It's Official!!

I GOT IT! A Happy Isle to Little Yosemite Valley permit for July 15th, 2014. My hike is officially a-go. I feel like a big weight has been lifted, and I can breath easier. I am feeling very fortunate, after ready many forums and blogs, I started to worry if I would be able to get a reservation for the day I wanted.  I have read numerous stories about people trying 3 or 4 or more days in a row and getting rejected each time.  Going solo gave me a big leg up I guess.  It it easier to slide one person into a spot, than try to find an open reservation for two or more. However, I did not get my permit on my first try, nor my first choice of permit options this time.

Sunday night I braved an incoming snow storm to get to FedEx Office in order to fax in my reservation form.  It took only a minute to fax it in, but another 15 hours before I got my answer: "Thank you for your reservation request. We are sorry to inform you that your wilderness permit reservation request has been rejected for all choices listed. Your requested trailhead is full or we do not have space for a group of your size." Crushed! That was how I felt. How could I not get my permit?  I knew it was not a for sure thing, but I had a feeling that I would be one of the few lucky ones. The ones that actually got their permit the first time. O.K. time to come up with plan B.  I knew I would be back at FedEx tonight sending in another request, but what if I got rejected again?

From somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered reading a trip report where they had started their JMT hike with a Happy Isle to Illiloute permit.  From what I could remember from their report it was not that bad, it just added a couple of extra miles (with an out and back from the actual trail).  With over 211 miles of hiking waiting for me, what would a couple or more miles early on matter? So I searched the net for information on this option and found out that is was a viable option.  My thought was that if I could at least get this permit, I would hopefully be able to upgrade once I got in the Valley.  I quickly typed up a new permit request and faxed it in from work. And then I waited... again!  By the time I left work I had not heard back from the pack service, so once again I went back to FedEx to fax my request for July 15th.  

I think I checked my email every 5 to 10 minutes this morning. By 1 o'clock I was starting to worry as I had not heard anything on either permit request. I tried to call the park reservations to ask a question about the Illiloute option (how far down the trail I had to go before I could camp) and maybe see if I could find out about the status of either request.  After numerous busy signals, I talked to a very friendly and helpful woman who told me I would have to hike about 3 miles off the JMT before I could camp. When I asked her if it was easier for me to fax in my request or do it over the phone, she said she could do it over the phone.  I then mentioned my request for the Illiloute option yesterday, and that I had not heard back about it or today's request either.  She was nice enough and looked into both, and it turns out I now have 2 permits:  the Illiloute option from yesterday and I had gotten my second choice request from today. She asked me which one I wanted to keep, and I decided to keep both for now; at least until I have a little more time to compare my 2 options.

Now all I have to do is patiently wait another 168 days.

In the Beginning

I have made one previous trip to Yosemite. The second summer I knew my wife (2002) we took our first real road trip together, which we started with several days in Yosemite National Park. One of my goals of this trip was to hike up Half Dome. At this time no permit was required to hike half dome. We took the first shuttle bus of the day to the trailhead and headed out.

This turned out to be my longest hike to date, almost 17 miles. My memory of the hike in is a bit blurry; the only thing that really sticks out in my mind was what I called the “never ending forest”. I never thought I would get out of it. My wife made it to just below the cables, before she decided she had gone far enough, as she is not a lover of heights. As I went up the cables she took a nice nap, waking to find a coyote napping just 10 feet from her at one point. 

The view from the top of Half Dome filled me with joy. I had spent many years rock climbing and to me Yosemite, and especially Yosemite Valley, had always been hallowed ground. Being and Environmental Science major in college, I spent many hours reading John Muir so to finally be there was a very special moment in my life.

On this trip I think I am going to bypass the trip up Half Dome. Part of me says “Been there, done that”, but more importantly I only have so many days complete this hike. While Half Dome only adds 4 miles or so to the trip, I think it will tire me out more than I want to be during my first couple of days. Next time through  the JMT, when I bring my wife and son here with me, and take 3 weeks to complete it, we’ll all take the detour together.

Hike On!

And then there was a plan

It took me a good 2 to 3 weeks to work up the nerve to tell my wife that I needed to hiked the John Muir Trial (JMT) next summer, and ask for her blessing to go. Let me say right off the bat that my wife is a wonderful and supporting person. But asking her to let me leave home, and our 4 year old son for 3 weeks, was asking a lot of anyone. It is hard enough to keep the house and family going with 2 of us, but to put all the responsibility on her, well that might be too much. Without even a flinch she quickly gave her blessing (I hope it was not too easy a decision for her, to be without me for 3 weeks).

“Need” to hike the JMT? Yes! All of us build up an image of ourselves and what we hope we are or can be. But until we test that image we never know if it is truly what or who we are. I have an image of myself as a hiker. While I have done numerous backpacking trips over the years, I do not feel that I have ever truly pushed myself to see if I have the right hiker stuff. For years hiking the Appalachian Trail has been on my bucket list (and still is). One of the best pieces of advice I got was to set a date for my hike, even if it was 10 years in the future and work towards that goal. Several years ago I set 2015 as the year I would hike the AT. However, as the day/year has drawn nearer the reality has also become clearer. There is no practical way I can escape the real world for the 6 months that it will take me to hike the AT. But 3 weeks, now that is doable.

I teach, so I have the summers off, while still getting paid. So if I can manage to save up a little money beforehand there will not be a major financial cost to our family. During part of the time I am gone I think I can talk grandma and grandpa into coming for a visit to help my wife with our little one. This may also provide chance for my wife and son to fly out to visit her parents in Texas. Her parents are great so I do not mind visiting, but Texas in the middle of summer… I’ll happily pass on that trip.

Now that the seed has been laid, it’s time to tend to them and let them grow and flourish. My hope it that I do not ramble too much here, but what can I say I am a Trial Journal junkie. I hope to be able to feed the dreams of others of on here, as many other journals have feed mine and kept my dreams alive and going.


Hike On!!