JMT in 2nd week of June. Too early?

As long as your dates don’t overlap, you’re good.

I’ve done several parts of the JMT as early as late April.  The problem with creek crossing is the ideal location for most when swollen are not exactly where the trail comes to the creek.

If you need to go, expect miles of deep sun-cups as well as needing to time each and every pass for a time of the day when it is not frozen on the morning nor to mushy when good grip is needed in the afternoon.

Plus even though there may be some other footprints going over the passes durning your trip, they aren’t always the better way to go up.  It’s tough to make the correct route up a pass when there is no sign of the trail.  This means most will take a more direct route which makes it difficult.

That depends on a bunch of things. Do normal people do it? If they can manage the good sense to bail off trail if it’s beyond their own limitations to deal with whatever barrier that presents itself — sure.

Not everyone is comfortable with cornices, suncupped deep snow, hordes of mosquitoes, deep, swift, very verrrrrrah cold water crossings, postholing, or the possibility of crashing through crusty snow bridges they didn’t even know were there into frigid snowmelt and boulders. Some who don’t even know these risks exist will do it and succeed. Quite a few won’t succeed, and drive up the numbers of rescue efforts in the park(s) and for the Inyo SAR. You might even get away with doing the whole trail unsupported — the usual resupply spots will not open for the season until the snow melts, by the way. A whole lot depends on how much snow is really left in June. Whether the passes open, whether the Mist Trail opens, whether Muir Trail Ranch and Vermillion open….

The real question is, are YOU aware of the risks, and able to mitigate them with YOUR skill set and experience, of which I do not fully know… you do.

I suspect that folks who backpack a lot are not particularly normal…. I know I’m not. If by normal you mean someone who gets a whim to do the John Muir Trail one day, gets a permit, borrows some gear, and just heads up there, I don’t think a normal person can do it in June, no. If by normal you mean someone who backpacks every month, has winter and three season gear (sometimes in duplicate), has training in snow navigation, has been out in the Sierra every year since s/he was six, and knows how to pack a bear can with the maximum amount of food as well as how to properly hang overflow in areas where that’s allowed (I’m describing myself here, in case you’re wondering)…. Sure, a normal person can do the JMT that early in a good snow year. The question then becomes, would I want to? That would be a big NO, because I would much prefer NOT dealing with long glissades down snowy passes wearing a heavy pack, ice and snow bridges, horribly cold snowmelt wading, and hordes of mosquitoes. (Old fogey status achieved.) I’ll wait until September when the chances of getting a permit increase, the crowds on the sections within a dayhike of a trailhead (first half and very end of the trail) decrease, and there are no mosquitoes to drive me into the tent in the evening.

I’m just trying to pack everything into the narrative that I see as a possibility, not be condescending, so I hope that my hasty post as I run out the door doesn’t misfire… Best I could do without a common idea of what normal is. That word makes less sense to me the older I get.

Thanks for the responses.

Lori, I didn’t take your response as condescending but thank you for letting me know because it happens. :-)

After reading these, I think I’ll go ahead and get one of the earlier permits but continue for a later one also. I don’t want to or feel entirely comfortable tackling worst case scenarios of an early trip unless I would be hiking with someone with a lot of experience. I’d say I’m in between the normals Lori described.

I guess I’ll keep in faxing.

We had really easy SOBO JMT hike and left on 6/15/15 but it sure looks like this year will end up with more snow than last year.

The real question is how bad are the passes really going to be further south.  The first three passes, Cathedral,  Donahue and Island aren’t going to be bad if it’s a normal year.  They don’t have steep drop offs like the ones further south.  When you hit the PCT at Tuolumne you’re going to start coming across a lot of north bound PCT thru-hikers.  They’ll know the status of the other passes and stream crossings and be able to provide accurate information.  Talk to them and you’ll get an idea of what to expect.  The further south you go, the easier it will be to pull a permit if you elect to exit and want to come back.

K

I think that your plan to try for two permits is wise. As you no doubt know, this is a very strong El Nino event this year. It’s beginning to act as advertised. A very much above average snow pack is certainly not out of the question. We may have forgotten what this is like.

I don’t mean to be discouraging because who knows how things will play out. There have been years when the snow line started at 9500 in early June.

Unknown. and unknowable… unless, of course, you can accurately forecast the future.

It still could be a dry year. Just a few days ago I read that rain totals were BEHIND last year’s totals for this time of year. Last year the rain just shut down from here through spring. And could happen this year too. We just don’t know.

And… even if it turns out to be a normal rainfall year, that does not mean it will be a normal snow year… and… even if it turns out to be a ‘normal’ snow year, there can be huge differences from year to year between snow load in the southern and northern Sierra.

Yes indeed… get to permits if you can.

billy