of the Grand Canyon. This one covered 160 “as the crow flies” miles from start-point to end-point w/o crossing pavement.
Read the The Daily Journal
Watch the Video for the Hike
See the Map of Route
Gallery:
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- Beginning on Pavement
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- Route follows power line to start
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- hiding in pipeline’s shade to avoid 103-degree heat
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- morning of day 2
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- Little Lake Canyon
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- climbing out of desert
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- sundown on camp #2
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- Hwy 395 and stars
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- under a joshua tree
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- finally over the crest
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- trail marker
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- stream near Kennedy Meadows
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- burn area
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- red twilight
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- sundown
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- flowers and burn
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- crazy catepillars
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- sundown from Olancha Peak
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- looking north to high peaks
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- Mr. Marmot
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- looking down to Owens Valley
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- big trees
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- Horseshoe Meadows
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- Cache #1
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- Chicken Spring Lake
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- Big Moon
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- morning bird
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- Chicken Spring Lake
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- near Siberian Pass
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- near Siberian Pass
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- big tree
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- buck in Crabtree Meadow
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- Sunset on Whitney
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- Guitar Lake
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- Hitchcock Lakes
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- looking back to Guitar Lake
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- Above Hitchcock
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- climbing Whitney’s west side
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- climbing Whitney’s west side
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- looking down on Hitchcock Lakes
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- crossing 14,000′
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- snow crossing near top
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- my route to follow those peaks north
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- summit Mt. Whitney
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- summit Mt. Whitney
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- summit Mt. Whitney
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- emergency hut on summit
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- summit Mt. Whitney
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- looking back to Langley and Olancha
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- nearing the summit
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- Whitney from above Crabtree
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- nice meadow
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- Great Western Divide
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- Bighorn Plateau
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- Tyndall Basin
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- Tyndall Basin
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- Tyndall Basin
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- Tyndall Basin
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- Tyndall Basin
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- sundown from camp
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- marmot
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- Tyndall Basin
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- trail up Forester Pass
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- view south from Forester Pass
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- highest pass on route
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- view north from Forester Pass
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- big snowfield
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- hikers climbs up snow
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- descending snowfield
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- lake north of Forester Pass
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- nice lake
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- waterfall
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- amazing blind hiker
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- Bubbs Creek
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- Bubbs Creek
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- black bear
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- Mist Falls
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- Paradise Valley
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- Pad Thai dinner
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- campfire
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- brushy route in Muro Blanco
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- Castle Domes Meadow
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- swinging bridge
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- sundown near Woods Creek camp
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- Crater Mountain near Pinchot Pass
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- Crater Mountain
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- near Pinchot Pass
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- atop Pinchot Pass
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- upper Lake Marjorie
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- upper Lake Marjorie
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- looking north to Upper Basin
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- necessary shield
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- Upper Basin camp
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- Upper Basin
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- Upper Basin
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- Upper Basin
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- hiker crosses snow
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- Palisades Lake from near Mather Pass
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- improvised bridge
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- Palisades Lake
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- Palisades Lake
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- ready to descend Golden Staircase
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- trail maintenance
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- Kings River falls
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- falls from Ladder lake
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- sign at Le Conte station
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- lake en route to Muir Pass
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- the frogs were there!
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- en route to Muir Pass
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- hiker crosses snow near Helen Lake
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- climbing up through snowfield
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- looking south from Muir Pass
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- Hut at Muir Pass
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- Hut at Muir Pass
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- Wanda Lake
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- Evolution Basin
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- wide crossing
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- Evolution Basin
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- Evolution Basin Camp
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- Evolution Basin
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- Evolution Creek crossing (difficult in high runoff)
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- falls
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- falls
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- upper San Joaquin River
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- Muir Wilderness
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- deer
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- near Senger Creek
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- near Selden Pass
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- Bear Creek crossing (difficult in high runoff)
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- Fungi — made me think of pancakes!
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- near Pocket Meadow
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- falls near Pocket Meadow
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- near Silver Pass
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- near Silver Pass
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- wildflowers
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- Fish Creek Bridge
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- Tully Hole — Fish Creek
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- Lake Virginia
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- crossing
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- ground squirrel
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- sundown near Duck Lake
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- sundown
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- Red Cone near Mammoth
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- burnt area near Mammoth
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- Stellar Jay
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- Devils Postpile
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- top of Postpile
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- Minaret Creek cascades
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- Minaret Lake
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- Minaret Lake
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- Minaret Lake
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- Sierra High Route
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- looking back toward Mammoth
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- near Cecile Lake
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- near Cecile Lake
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- near Cecile Lake
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- near Cecile Lake
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- near Cecile Lake
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- near Cecile Lake
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- descending to Iceberg Lake
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- hikers on Iceberg Lake edge
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- Iceberg Lake
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- along Iceberg Lake
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- Iceberg Lake
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- Iceberg Lake
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- hikers above Iceberg Lake
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- Iceberg Lake
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- rudimentary crossing
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- Garnet Lake
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- 1000 Island Lake
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- 1000 Island Lake
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- 1000 Island Lake
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- mosquitoes swarming
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- 1000 Island Lake
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- cool camp
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- daybreak on final day
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- clear water
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- icy water
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- nearing Donohue Pass
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- north from Donohue Pass
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- looking up to Mount Lyell and glacier
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- along Lyell Fork
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- Crossing Pavement = end of hike at Tuolumne Meadows
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- Mr. Shadow at the end
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- food!
The videos rock! It’s great to see the full hike posted and it was so much fun to hike with you the last few days. :)…