Calipidder

Finally, an easy day! Today was the day when our plans diverted from the original itinerary. Our original plan was to go offtrail from Sapphire Lake and head over McGee Pass and into McGee Lakes. Solitude and fishing in a beautiful location was the goal, but the weather and effort to get over Lamarck had [...]

On Day 3 we awoke to cloudy skies, but fortunately it made for a wonderful sunrise over Darwin Bench and The Hermit. Our day included a lot of mileage, but less than two miles with a full pack on our back. After sunrise, breakfast, and packing up, we picked our way down the John Muir [...]

Over Labor Day weekend we took an incredible six day backpacking trip into one of my favorite regions of the John Muir Trail - Evolution Basin. A few things made this trip a bit more adventurous that a typical stroll down the trail. Our approach via the lesser-traveled Lamarck Col involved some interesting boulder hopping [...]

It’s Whitney Day! My watch alarm woke me at 4 am and remembering last night’s cold temperatures, I maneuvered myself to the door while staying inside my sleeping bag. I wanted to heat my breakfast and coffee water inside my vestibule and get as much packing done as possible while staying all warm and cozy [...]

Today started with a 6 am wake up call. Technically it looked like we had a big day in front of us - 10+ miles with almost 4000 feet of gain - but having done most of it before I knew that a lot of it was a pretty gentle and shaded climb. I was [...]