(Written by Bill)
I promised to put out a blog about my two sons, Paul and Christian, hiking the John Muir Trail in under 7 days, so here it is.
Back in September 2010, my two son’s, two of my grandson’s, and I hiked the John Muir Trail (JMT). We hiked 211 miles in 16 days loving every minute on the trail. You can read about it here – JMT 2010.
Well, Paul and Christian decided to do it again in 2013 but this time they planned to do it in less then 7 days. I can tell you that there was a lot of preparation for this trip, especially physical conditioning.
They were up and on the trail every morning by 4:30am (dark) and hiked well into the evening (dark) and averaged just over 32 miles/day. I am not going to give you a lot of dialog about this trip because you can click here JMT 2013 and go through the photo’s and videos of their epic journey. Have fun watching!
Two “Hard Core” men.
Below are just a few of the photo’s from their journey as teasers. You have to go here to see the rest JMT 2013
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- 4:00am at Happy Aisle in Yosemite
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- Ruby Lake
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- Virginia Lake
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- Muir Trail Ranch (MTR)
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- Muir Pass Hut
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- On top of Glen Pass looking back toward Rae Lakes
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- Last day at 6:35am at the top of Forester Pass
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- At the top of Mt Whitney, end of the trail 6 days, 13 hrs, 18 mins, 11 sec since starting. But there are still 11 miles left to get down to Whitney Portal.
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- Just past midnight arriving at Whitney Portal with Dad anxiously waiting
Hope you enjoy…
MOTION Photography 
I guess most of these photos were taken by your sons – the one with the other worldly rays in the background is spectacular.
Womanseyeview,
Yes, my sons took these photo’s (good observation). Sometimes holding the camera (self portrait) and sometimes setting it on a rock or tree stump. Since they were traveling light, they used a small point & shot camera. Not the best quality, but good memories just the same. Thanks for your comment. bill
They may have been using a point-and-shoot, but they got some great photos! Thanks for posting!
And what an impressive achievement!
The JMT is one of the best hikes in the world (my opinion). I believe one should take their time and enjoy nature at it’s best, but my two son’s set a goal and once they did there was no stopping them. I couldn’t be prouder! Even though a large amount of their hike was in the dark, they still managed to get some pretty good photos. Thanks so much for your wonderful comments! bill
Some absolutely beautiful shots. I loved the videos. So proud of my nephews. Way to go!!!
It truly is an amazing accomplishment! Love it when family chimes in, thanks!! me
Wow, I have enough trouble with hikes over 4 hours during daylight. You are so right – ‘amazing accomplishment”.
Thanks for the feedback Ingrid. Whew, is all I can add. bill
You are so right, WAY hard core! A miracle they had time to take photos. 🙂 Very cool.
It’s especially great to hear from you because I know you fully understand the difficulty in doing the JMT in sub 7 days. Thanks for stopping by and giving us your feedback.
I really enjoyed following you on the CDT. You have some wonderful exeriences and memories from parts of this world that only a small percentage of humans ever see! Keep up the hiking, as I know you will, and keep us updated. Love reading about your adventures. bill