September 3, 2025
After finishing our five-day, 50-mile Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) / John Muir Trail (JMT) trek a few weeks earlier, we realized that we had just a few stages left to complete the entire 211-mile JMT. As soon as we returned home from our hike, I checked for permits and found two available for a date ten days in the future. So we washed clothes, cleaned up our gear, and drove again to the town of Mammoth Lakes.
Map of our trek – click an icon to learn more
A First Stage of Threatening Weather and Off Trail Conditions
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings — John Muir
After two nights of acclimatization, we boarded a mid-morning city bus to the Red Cones Trailhead to begin our trek. The weather forecast called for up to a half inch of rain, along with thunderstorms, in the early afternoon. So we quickly began hiking uphill from our starting point.
After about a mile we entered the Ansel Adams Wilderness. We ascended a little further before heading downhill toward Red’s Meadows Resort.
Hiking up the trail; Entering the Ansel Adams Wilderness
It was a delightful forest to hike through, with many beautiful trees.
Some views opened up ahead of us, and we saw a layer of smoke from the Garnet Fire burning southwest of us in the Sierra National Forest. While the fire was no threat to our location, the air quality was a potential issue.
We missed a turn and backtracked slightly to go in the right direction. However, this path soon became non-existent. Using Darren’s watch to stay close to the course, we managed to “choose our own adventure” by climbing down a steep dirt and scree slope with tricky footing and some downed trees. At the four-mile mark, we reached Red’s Meadow. Because the sky was darkening, we only took a 10 minute lunch break there.
We needed to hike another mile through Devils Postpile National Monument before reaching the combined PCT/ JMT path. The area is composed of thousands of basalt columns that formed when lava flow slowed and then cooled and cracked about 100,000 years ago.
Finally, we reached the PCT/JMT and started climbing. We began to hear thunder in the distance and stopped to get a weather update on our satellite device. The forecast was not encouraging, but we kept moving.
Soon after we came to a PCT/JMT split for the next 14 miles. When we hiked in this area in 2021, we turned east on the PCT, and traversed along a ridge, with expansive views of the Ritter Range. This time, our route on the JMT would take us through a series of lakes, with significant elevation changes between each one.
As we climbed to the first lake, the thunder continued, but never got close. But we decided to forgo any more breaks, except to occasionally drink some water.
It began to lightly rain with about four miles to go. We decided to stop a couple of miles sooner so that we could set up our camp in case it rained any harder.
The rain intensified as our ascent became steeper. After all the trail and weather challenges we had faced, I was feeling pretty tired, so slowed down behind Darren. Just as we reached Trinity Lake, the rain let up, allowing us to search for a campsite and end our stage at 9.1 miles. Fortunately it did not rain much more, and we could enjoy our dinner and view of the lake before retiring for the evening.
Hiking Through a Series of Scenic Alpine Lakes
After a good night’s sleep, we began our second day of trekking at a little before 8:00 am. Because we stopped earlier than expected during the previous stage, we planned to make up the distance and trek a total of 11.3 miles. It would be a day of continual elevation gain and loss as we hiked through a section featuring several alpine lakes.
This stage of the JMT was one that we greatly looked forward to, as we had seen some of the lakes from afar when we hiked along the parallel PCT ridge path four years ago.
Our hike began with a climb to Gladys Lake and Rosalie Lake, where we had planned to camp the night before.
There was another chance of rain and thunderstorms later in the day, so our hope was to get as far as we could before the weather got too bad. We still had some nice views of the Ritter Range as we hiked.
To arrive at Shadow Lake we needed to hike down 650 feet of switchbacks.
After navigating the switchbacks, we took a break on the edge of the lake.
At our break we could see the PCT ridge trail to the east of us. In 2021 when we had hiked the PCT in stormy conditions, we had a clear view of Shadow Lake from the path.
Looking east toward the PCT ridge trail from Shadow Lake; View in 2021 from the PCT back to Shadow Lake
We began some steep rocky climbing after our break. The beauty of the trees and trailside creek held our interest as we ascended toward Garnet Lake.
Beautiful views from the climb from Shadow Lake
We were even treated to a deer sighting!
Thunder began rumbling in the distance just as we reached the top of the long climb. There was a mixture of blue sky and dark clouds, so our hope was that the rain would hold off.
As we began our descent, we could see Garnet Lake in the distance. And we were encouraged by the blue sky in our direction.
But by the time we reached the lake’s edge, the weather began to turn for the worse. Nevertheless, we took a lunch break.
After about 15 minutes, we began to feel rain drops, so we cut the break short and started hiking again. The rain stopped as we began our ascent away from Garnet Lake. But there was occasional thunder, so we moved quickly to get down to lower ground.
Continuing to traverse rough terrain, we descended past Ruby Lake and Emerald Lake.
Passing Ruby Lake and Emerald Lake
By now we were tired due to the rocky trail, continual elevation gain, and lack of breaks because of the weather. Fortunately, we had just a few more miles to Thousand Island Lake, our destination for the day.
Since Thousand Island Lake is a popular overnight spot, it took some time to find a decent campsite. All the while we kept an eye on the ever-changing weather. We finally settled on a small site with some peek-a-boo lake views. The downside was that there were several piles of horse poop here and there from previous campers.
After getting the tent set up, we could finally relax. It never rained for the rest of the day, but we heard thunder off and on into the night.
Rejoining the PCT over Two Passes to the High Point of the Trek
Of all the mountain ranges I have climbed, I like the Sierra Nevada the best. — John Muir
It was a cold night, and when we woke up there was frost covering our tent. There was also some smoke in the sky, but the haze didn’t hamper our view of Thousand Island Lake and Banner Peak as we packed up.
We left a little earlier, as our 12.3-mile stage included a climb over the highest point of this trek – Donohue Pass at 11,070 feet. As soon as we left the lake we reached the intersection of the JMT and PCT. The two trails would now run concurrently again until we reached Tuolumne Meadows, about 21 miles away.
We began climbing right away to Island Pass (10,220 feet). Looking back, we had one more breathtaking view of Thousand Island Lake in the early morning sun.
After reaching Island Pass within the first two miles, we had a welcome downhill section toward Rush Creek. The smoke obscured our views, but we could barely smell it. At least there was no rain in the forecast for the day.
Once we arrived at beautiful Rush Creek, we took a long mid-morning break and enjoyed the peaceful sound of the rushing water.
From Rush Creek we began the four-mile climb to Donohue Pass. While we hiked, we continued to follow the creek for a time, with some nice waterfalls here and there.
Hiking along Rush Creek
Even though we were used to the altitude, it was still a slog for us on the steep and rugged trail. We decided to break up the distance to the pass by stopping for a five minute break after each mile.
As we climbed above the tree line and neared the pass, the views were still hazy from the smoke in the air.
Donohue Pass is on the boundary of Yosemite National Park, and we reached it just in time for a lunch break. Unfortunately, the views on the other side toward Lyell Canyon were also hazy.
The next mile of trail descended about 600 feet on a rough craggy path to the first water crossing of the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River. Since it was early afternoon and we only had about four miles to go, we just took our time on the path.
Four years ago, navigating the swollen Lyell Fork on submerged rocks was one of the most terrifying water crossings I had ever done. And I had been dreading it since we began this trek. This time, the water levels were more reasonable. Nevertheless, I chose to ford the calm creek, even though the water level came up to my knees.
With that difficult section over, we had a few more miles of rocky descent, mixed in with some dirt trail, before finally emerging into a meadow. At this point we began to look for a campsite. Soon we found a location with a nice view back toward Donohue Pass. A herd of park horses were out grazing and just added to the idyllic scene.
Resupplying and Saying Goodbye to the PCT
Our longest stage of this trek (14.3 miles) was broken up by a resupply stop and restaurant lunch break in Tuolumne Meadows. As we packed up we were treated to a sublime mist over the meadow.
After all the steep sections and rough trail during the first three stages, we enjoyed an almost flat dirt path as we made our way for about eight miles to Tuolumne Meadows.
View along Lyell Fork; Posing next to a mileage sign
Later, we saw a coyote just off the trail.
As we neared Tuolumne Meadows, we turned away from the PCT for the final time on this trek. Shortly thereafter, we cut through the campground to arrive at the Tuolumne Meadows Grill and adjacent post office.
While I unpacked our resupply box into the bear canisters, Darren ordered burgers with fries and some sparkling waters. There were other hikers also eating who we had seen over the past few days, and it was nice to have time for conversation as we ate.
After about an hour, we were ready to connect to a whole new JMT path and begin our final miles toward Yosemite Valley. We joined the JMT at the Soda Springs Trailhead and began to climb through a lovely forest. Our break and large lunch provided us with quite a bit of energy, and we had no issues with the steep ascent on the dirt path.
Our destination was Upper Cathedral Lake, about five miles away. As we trekked, we passed many day hikers, as this lake and Lower Cathedral Lake are both popular destinations. Because it was a Friday, we were a little nervous about campsite availability, so we wanted to arrive at the lake as soon as possible.
We also began to see trail signs showing the remaining distance to Yosemite Valley.
As we continued to the lake, we had nice views of the mountains on either side of us.
When we reached Upper Cathedral Lake at about 3:30 p.m. we were relieved that many sites were still available.
We chose a location on a rock slab with a nice view of the water. Even though more people arrived to camp later, they spread out at other locations around the lake.
A Special Animal Sighting as We Head Down Toward Half Dome
With only 10.4 miles scheduled for the next stage, we woke up at our normal time, but lingered at breakfast to enjoy the view of the mountains reflecting in Upper Cathedral Lake.
Right before we began hiking we saw a deer and her fawns by the lake’s edge.
Deer by the edge of the lake
Initially, we had a short climb to the top of Cathedral Pass (9,703 feet). We took a moment to celebrate, as this was the last pass of our trek.
From the top of the pass we began a walk through beautiful Long Meadow.
In all of our time hiking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, we had never seen a bear. Suddenly, to our astonishment, we spied one crossing the trail about 100 meters in front of us! We stopped and took some photos and videos as the bear continued to move away from us. After he was out of view, we kept walking, grateful for the opportunity to have such a special encounter in the wilderness.
Photos of our bear encounter from the trail
We hiked downhill from the pass and then began a very steep ascent to the last high spot of our trek. After this point we had about 6,000 feet of descent to Yosemite Valley!
Soon after we had a taste of the downhill to come with an extremely rugged section for the next mile. It was rocky, with tricky footing, and our pace slowed way down. Fortunately, the grade changed again and the trail conditions improved.
The path took us through another beautiful meadow. While it was still hazy, the smoke wasn’t as bad as the previous days. So we had some nice views as we trekked.
Near the end of the stage we walked through a burned area for about two miles. At this point we began to see views of Half Dome below us.
Our goal for the day was to camp just as the burned area ended and right before the day hiking intersection with Half Dome. This would place us a little less than seven miles from the JMT finish.
We arrived at that location at about 2:30 p.m. and headed off the trail to a ridge above Sunrise Creek. It was a wonderful spot with many camping choices and just a couple of other people. We also had a view of Half Dome through the trees.
With our camp located at 7,200 feet, it was by far the warmest afternoon of our trek. So we enjoyed sitting outside on a log and taking in the scenery.
Our final JMT campsite; Making dinner after enjoying the relaxing afternoon
A Long Descent to the JMT Finish
Even though we had less than seven miles left to complete the JMT, we decided to get a very early start on the stage. With all the downhill left to go to Yosemite Valley, we had heard that some sections were steep and slow-going. We would also be contending with many day hikers coming the opposite direction toward Half Dome and Nevada Fall. Since they would be hiking uphill, we needed to stop and yield to them, further slowing our progress.
We had a bus reservation at 3:15 pm to take us back to our car in Mammoth Lakes and wanted to allow plenty of time to finish our trek, eat lunch, and take the park shuttle to Yosemite Village to board our bus. So we woke up at 5:00 a.m. and left just as it was getting light to begin our final miles to Happy Isles.
Early morning Half Dome view; Sun peaking out among the trees
After less than a mile into our trek we reached the turnoff to Half Dome. As soon as we passed the intersection we began to see day hikers coming our way. In just a short time we probably passed over 100 people. We tried to be strategic about giving the uphill people coming toward us the right of way by staying on the outer part of the trail. That way we could keep moving.
The downhill grade was reasonable, so we quickly reached the top of Nevada Fall after about 3.5 miles of hiking.
Feeling that we were ahead of schedule, we enjoyed a nice break near the fall. A rugged downhill section would be next, and we also wanted to prepare ourselves for more day hikers coming up the path.
When we began hiking again we were pleasantly surprised at the condition of the trail. It was steep, but a cable on the side assisted with our footing. And after all the rough sections we had hiked through over the past five days, it turned out to be nothing worse than we had already done.
Realizing that we would arrive at Happy Isles with time to spare, we turned our attention to the beautiful scene as we continued to descend.
The path transitioned from rocks to dirt as we continued down endless switchbacks. The only thing that slowed us down were the day hikers who came toward us. Because the trail was narrower here, we needed to continually stop and yield to them.
At the intersection of our path and the Mist Trail it became even more crowded. We stopped to use a real bathroom and filled a water bottle for our final mile of hiking.
Filling up our water bottle; Posing at a sign with just a mile to go
The last mile was the slowest of the day as we moved through the crowds. At last we finally reached the end of the JMT!
We had plenty of time to eat a leisurely lunch in Curry Village before boarding the bus. By 7:00 pm we were back in Mammoth Lakes, where we picked up our car and stayed a final night at a hotel.
Completing the John Muir Trail over these six stages and 64 miles was a fitting finale to our 2025 trekking year.
Top Row: Stage 1: Trinity Lake; Stage 2: Lunch Break at Garnet Lake
Middle Row: Stage 3: Camping in Lyell Canyon; Stage 4: View from Upper Cathedral Lake
Bottom Row: Stage 5: Looking back from near Cathedral Pass; Stage 6: Trekking toward Yosemite Valley
We made a short video summarizing our trek and highlighting the scenery and wildlife we encountered while on the trail: