Palnitkar - JMT, 230 miles (370 km) - Aug 11-30, 2021
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The John Muir Trail (JMT) in California is an iconic 211 mile trail from Yosemite Park (4,000 ft) to Mt. Whitney (14,505 ft), the tallest peak in the 48 contiguous United States. Samir Palnitkar, Anuradha Palnitkar, Jai Rawat, Meenal Patwardhan, Ankur Zindal and Ashutosh Chauhan completed the trek in 20 days Aug 11-30, 2021. This PPT describes the 20 day hike
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Palnitkar - JMT, 230 miles (370 km) - Aug 11-30, 2021
- 1. JMT Aug 11, 2021 – Aug 30, 2021 Presented by Samir Palnitkar Credits: Jai Rawat
- 2. INTERESTING BACKPACKING TRIPS IN THE UNITED STATES
- 3. We did one of the smaller backpacking trips! 2,600 miles (4,200 km) 2,100 miles (3,400 km) 211 miles (340 km)
- 4. PLANNING the
- 6. • Life is about gaining new experiences Why do it? • Spending quality time together • Disconnecting from the world • Seeing some amazing sights
- 9. STATS quick from our JMT trek Duration Distance 50,000 ft+ That’s 1.7x Mt. Everest! 230 miles 370 km Elevation 20 Days Daily 11.5 miles (18.5 km) 2,500 ft climbing 2,300 ft descending 10,000+ ft elevation ~40lb (20kg) backpack 3,000-4,000 calories
- 10. Mount Whitney Proof of completion!
- 11. TEAM the
- 12. From left to right: Samir Palnitkar, Meenal Patwardhan, Anu Palnitkar, Jai Rawat, Ankur Zindal, Arun Kumar and Ashutosh Chauhan
- 14. on the way to Half Dome
- 15. Half Dome cables 45-60 degree incline! metal cables + wooden boards
- 16. top of Half Dome
- 17. Landscape ranged from burnt trees… landscape ranged from burnt trees…
- 18. …to lush green forests
- 20. from limitless, intimidating mountains to green, endless meadows
- 21. from limitless, intimidating mountains we saw dozens of breathtaking alpine lakes
- 22. with picture perfect reflections
- 23. we had plenty of time to reflect ourselves
- 24. from limitless, intimidating mountains many interesting and unusual formations and sights Devils Postpile column ends
- 25. from limitless, intimidating mountains avalanche chutes + trim lines
- 26. unusual was not very unusual
- 27. SUNRISES, SUNSETS & NIGHT SKIES unbelievable
- 29. from limitless, intimidating mountains morning rays lighting up a path!
- 30. notice the incredible colors!
- 31. glowing peaks glowing skies glowing forest sunrises and sunsets were simply mesmerizing
- 32. milky way!
- 33. (LNT) leave no trace camp > 100 ft away from water carry all the trash store food properly bury / carry your poop!
- 34. from limitless, intimidating mountains proper food storage is essential bears learning the wrong behavior have to be put down
- 35. catholes needed to be dug we used bidet bottles (TPs need to be carried out!) Whitney zone requires wag bags – carry out your poop!
- 36. LIVED how we
- 37. woke up around 4:30am while it was still dark early start meant less time in the Sun
- 38. cooked and ate breakfast cooked and carried lunch / cooked lunch after arriving
- 39. morning rituals + pack up the tent + prepare backpack = 1.5 to 2 hrs typically got on the trail at 6:30am Samir created a morning selfie routine
- 40. long day on the trail
- 41. covering brutal climbs knee busting, ankle twisting descents thorny bushes inhospitable terrain
- 42. but also fairy tale paths streams and waterfalls sublime lakes mountains and valleys
- 43. we took time to stop and enjoy the views
- 44. reached destination pitched tents setup water and kitchen
- 45. soaked our feet enjoyed dinner stretched
- 49. it’s all about hanging in there..
- 50. rinse - dry - repeat
- 51. recharging our souls (and battery packs)
- 52. nature’s call being answered in nature
- 53. Muir Pass (11,995 ft)
- 54. Mather Pass (12,080 ft)
- 55. Glen Pass (11,980 ft)
- 56. Forester Pass (13,200 ft)
- 57. top of Mount Whitney (14,505 ft)
- 58. view from Mount Whitney
- 59. descending from Whitney JMT is officially complete but we still have to descend 11 miles and 6,200 ft!
- 60. retrieved our stowed backpacks
- 61. finally hung up our boots!
- 63. coveted permit
- 64. hungry souls
- 65. only ready-to-eat, dried food
- 66. 4 critical resupply points
- 69. cool bridges
- 70. fun was never missing
- 72. loved the one non-tent day
- 75. squirrel stole my yellow spoon
- 76. 1.5 hrs filling 12 liters of water
- 77. blueberry shrubs
- 78. water crossings
- 80. getting inspired by 12 year olds
- 81. surreal views
- 83. guitar lake
- 84. camaraderie
- 86. Welcome at Jai’s home
- 87. WHAT’S NEXT?
Editor's Notes
- It is not a loop It is typically not a guided trek Requires a lot of planning Met many people who have done PCT Met young girls doing it alone Met little kids (10 and 12 year olds) Very humbling
- Training: Trek should be an enjoyment, not torture; weight training/hiking/stretching/trail running. Calibrate your speed Food: select calorie dense food, decide how many calories you may need, add some comfort food, diversity of food, food resupply options Gear: take everything you will need but nothing more. Takes a LOT of planning. A trial hike is useful. Backpack and shoes selection is critical Weight: Ultralight (expensive) vs. light weight, be ruthless, every gram counts Itinerary: How many days will it take, getting there and returning, navigation apps, understanding how to read maps, water sources etc. Emergency: Satellite device, emergency contacts, basic first aid, potential altitude sickness. Rescue helicopter incident Team: Alone, with a team? Team dynamics – can you spend 20 days together? Compatibility, physical fitness, commitment Expenses: Easy to spend thousands of dollars. Carefully evaluate cost benefits. E.g. mule supply vs. extra day of hiking vs. carrying extra weight
- Life is about gaining new experiences. This is a great way to do something different. When was the last time you did something for the first time? Getting out of your comfort zone. Deeply fulfilling Disconnecting from the world will help you reconnect with the world in a totally different way. There’s no wifi out there but you find a much better connection Only way to truly see and experience the wonders nature has to offer
- JMT passes through some of the best national parks and forests in the United States The trail can be done southbound or northbound. Full trail or in sections. Southbound option is the most popular and it is really hard to get a permit for it. It is based on lottery system. 3% chance of success Most of the trail is above 8,000 ft. SOBO allows for altitude acclimation Climbing 2,000 ft at ground level is very different from climbing 2,000 ft at a high altitude with a heavy backpack! 11 mountain passes with increasing difficulty. We broke up the climbs between two days Fortunately you get trail legs and it gets easier – not harder! Google earth route overview
- That’s like covering a half marathon distance everyday while going up and down the mountains carrying a heavy check-in bag
- For a few years now I have been doing a headstand at the end of all adventures including Everest Base Camp, marathons/ultra-marathons, stok kangri, SF-LA bike ride etc. I have quite a collection of headstands now
- Introduce the team: Samir and Anu: Married. IITK 90. Avid hikers. Have done many treks together including EBC, Stok, Chadar, Grand Canyon R2R, SF-LA bike ride. - Samir: Sergeant Samir. Created a regimen of 4:00am alarms and 6am starts. No person left behind. Stayed back to help Meenal. Never give up. Finding ways to make progress even when things did not go smoothly. - Anu: Mountain Goat. Looked like she was taking a stroll in the park even when climbing high passes. Super fun to be with – always smiling and always ready for gup-shup. Has been beset with constant injuries but just powers through them. Great determination - Meenal: First timer! Incredible grit and determination. Cancer survivor. Fighter Meenal. slow but showed great determination. To quote “I respect people who train hard to get a gold medal in a race, but I am rooting for a person who has turned around their life and crossing the finish line 5 minutes before the cut off time covered in blood and sweat” Jai: Named as the skipper or the captain of the team since he had brought everyone together and did most of the planning. Also called the sutradhar. Most fun loving person who brought the group together with numerous mischiefs and laughter. Did crazy things like randomly running on the trail with a full backpack, bursting out a song at full volume, getting into crazy poses, climbing rocks, hanging from things. Kept the morale high. Ankur: Bay area, have climbed Whitney and Shasta together. Anchor of the group. Meticulously planned our itinerary. Had a really tough practice hike before JMT and also a really hard first day on Half Dome. Ultimate courage to just continue on. Arun: IITK90, Seattle. Have done Grand Canyon R2R together. Most experienced in backpacking. Unfortunately had to quit after six days due to some family situation Ashutosh: Youngest. IITK spouse. Wife (Nidhi) is also an avid hiker. Speedy Ashutosh or the Pilot. Great attitude. Always ready to walk the extra mile to find the best site, take up extra work after a long days hike. And surprisingly after spending 20 days in close proximity with each other, we are still friends!
- On the way to Half Dome. Vernal falls + Yosemite valley
- Half dome cables. 45 to 60 degree incline! Metal cables, wooden boards Can be quite scary. People freeze sometimes.
- On top of half dome. Unfortunately, not everyone could make it to the top because there were threatening thunderstorm clouds looming in the sky. Half Dome is the last place you want to be in a thunderstorm. It is most likely to attract lightning. You can’t go down because metal cables are not safe and granite will be slippery if wet. You may get stuck for a long time in a scary spot. We had also learned how to spot potential thunderstorms by looking at the clouds, counting seconds between seeing lightning vs. hearing the thunder etc. (divide the number of seconds by 5 to determine the distance in miles)
- Forester pass. 13,200 ft
- Sunrise meadows
- Marie Lake. Alpine lakes are high altitude lakes – typically at 10,000 ft or above.
- Devils Postpile National Monument. The columns are hexagonal and were created by cooling lava flow!
- What an interesting geological formation! You can see the avalanche chutes on the top and then a trim line which shows the level of ice in the valley when these avalanches happened
- Speaking of unusual things: Rescue helicopter Fearless deers
- Tuolumne Meadows
- Tuolumne Meadows
- Lake Evolution. The area around here, including the mountain peaks is named after the prominent figures in evolution biology. E.g. there is a peaks named after Darwin Other peaks are named after Fiske, Haeckel, Huxley, Spencer and Wallace.
- Explain why bears have to be put down. Sometimes generation of bears have to be put down because mothers will teach the wrong behavior to their cubs
- These strict guidelines are how they are preserving these natural wonders for future generations
- Waking up early was hard because 4am was usually the coldest time of the night. Doing the morning rituals, cooking, packing etc. in that cold was very hard.
- Hurt my left ankle. Was limping for a few days. Had a fall. Ashutosh and Anu flanked me to make sure that I was going slow. Decided to ignore it completely.
- Trail magic (burger story) Who needs internet when you can truly watch a live stream In normal years the streams and rivers have a lot more water and you have to learn how to cross them properly. It is called fording a river and it can be quite dangerous when currents are high.
- - Heard cowbells and animal galloping sounds at night
- - Great thing about being nature? All the bathrooms were gender neutral
- - Three girls crying here
- Named after?