I am planning a hike of the JMT this summer starting in Yosemite. Scheduling is going to force me to do it in 2 separate trips so I need to get off the trail near halfway. Does anyone know of a good way to get a ride out of either the Lake Edison(Vermillion Valey Resort) or Florence Lake(Muir Trail Ranch) areas? It sounds like the road to both is pretty hairy and trying to find a ride could be tough.
I am on the East Coast so there will be an airport/flight schedule involved also. I MIGHT be able to do it without a rental car...
Any thoughts(or offers for a ride!?!?) would be appreciated. Thanks!!

You will probably have much better luck entering/exiting on the East side of the Sierra. Either Bishop Pass or Piute Pass will get you to busy trailheads where you will have no problem hitching a ride to Bishop (or worse case hiring one of the hiker shuttles).

From Bishop you can get to either end of the JMT using InyoMono Transit (http://www.countyofinyo.org/transit/transit.htm) and/or YARTS (http://www.yarts.com).

The trailheads on the West side (especially the ones further south at Florence/Edison lakes) are via long twisty roads and far from any towns.

When's your trip? I am driving to the Sierra quite often and being on the hook to give somebody a ride would provide a good excuse for going. I'd be happy to do it so long as it fit into my schedule.

It will probably be the 3rd week of July(not sure of the dates yet). If that would work with your schedule I would LOVE to take you up on the offer!! My wife has some family out there that I may be able to arrange a ride from an airport(probably Sacramento) to Yosemite with. Thanks for the info anyway though!

Sorry; I've been busy and haven't got back to visit this forum .

I don't have other plans for mid-July. Let me know when your dates are set and you know where you're going from and to. I'm in SJ but Sacramento isn't too far out of the way.

Its looking like snowpack won't be an issue for mid-July this year.

Sweet! I will definitely get back on that, should I get your email address?