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February 26, 2014 / Comments (0)

John Muir Trail Update 1 (Got my permit!)

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Allison is the founder of trailtosummit.com which she began as a way to track and share her first round of the NH 4000 Footers. Now on round 5 (the first round for her dog Ruckus) she has been honored to have taken part of many people’s firsts. She is an experienced trail maintainer, speaker, and passionate member of the outdoor community. In New England, Allison enjoys trekking along the highest peaks, bushwhacking to less traveled areas, and has a fondness for sunrise and sunset trips. Outside of New England Allison has also thru hiked the John Muir Trail and explored mountains in the German and Austrian Alps, Israel, and the Azores. Her goal is to share her passion for hiking and backpacking with others, especially with women, to inspire them to experience the freedom of the trail!

I haven’t updated in a while so I figured I’d check in. I got my permit for a thru hike starting from Happy Isles! I sent my fax in through hellofax.com which was awesome! It took me a couple tries to get my permit timing right, but I ended up getting my first choice!

For a permit you must choose three trailhead start options. I decided on Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley to camp for choice one (On JMT the whole time, less mileage and altitude for day 1)

My second choice was to start at Glacier which is not starting on the John Muir Trail, but connects to it shortly. My third choice was to start at Happy Isles and camp past Little Yosemite Valley which would make for a more difficult first day for me as I’m not sure how I’ll handle altitude.

I am really excited to get my first choice. I did not get approved for a Half Dome permit, but I wasn’t stuck on getting it. As you can see from my permit, I gave myself a lot of extra time as I would like to hike it in 16 days but have a flexible schedule in case a 16 day plan ends up seeming like too much. So far, it looks wonderful!

I have recently been getting more gear for the trip as well as doing some more research. I am trying to go as lightweight as possible even with a 2 lb 9 oz bear canister. I will be posting some of my new gear as well as a whole spreadsheet once I have made a decision on most of my gear.

In the next few weeks I am also going to be trying out some recipes for the trail using my dehydrator and I’ll post the results!

In the meantime, I will continue to hike in the White Mountains and stay in hiking shape for the JMT.

Happy trails,

Allison

Last modified: November 28, 2014

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