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  1. #41
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    Not sure I am understanding your question. This is me... but if I were coming from FL and had never been to Yosemite, I'd leave from Glacier Pt even though Happy Isles is the "official" start. But that's me. Looks like it is about 7-7.5 miles from Glacier Pt to camping in Little Yosemite Valley.

    I'm trying to convince my son that he can visit Yosemite and make a little $ shuttling you. However, the American school system has left him with a severe case of Stranger Danger. Can you convince me that you are not a serial killer? lol

    I'd offer to shuttle you myself, but I am planning on being on trail in Sequoia.

  2. #42
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    Haa Thx...I'm a little slow.... Should we take yarts to glacier pt or hike the 4 mile trail? Any advantages...again Thx for the great input...looks like it's going to be along shot getting permits but I'll give it a shot!


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  3. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by saltysack View Post
    Haa Thx...I'm a little slow.... Should we take yarts to glacier pt or hike the 4 mile trail? Any advantages...again Thx for the great input...looks like it's going to be along shot getting permits but I'll give it a shot!
    Shuttle to Glacier Point is not YARTS. It is some private company and when I looked it was kind of expensive and a two hour drive. ($25 one way).
    http://www.yosemitepark.com/glacier-point-tour.aspx

    I'd take the shuttle. The 4 (or 5) mile trail from the Valley floor to Glacier Pt is a butt kicker. There was a couple who were hiking it and they were using it as a training hike to climb Mt Ranier. It is an elevation gain of 3200 ft in a little less than 5 miles. I don't know how many switchbacks. Lots and lots. And no water. http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/fourmiletrail.htm

    IF you take the 4 mile trail, you would have about a 12.5 mile first day with a lots of elevation gain and some loss... but some incredible views.

  4. #44
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    Thx....shuttle sounds good...


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  5. #45
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    We did the 4 mile trail in 2000 when my son was 8 and it took us about 5 hours.

    This was pre-internet (or at least pre-smart phones) and we had misinformation about the shuttle. We get to the top and go in for an ice cream and we are told the last shuttle had left 30 minutes earlier. We didn't have 5 hours of daylight to go back down and my son probably didn't have another 5 miles in him.

    We start bumming a ride back to the Valley and my son is freaking out at the thought that we are hitch hiking. People with nice cars are telling us "no" because we are stinky and sweaty. Bus drivers are telling us "no" because of insurance and liability issues. I don't remember any ratty cars.

    After trying to get a ride for 45 mins in a parking lot with literally hundreds of people, this GREAT group of Indian engineers from Fremont gave us a ride back. "You're from Fremont?!?!? OMG... We're from Fremont!!!!" They have Bollywood music going full blast and every person on the bus is singing and clapping along. It is like something out of a Chevy Chase National Lampoon Vacation movie. They are sharing all their food with us and my son is freaking out that not only are we are riding with strangers - we are now also eating their (unfamiliar) food.

    We get down most of the way to the Valley and they need to turn left to return to the Bay Area and we need to go right. A park ranger gives us a ride the last 10 or 20 miles. She is freaking out picking up hitch hikers because 3 women have just been murdered out side of Yosemite, but she figured that hitch hikers with an 8 year old kid... we are probably not murderers.

    She has the EXACT same backpack as us, and we get out of her truck and take her backpack with her wallet and everything. And she has our backpack... with sweaty sweatshirts, empty water bottles, and my son's "I made it to the top!" hat from the Glacier Pt gift shop and our other "valuables". We didn't even have cell phones back then. It takes us two hours to get in touch with the ranger who didn't really want to pick us up, and now is panicked that we have her wallet. We finally get a hold of the ranger and trade backpacks. It was memorable.

    If I type 17 times, "Double check the shuttle service schedule!", that would be why.
    Last edited by DLP; 03-26-2015 at 21:19.

  6. #46
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    Wow what a trip!!! Think I'll take the shuttle...well worth $25.00!! I checked the schedule it seems to run often but I'll confirm after I hopefully get permits....THX AGAIN!!!!!!!


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  7. #47

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    We took that shuttle last September and it was worth every penny! The driver was very entertaining and knowledgeable. Glacier Point has an amazing view and starting your hike there will be much, much easier than starting at H.I.. From what I have read the hike up out of H.I. is one of the most difficult parts of the JMT. We hiked down to there from Glacier Point, and will definitely aim to start our JMT trip from G.P. .

  8. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by DLP View Post
    We did the 4 mile trail in 2000 when my son was 8 and it took us about 5 hours.

    This was pre-internet (or at least pre-smart phones) and we had misinformation about the shuttle. We get to the top and go in for an ice cream and we are told the last shuttle had left 30 minutes earlier. We didn't have 5 hours of daylight to go back down and my son probably didn't have another 5 miles in him.

    We start bumming a ride back to the Valley and my son is freaking out at the thought that we are hitch hiking. People with nice cars are telling us "no" because we are stinky and sweaty. Bus drivers are telling us "no" because of insurance and liability issues. I don't remember any ratty cars.

    After trying to get a ride for 45 mins in a parking lot with literally hundreds of people, this GREAT group of Indian engineers from Fremont gave us a ride back. "You're from Fremont?!?!? OMG... We're from Fremont!!!!" They have Bollywood music going full blast and every person on the bus is singing and clapping along. It is like something out of a Chevy Chase National Lampoon Vacation movie. They are sharing all their food with us and my son is freaking out that not only are we are riding with strangers - we are now also eating their (unfamiliar) food.

    We get down most of the way to the Valley and they need to turn left to return to the Bay Area and we need to go right. A park ranger gives us a ride the last 10 or 20 miles. She is freaking out picking up hitch hikers because 3 women have just been murdered out side of Yosemite, but she figured that hitch hikers with an 8 year old kid... we are probably not murderers.

    She has the EXACT same backpack as us, and we get out of her truck and take her backpack with her wallet and everything. And she has our backpack... with sweaty sweatshirts, empty water bottles, and my son's "I made it to the top!" hat from the Glacier Pt gift shop and our other "valuables". We didn't even have cell phones back then. It takes us two hours to get in touch with the ranger who didn't really want to pick us up, and now is panicked that we have her wallet. We finally get a hold of the ranger and trade backpacks. It was memorable.

    If I type 17 times, "Double check the shuttle service schedule!", that would be why.
    So does the Jmt officially start in lyv? Or happy isles or is that the mist trail? Sorry for all the questions!!!!


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  9. #49
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    Quote Originally Posted by saltysack View Post
    So does the Jmt officially start in lyv? Or happy isles or is that the mist trail? Sorry for all the questions!!
    JMT thru hikers are like all other thru hikers and it depends on your philosophical bent.

    My sister lurks on the "Ladies of the JMT" Facebook page. According to my sister, many people consider the ONLY "Pure" or "Correct" JMT thru hike to start at the OFFICIAL Happy Isle trailhead and go SOBO.

    Some people consider starting at Tuolumne to be "cheating". Starting at Whitney and going NOBO is also, obviously, "wrong". Most ways of thru hiking the JMT are "wrong", as there is only ONE "right" way.

    My sister will be on the JMT this summer and she already has a permit... out of Kings Canyon. She got her first choice of trailheads and everything is lined up and she is stress free about the permit process. She isn't thru hiking, though.

    There is also an awesome shuttle from Visalia to Sequoia Nat'l Park. You can see the giant sequoias and hike to the JMT... but, duh, this is the "wrong" way to do a thru hike.
    Last edited by DLP; 03-27-2015 at 15:26.

  10. #50
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    PS... HAPPY to answer your questions! But the answers are run thru my filter first.

  11. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by DLP View Post
    .. Starting at Whitney and going NOBO is also, obviously, "wrong".
    Just curious; I realize your post is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but why would anyone think going NOBO was "wrong"? Is there some sort of ethic here? I realize most like SOBO, but in fact, I much preferred when I did a NOBO, and when (not if) I do another JMT, it will definitely be NOBO. Ending in Yosemite was fantastic vs. fighting the Yosemite crowds and permit system at the start.


    Just for fun a couple nights ago I went online to get a NOBO permit and could easily get one for a mid-September start (even a few in very late August).

  12. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by colorado_rob View Post
    Just curious; I realize your post is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but why would anyone think going NOBO was "wrong"?
    Happy Isles is the START, not the finish. I also think that perhaps this is how John Muir did the trail... thus to walk in Muir's footsteps is to start at Happy Isles. Yeah... I'm pretty sure that is why SOBO is the "right" way to thru hike.

    Not a bit tongue-in-cheek... TOTALLY tongue-in-cheek.
    Last edited by DLP; 03-27-2015 at 16:19.

  13. #53
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    DLP, I've been told by someone that the JMT actually starts at the LeConte Memorial Lodge in Yosemite Valley. Apparently I am doing it all wrong?

  14. #54
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    NOBO is really the only way to go with the new permit system. Playing the fax lottery for a Happy Isles start holds no appeal.
    HST/JMT August 2016
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  15. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by Coffee View Post
    NOBO is really the only way to go with the new permit system. Playing the fax lottery for a Happy Isles start holds no appeal.
    No Sh! I just got my rejection email for HI.... Sept 11 start...looks like May be flip flopping...I would go nobo but coming from Fl don't want to chance he altitude...I'm already on a fairly tight time line....I'll give it 2 more tries....


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  16. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by imscotty View Post
    dlp, i've been told by someone that the jmt actually starts at the leconte memorial lodge in yosemite valley. Apparently i am doing it all wrong?
    rotflol!.....

  17. #57

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    Quote Originally Posted by DLP View Post
    Happy Isles is the START, not the finish. I also think that perhaps this is how John Muir did the trail... thus to walk in Muir's footsteps is to start at Happy Isles. Yeah... I'm pretty sure that is why SOBO is the "right" way to thru hike.

    Not a bit tongue-in-cheek... TOTALLY tongue-in-cheek.
    Muir never walked the trail route specifically. They made a trail. They named it after him.

    The panorama trail from GP is likelyt the the best trail in the park. Its a great way to start the JMT. Do the mist/jmt loop the day before if you are a purist.

    GP bus is great. But you wont start hiking till about 11 am that day.

    Hitchiking is illegal in national parks. Something to remember. Doesnt stop many.

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    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 03-29-2015 at 20:56.

  18. #58
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    Happy Isles is the start but what I did was start out of GP, it's a much better hike. The day before I started, I camp at the Valley BP CG I hiked from HI up to Nevada Falls where the GP & JMT trails meet just in case you didn't want to miss any of the JMT. The Shuttle up to GP is very fun & informative!
    As far as Lodging I stay in Mammoth Lakes & Priceline a room, it's a cool town with a free trolley system, great grub. You can take the trolley up to Mammoth Ski Lodge (which turns into an amazing mountain biking meca in the summer) & hike up the Minaret Vista @ 9300' to start acclimating + the have a great grocery store to Supply yourself for the 1st leg.

    http://www.mammothtrails.org/destina...minaret-vista/

    Have a Great Adventure!
    Take Time to Watch the Trees Dance with The Wind........Then Join In........

  19. #59
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    Camp in Wawona Camp ground, you can take the shuttle any where in the park and the spot is only 20 per night. If you have the membership it is 15 per night.

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