JMT Section Hike

Sorry to reply so late to this question.

Vemillion VVR to South Lake would indeed be a logistical nightmare with many hours or even a day or two on each end for transportation.

The easiest would be Yosemite Valley to Mammoth, the trail head is Reds Meadow or Agnew Meadow. 60 mile hike. Great transportation, as far as such things go, on both ends.

Or for easier permits go Mammoth to Yosemite Valley.

Transportation: fly in to San Francisco, overnight in SF and do a little sightseeing.

Buy a ticket for the next day from Amtrak for San Francisco all the way to Mammoth, the actual trip will be as follows:
7 am shuttle from SF Ferry Building to Emeryville, Amtrak train Emeryville to Merced, YARTS bus Merced to Yosemite Valley. You arrive at the visitor center at 1:20 pm.
Now you have until 5 pm to explore Yosemite Valley. Eat some lunch and go on a hike, maybe to the base of Yosemite Falls.
The 5 pm YARTS bus takes you through Yosemite on highway 120 past Tuolomne Meadows and onto Mammoth up the mountain where you get off at the last stop at 9:30 pm.
Stay at the hotel, I think it is Mammoth Mountain Inn.
Next morning take the shuttle down to Reds Meadow and start your hike.

Hike back to Yosemite Valley.

Take the 4 pm YARTS bus and you will be back in downtown San Francisco by 11 pm that evening.

Just an idea, but if fishing is your thing why not try starting at White Wolf (on the shuttle route, on hy120) and go up the grand canyon of the Touloumne. This is how I'm starting the JMT this year. The route is about 6 miles longer to TM, and the first day goes DOWN several thousand feet rather than the reverse. You will get yourselves about 40+ miles of hiking along the beautiful Toulumne river filled with fish, before crossing over the pass to some beautiful alpine lakes for a few days, and then to Reds. Reds back to Yosemite, as was mentioned, is a easy shuttle through YARTS.

Advantages:

– Great fishing all the way up the Tuolumne to the pass. Starting in YV will take you over a pretty dry stretch, especially later in the season (or possibly this year the whole season).

– Avoid the annoying Disney ride crowds at the start.

– Avoid the big climb in the beginning – in this case you hike down into the canyon the first day, and then fairly slowly up along an incredibly beautiful river/glacial valley with waterfalls.

– It depends on your point of view, but IMHO this route beats the "official" route in scenery hands down.

I like millonas' idea, of starting with the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, and combining it with the Tuolumne-Reds Meadow section of the JMT. Very creative, and an improvement over starting from Happy Isles.

The downside is that you'd be doing that route in a low-water year, and too late in the season, to boot. The whole point of going down the GCT is to see the waterfalls when they are blasting at high water, which is generally late June of a high-snowpack year. This year you will get more of a trickle, especially with an August start.

I'd suggest buying the "Sierra South" book and doing the North Lake to South Lake loop. It's the best part of the JMT, and the sections that lead you to and from the JMT are just as breathtaking. The hitchhike is very short and easy to organize, compared to most of your other options in the Sierra.

If the mileage of the official loop isn't enough for you, you can pad it with side trips to stunning locations in that area. In fact, a lot of people do this loop just to get at the side-trip destinations! If you're comfortable with a little cross-country hiking (sometimes assisted by "use trails"), these side trips will provide somewhat less trampled camping spots, too. Assuming you're going from North to South Lake, some of the side trips I would consider are:

– Muriel and Goethe Lakes (camp at Muriel, to which there is an easily followed trail)
– Desolation Lakes (easy-to-follow trail; camp at Upper Desolation)
– Darwin Lakes (follow the use-trail there) (camp)
– The little basin behind Sapphire Lake (no trail; rocky; not to camp just to explore)
– Davis Lakes (no trail; explore or camp)
– Ionian Basin (no trail; rugged and for very experienced backpackers only)
– Dusy Basin exploration (camp anywhere)
– Barrett Lakes/Palisade Basin (a x-country hike from Dusy Basin) (campable)
– Chocolate or Ruwau Lake (trailed; near South Lake trailhead if you happen to start from South Lake and need a short first-day hike in)

Piute and Bishop Passes are among the first on the Inyo National Forest website to be snagged for permits. You need to get online and just reserve one, ASAP. The system allows you to change your reservation later. For various reasons, I'd suggest going north-to-south, so, starting at North Lake and going over Piute Pass.

If you plan to go off-trail ever in your trip, as I suggest above, be sure to choose "cross-country" as the type of permit you are getting. (It does not affect permit availability; just limits your group to 8.)

IMO the section southbound out of Vermillion to MTR is one of the hottest, driest, least interesting sections of the JMT. And this year, with the low snowpack, Lake Edison may be drained again, nixing your boat shuttle and not helping the scenery.

– Elizabeth

For the North-South Lake loop, fly into LAX and drive to Bishop.

Or fly to Reno and drive or bus to Bishop.

"Or fly to Reno and drive or bus to Bishop."

+1 By far the better option. the drive or bus down to Bishop from Reno is beautiful once you get south of Gardnerville.

All-thanks for the great information! I apologize for the slow response, but I am going through these options tonight on the map and hope to get the plan nailed down. Will let you know what we choose.

-Daniel