I began at Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley on July 13 and finished at Whitney Portal on Aug 2 with a Sunrise Summit of Mt Whitney for my 4th Whitney Summit.
While I was Solo on this trip the people I met along the way were the highlight in every possible way. I have been trying to complete the John Muir Trail for many years and various things have pulled me off the trail during my attempts.
The only section I had yet to hike was from Reds Meadow south to the Bishop Pass junction. It was a thrill to see Evolution Valley finally. The Muir Hut was the spiritual peak of this trip for me and I hope to commemorate that with a tattoo at some point in the near future.
I climbed Mt Whitney in June of this year (see previous video) and that ended with a helicopter rescue though I did summit that time too. Going into that section during the JMT hike brought back those fresh feelings of how terrible I had felt a few weeks earlier when I was there with my girlfriends. I was worried something similar might happen on this trip but to my glee, nothing of the sort did.
I met several people on this trip who recognized me from my videos and I really appreciated the encouragement from all of you, both in person and online.
I enjoyed my 21 days in the Sierra Nevada fully. I took no zero days and hiked between 716 miles a day. I felt strong and came home 25 lbs lighter. Small streams are dry. Mosquitos are super scarce. Wildflowers and wildlife are very abundant.
If you have any questions please ask!
Trail Name ~Sparkles
Backpacking, backpacker, solo, female, hiker, John Muir trail, Sierra Nevada california, Osprey, mountains, birds, deer, adventure, adventurer, Sparkles, nikki, west coast, trek, Altra