I've been counting down the days to JMT permit application day for the last several months, steadily watching the summer trailhead quotas fill up. Due to the popularity of hiking in Yosemite Valley and backcountry, the national park keeps very close tabs and tight quotas on the number of permits issued to backpackers. For the time that I have selected, mid-August thru mid-September - the "prime time" to go, for lack of bugs and better weather conditions (knocking wood) - the permits started going fast starting a couple weeks ago. Finally today was my day to apply - holding to the 24-week application term. I had my application in at 8am this morning and my first, second and third choices for trailhead entry were denied about 10 minutes later. Not discouraged, and having numerous backup plans, I quickly submitted a new application with alternate trailhead choices. About an hour later I received one of the best emails of the year - permit application accepted! I had to settle for a trailhead in the Tuolumne Meadows area, which will require a little backtracking for me to do the "complete" trail, from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley to the end point at Mt. Whitney, but the 29-day window I allowed for has some freedom to make adjustments. My entry date will be Aug. 10, and exit date Sept. 8. Now the planning goes into high gear! I'm still gearing up, testing new foods, and starting up a rigorous conditioning program in preparation. I'll continue posting updates as day 0 approaches...
In the meantime, I also just returned from Maui with over 1,000 new photos - which I'll be sorting and processing thru in the coming weeks - and 5 new GPS tracks that will be going to Backpacker.com. The next several Photos of the Week will likely be from The Valley Isle - Haleakala, Hana, the northwest and south coasts, and lots of humpback whales! Stay tuned...
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