Muir Trail Ranch (MTR) sucks!

How was your hike?

It was great while it lasted:-) I got off at Bishop. I did the JMT in 2018 in 21 days (17.5 hiking days plus 3.5 rest days). I had been doing the AZT in April and I had to get off the AZT as my wife broke her ankle while hiking back home in Austin. So, there was lot of leftover food from AZT which I didn’t want go to waste. And luckily I got a permit in June for a July 26th start which is when I turned 55! So, I wanted to see if I can do it in 10 days.

I was doing great doing 20+ mile days.

But every day, it was threatening to rain starting at 2:30. Two days I got caught in rain and had to set up my tent while it was raining and that was not fun. The day I decided to get off of JMT, it rained from 5ish in the evening till next day morning 6 AM. The trails were flooded. Puddles of water everywhere in the campsites. Had to collect muddy water for drinking. And the forecast was rain for the next several days. One of the other hikers getting off of the JMT was told by a ranger that Onion Valley trailhead and Whitney Portal trailheads were closed due to mud slides. On the Bishop pass trail, there were some rock slides.

I think I made some mistakes. My assumption was that it doesn’t rain much on the JMT (2018 JMT, 2021 SHR) – even it rains, it rains for couple of hours and disappears to sun. That didn’t happen during this trip. For me to complete it in 10 days, I had no room for error – that is start from 6AM and hike till 5 to 6PM doing anywhere from 20 to 22 miles per day. All of this rain saga made me quit earlier in the day everyday…I was still clocking 20 miles per day. But, I was worried that I may run out of food if my hiking time reduced. And if the Onion valley trailhead was closed, then I would not have been able to resupply.

Second mistake was poor rain gear choice – I had a Zpacks poncho and MLD Chaps for rain gear. The poncho got wet and dirty as I was trying to set up my tarp hunched down. Which then prevented me from using the Poncho as ground sheet. I had polycryo and a bivy which is what I slept on. Didn’t get wet. But, I think if I had used rain pants and rain jacket and a separate ground dedicated groundsheet, I would have had better morale:-)

Even though I had hiked it in 2018, I saw new things. Camping in McClure meadows was awesome. The dark clouds against the mountains made it magical. Similar story in Muir Pass – it turned dark around 11ish that day. Dusy basin and Bishop pass were similarly cloaked in clouds and sun. It was beautiful all around.

Yosemite was pretty hazy. I hiked to Clouds rest – but views were pretty hazy and ash was pouring on and off in the valley based on wind. From Tuolumne, it was pretty clear.

Sorry for the long answer;-)

Onion Valley trailhead and Whitney Portal trailheads were closed due to mud slides. On the Bishop pass trail, there were some rock slides.

I started a 3 day trip on Monday, the day after the big rain, at Onion Valley. They had managed to clear the road enough for me to get up and start my hike… but holy moly were the trails in pretty terrible condition. SO MUCH trail damage. Many parts of the trail going up kearsarge pass were just gone, a good section of the trail going up the south side of glen pass was wiped away by rockfall (small boulders over parts of the trail, and sections that looked like an explosion had blasted that part of the trail away).

Some of the alpine lakes that were at the bottom of large gradual slopes were brown and silty (like little pothole lake, and lower Gardiner lakes). I avoided filling my Befree filters at these locations because I was pretty certain they would significantly reduce their flow rate.

A lot of people I met on wednesday were JMT hikers looking to exit Onion Valley that day to hop of the trail and try to complete it another time. Most of them were for the same reasons you described, the rain had just slowed them down to much and they weren’t certain they could finish in the amount of vacation time they had left.

Having never experienced MTR when there were more services available to hikers, I don’t have the same reaction. I thought they were super friendly in 2021, loved getting my resupply right on trail without having to spend a day going elsewhere, and loved that I could leave my unneeded supplies, trash and bucket for them to dispose of. I appreciate what they do and their need to focus most of their efforts on higher spending customers, at such a remote location. It would be tough if they weren’t providing the services they are, so I’m grateful.

As the song says, “It never rains in California/but why don’t they warn ya/it pours…man it pours!”

I learned the hard way to look for monsoonal rains coming in counterclockwise from the southeast when checking forecasts for the Sierra. I’m on the coast, and used to assume weather was always coming in off the ocean.

Tyler – thanks for the update. Glad I had a good exit point at Bishop! Having done it in 2018, it was an easy decision for me to get out as I got up at 4AM to get ready to hike – and it was raining! And I knew I will not have enough food to keep going.

AK – I do appreciate what they do. I am just bummed at what we have lost – it was a beautiful place to meet authors, folks who have done JMT 10 times, 80 year olds discussing their various trips, fire fighters discussing what is ailing the trees etc. It was such a fantastic atmosphere to be in. One of the highlights of my 2018 JMT thru when I stayed there for 1.5 day zero!

Jscott – Yep – as they say the mountains make their own weather. I will be better prepared next time when I try a 10 day attempt when I turn 60:-) If weather had co-operated, I would have finished it in 10 days. I was on track as of the 6th day end – maybe 5 miles in arrears which I would have made up the next day by starting my hike early at 4AM….but oh well!

Provocative title for a thread. For me, it would be a luxury, and cause for gratitude, to be able to re-supply.

Sorry to hear that it rained and you had puddles, and that you weren’t able to meet your time goal.