Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Giant Forest to Yosemite Valley via Mt Whitney

I recently completed a trip I have planned (and deferred due to past injuries) for a number of years, going from the General Sherman Tree to Crescent Meadow to Mt Whitney to Yosemite Valley. Here was my itinerary:

8/19 (Day 1) General Sherman Tree to Crescent Meadow to Big Arroyo
8/20 (Day 2) Big Arroyo to Wallace Creek
8/21 (Day 3) Wallace Creek to Mt Whitney, then back to Wallace Creek, then on to Tyndall Creek, detouring along the way at Bighorn Plateau to climb Tawny Point
8/22 (Day 4) Tyndall Creek to Twin Lakes
8/23 (Day 5) Twin Lakes to Little Pete Meadow
8/24 (Day 6) Little Pete Meadow to campsites next to Muir Trail Ranch
8/25 (Day 7) Muir Trail Ranch to Squaw Lake
8/26 (Day 8) Squaw Lake to Garnet Lake
8/27 (Day 9) Garnet Lake to Sunrise
8/28 (Day 10) Sunrise to Happy Isles (Finished at 8:20 am, in time to wolf down an all-you-can-eat breakfast at Curry Village and then catch the 9:32 am YARTS shuttle to Merced.)

Notes:
This was a solo trip.
277 total estimated miles, 52,740 total estimated gain, 55,620 total estimated loss.
My 14th time to the top of Mt Whitney.
By making it to Wallace Creek at the end of the second day, I was able to hike to the top of Mt Whitney from there and back without carrying my gear.
I resupplied once, at Muir Trail Ranch.
Base pack weight (not including food or fuel) was 14 lbs.
On the ninth and final night of the trip, I enjoyed the total lunar eclipse in spectacular surroundings at a campsite at Sunrise perched high above Long Meadow, with an open and unobstructed view of the sky. I then got on the trail at 3:30 am shortly after viewing the total eclipse.
Life is good.

Congratulations. Thanks for the report.

Just out of curiosity, did you happen to cross paths with Sue Johnston.

I think I might have. I stopped at Upper Cathedral Lake at 6 pm Monday August 27 to fill my cantene because I was not sure whether there would be water at Sunrise where I planned to camp that night. I saw two women going fast on the John Muir Trail in the direction of Cathedral Pass, one of them running, the other trying her best to keep up. At the time, I assumed they were day hikers from Tuolumne Meadows since neither was carrying a pack -- but I did not see them turn around, nor did I see them on the way to Sunrise. To put everything in perspective, I was averaging almost 28 miles per day -- and they were covering twice as much ground per day than I was.

Tim,
On August 21 I topped out at the summit a few minutes after you arrived and saw your entry in the register- Timothy Martin, Pasadena California. I was impressed that your entry also noted "14X." Little did I know at the time that in a single outing you were doing BOTH the entire High Sierra Trail and John Muir Trail. Congratulations.
Jim

From the schedule on her blog, she would have been near Upper Cathedral Lake around 6 pm (she was at Sunrise at around 7:30 pm), so you probably saw her and her partner.

Even so, averaging 28 miles per day was also a great accomplishment.

I did the exact same trip back in June/July. I only saw a few people on the HST, but the JMT/PCT was PACKED. I still consider linking up the two trails the best idea I ever had. It's nothing new, but it sure was fun. I did make a resupply at Whitney Portal though, so I think my mileage was pushing 300. Everyone I talked to said I was crazy for re-supplying, but I got to do Whitney two days in a row!
One guy on the upper switch backs said I was his personal hero. It's hard to not smile when someone says that.

How did you get to and from the trail?

Jeff, my wife and I drove up to Sequoia the Friday before my Sunday start. She dropped me off at the General Sherman Tree lower parking lot and then saw me again at Crescent Meadow. When I got to Yosemite Valley, I walked from the Happy Isles trailhead to Curry Village and caught the YARTS shuttle to Merced. From there, I took a Greyhound bus to Los Angeles.

Great hike Tim. You really covered the miles. I agree with several others that the HST/JMT combination looks pretty enticing.

Tim, what an awesome trip! I agree with Alan, that looks really enticing! Although I probably wouldn't put in quite as many miles/day: I don't think my little feet could handle that much! Congratulations, again!

-L