I am pumped. I got the wife buyoff on a JMT thru hike in Aug 2011. I know its early, but I have been working on her for awhile now (I will be gone for our 10 year anniv...ouch) and officially got my days off of work.

I am shooting to do it in 17 days, north to south. My question is this. I am coming from Seattle. Planning on flying in and out of SF (I think thats the best??). Is 21 total days enough to land, get my butt to the trailhead and back to SF to fly out?

I am most curious about the transportation on the end leg.

Cheers!

Why not fly to Merced and then take YARTS? Even Oakland would be less expensive than SF.

Hey Kris, I would think 21 days is maybe too many but better safe then sorry... I did it 14 days w/ 2 zero nights at VVR...You could get from SF to to Yosemite in about 8 hours give or take a stop or two..I also intend to do the JMT in Aug. 2011...I know this is a long time out but I live in the East Bay--its a 5 hour drive from my house to Yosemite.. I have another friend doing it also. Stay in touch and maybe we can work out some driving for ya.. BART (subway) is very convenient in the East Bay...
Fly into Oakland (BART)

Edited by Creachen on 07/11/2010 21:43:51 MDT.

Jay, thanks! I will keep in touch as time goes on. Waiting for a full year is going to be tough for me. I am jealous you are a 5 hour drive to the park!

I have time, but I wanna get the wheels turning. Perhpas 17 days on the trial is too many. I want to somewhat take my time, planning on a night at VVR. I thought 17 was in the ballpark.

Kris -

Great to have the luxury of time on the trail!

Time is a luxury few people have anymore. You could use a day or two to help acclimate to the elevation. I can think of many places along the trail where it would have been nice to take an off-day and relax. This is an opportunity to be savored and while I have a lot of respect for the speed and stamina of many hikers, there is no shame taking your time to finish this trail.

I am envious!

Dirk

+1 Ken's suggestion of flying to Merced and then taking YARTS. (SFO is heinous. Never use it if you can avoid it.) If you like, you can get off YARTS in Mariposa, have dinner, and spend the night in a motel before heading to the valley on YARTS the next morning. Using YARTS also has the advantage that you don't contribute to the desecration of YV with private cars and parking lots. They have serious smog problems in YV in the summer.

I'm assuming you'll be buying the Wilderness Press guidebook by Wenk. She has good info on transportation to the trailhead. One thing that is somewhat out of date in the 4th edition is the description of public transportation to and from Lone Pine. There is now an ESTA bus that runs MWF. Going south, it can take you to Lancaster, from which you can make a commuter train connection to pretty much anywhere in LA.

You might want to consider flying in, but taking a Greyhound home. That way you don't have to compromise between imposing a death-march schedule on yourself and spending many days sitting around in a motel in Lone Pine. You exit when you exit.

You could be car free by going into Reno. There is a bus that runs from Reno down into the Owens Valley (eastern sierra transport authority). Take it to Lee Vining or Mammoth. There is another bus that can get you down to Yosemite Valley. You may have to spend the night in Mammoth, check the schedule.

The nice thing is that when you are down at Whitney you can hitch a ride down to Lone Pine and take the bus back up the valley to Reno.

If you rent a car then you will still have to go through headaches like I described to get between the trailheads. When I did the JMT two years ago we did a combo or bus and hitch to get us between whitney and Yosemite. Last year for the High Sierra Route I did the bus out of Reno on the return and found it hassle free.

http://easternsierratransitauthority.com/wb/
http://www.yarts.com/schedule/2010/120hwy030310.pdf

Edited by gg-man on 07/12/2010 08:57:38 MDT.

GG,

I too will be doing the JMT Aug 2011. I'll see you on the trail. I have a 21 day intenerary planned. Taking my time and enjoying it. One year to go! Can't wait.

on southwest you could fly into oakland and out of reno and get the best of all worlds.

I would guess that flying into Merced would be much more money that flying into Oakland and taking amtrak to merced.

Yeah the cost in to Merced is A LOT more. I am thinking I may fly in to Oakland, Amtrak to Merced and YARTS from Merced to the park, and then fly out of Fresno. Just need to get myself from Lone Pine to Fresno.

Another thought it flying out of Bakersfield. On the map at least, Bakersfield seems the closest spot from Lone Pine.

Man I love the planning part, this is half the fun!

i think flying out of Reno would be easiest and cheapest.

You could hike from Whitney to Roads end in SEKI and then make arrangements to get to Fresno. I got a ride on Craigs list for the ride at $100.

Garry, Reno makes sense. Question is, how do I get to Reno from Lone Pine? Is there a shuttle that anyone knows of?

http://easternsierratransitauthority.com/wb/media/CREST%20map%2010.09.pdf

Justin, thanks. That is awesome!

Kris,

I'm leaving in two weeks on the 24th from Portland. Here's what I've worked out:

I fly to Reno and arrive around noon. The ESTA bus from Reno leaves a little before 2:00pm and arrives in Lee Vining around 5:00pm. You have to spend the night in Lee Vining b/c the only YARTS bus into Tuolumne Meadows and Yosemite Valley leaves around 9:00am.

When I get to Whitney Portal, I'll hitch a ride to Lone Pine and take the ESTA bus back to Reno, which leaves around 7:00am (or earlier).

My return flight actually goes to SeaTac before I catch a flight to PDX.

When I get back, I'll gladly fill you in on what worked and what didn't for me.

Thanks Steven. Have a great trip and I look forward to hearing how your logistics worked out.

I am pretty 100% I will fly out of Reno. Just not sure if I fly as well.

"When I get to Whitney Portal, I'll hitch a ride to Lone Pine..."

That is not a difficult thing to do. In civilized/urban areas, I never pick up hitchhikers. However, leaving a mountain trailhead is a little different, and I have been known to pick up a rider or two leaving Whitney Portal. I'll be making that trip in a few weeks.

--B.G.--

Thanks for the information Bob. I have been hesitating to call it "hitching" b/c my wife and family don't like the sound of that. I have read that it is not a difficult thing to get a ride to Lone Pine and that most folks at Whitney Portal are climbers and hikers -- much different than asking for a ride in a city.