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Category: Hike Reports
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Jim Warnock, our fellow club member and friend, once again gave us a great presentation of his recent trip as well as a book that he has recently written. Jim and 4 friends went out to California to do a marathon hike on the John Muir Trail in the high sierras.  The first hurdle was getting hiking permits that are on a lottery system with only a lucky few being successful.  These guys were savvy hikers so they knew what kind of equipment to bring including bear canisters to keep Yogi Bear and his cohorts from stealing their food!

 

They set out from Toulumne Meadows since that is where their permits indicated and then arrived at the the Lake Yosemite area and had a great view of Yosemite Valley as they trekked along.  They continued on to Lyell Valley and Donahue Pass with snowfields and erratic boulders here and there that tumbled haphazardly due to glacier movement.  Along the way they saw wild flowers, several of them lodged in rock crevices.

 After picking up supplies at one of their stops, they encountered hail followed by rain.  The good news was that after that they were treated to good weather.  Jim managed to cross the rushing water in Bear Creek without getting his camera wet! 

 When they reached Muir Trail Ranch, they must have thought they had reached the Promised Land because there were outdoor showers, a hot spring, tiny cabins to spend the night, and a somewhat primitive washing machine to stir their muddy clothes, put them through a wringer, and then hang them on a line.  Great Grandma would be proud of them.  They also resupplied.

 At this juncture, trouble struck.  His friend Nick got really sick, probably from undercooked food, and could not continue.  He did not want to leave his 2 sons on the trail, so they had to ride horses for 3 hours, then take a boat ride, a 3 hour van ride, and then take a 3 ½ hour ride to the airport.  Unfortunately, all their IDs were in a vehicle far away and they needed ID to buy tickets.  After negotiations with TSA over a loophole in the rules for unusual circumstances, they were finally able to fly home.  Remember, these guys only had backpacks and somewhat dirty and disreputable clothing!  Yours Truly may not have all the details quite right, but y’all get the drift!

 At this point Jim and his friend Bob soldiered on together but they met several interesting hikers on the trail and enjoyed visiting with them.  They hiked through Evolution Creek Valley and John Muir Wilderness Area.  Eventually they reached Muir Pass, at a mere 11,975 ft. altitude, and found the stone hut built sometime in the 30s.  After crossing Kearsarge Pass, they reached Onion Valley and went to the small town of Bishop where they had some great food.  They continued on to Forrester Pass, 12,200 ft., and felt like they were camping on the moon – rocky area with no vegetation.  Finally they reached Mt. Whitney, a real fourteener, at 14,494 ft!  Jim showed us a short slide show of all the gorgeous views, streams, lakes, mountains, and flowers.

Next Jim told us about the book he recently wrote, at the request of others, about hiking trails in Arkansas and Missouri.  It is called Five Star Trails - The Ozarks – 40 Spectacular Hikes in Arkansas and Missouri.  Book signings are coming up soon and more info can be found on Jim’s website:  OzarkMountainHiker.com.

 Thank you so much, Jim, for your interesting program.  If Yours Truly garbled things up, it’s because sometimes she can’t read her own writing, especially when writing in low light conditions!

 

 Our kickoff picnic for the 2016-2017 season is next Sunday at Devil’s Den.  Check it out at www.thcfs.com and please sign up if you plan to come!

 

Click on photos below to enlarge and then click arrows.

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