Jessica Wicks (Female) & Matthew Velinder (Male) are submitting for the John Muir Trail (JMT) FKT in the category of Mix Gender Team Unsupported.
Background:
We followed the FKT guidelines for this unsupported attempt on a premier route. We emailed the FKT organization to make notice of our attempt and our intention to NOT make a public post or share a public tracker: 1) for safety reasons and 2) I was having issues logging into my account. As of 2024 this is stated as acceptable re: not making a public post with public tracker. Allison Mercer from the FKT organization replied to our email notice "sounds good-- keep me posted!!!". Allison further indicated to follow the provided FKT gpx file and/or the official JMT Association guidelines in case of closures or reroutes. She noted to be sure to include the Whitney Portal as the end point re: FKT's official route ends at the Whitney Portal (vs. at Mt. Whitney summit which is the traditional end to the John Muir Trail).
We also followed closely the FKT site's advice and instructions as it relates to not going off the official route particularly three main areas of noted confusion: Red’s Meadow, Tuolumne Meadows, and Yosemite Valley. We carried ALL supplies including food from start to finish. We didn't weigh our packs but estimated they were roughly 30-35lbs each. We used the MANY freshwater crossings to refill filtered water bottles. We received NO support in this attempt. This was a very challenging adventure-- much more challenging than we anticipated, especially with the heavy packs!
Trail Report:
We started at Yosemite Valley (Happy Isle Trail head) on Day 1 (June 27th) at 8:25AM PT. This was a beautiful section of the course including Nevada Falls. We made sure to follow the correct route re: Mist Trail warning on the FKT site. We were issued the permit to do Half Dome but chose not to add this to our route. The climb out of the valley was tough, especially with full packs so we did not make as much progress as we hoped on day 1. We setup a small camp end of day a little past 8:00PM PT which we rested longer than we probably should have until the next morning.
We started Day 2 (June 28th) at roughly 6:30AM PT. Another great section of the trail that went through Tuolumne Meadows, through Lyell Canyon, and over Donohue Pass. Took careful note of the warning to not go off route near Tuolumne Meadows. Beautiful view of the valley below towards the top of Donohue Pass. There were an INSANE number of mosquitoes. Thank goodness we brought mosquito face nets, and we were super clever in bringing a larger mosquito net that we could fully huddle under during lunch breaks and at night. There was some snow towards the top of Donohue Pass but made it to the top with no issues! We setup a small camp just down over from the pass at about mile 37. My watch was tracking longer mileage likely because of the pinging while sleeping the previous night but based on the physical map that's about where we think we landed. We were worried about our slow progress in the first two days as our original plan was to have reached 50-60 miles by end of day 2, but we stayed optimistic and focused on one mile and one day at a time, knowing our packs would become lighter over time making it easier to gain more ground each day.
We started Day 3 (June 29th) at roughly 4:30AM PT. The early start felt good and set us up for a great day passing through several lakes including the stunning Thousand Island Lake. We also made it through Devil's Postpile and Reds Meadow. We were careful to follow the 'don't go off route instructions' as indicated on the FKT site. We took a short day-time rest by the river which luckily had NO mosquitos-- it was a miracle! Felt good to get washed up before heading into the night. We continued on for only a few more hours. As it got dark, I started to deal with sleep deprivation which was hugely disappointing. I had to sleep so we stopped sooner than we expected but planned to make an earlier start to make up for the missed late evening miles.
We started Day 4 (June 30th) before sunrise.
Another really beautiful day that took us near Purple Lake and Lake Virginia. Nuumu Hu Hupi Lake was also a beautiful lake that was somewhat hidden near the top of the pass. We made it over Silver Pass which had some snow towards the top but very manageable to get through. Then we descended from Silver Pass into the valley past Quail Meadows and past the sign for the Lake Thomas Edison Ferry.
We started Day 5 (July 1st) at roughly 2:30AM PT.
It was a fun night hike/run through the terrain, and we were excited to reach Seldon Pass early morning which greeted us with a beautiful view. Mosquitos were in full force again this morning but good thing we had our nets! It was a very hot day and we thought we’d run out of water at one point which was concerning. However, we finally made it to a river crossing where we spent some time refilling water and cooling off. It was HOT! We reached Evolution Meadow which had a lot of flooding making it difficult to traverse and get to higher ground. We continued to ascend towards Muir Pass but as night fell, we started to get sleepy so setup a quick camp to rest for a few hours before starting back up early the next morning. OH, and just before camp we saw a set of what we thought were mountain lion eyes which was a little nerve racking!
We started Day 6 (July 2nd) at roughly 5:00AM PT.
We started out early morning to make it over Muir Pass. There was a really cool shelter at the top. The snow patches made the trail challenging to navigate but we made it through the pass. The ascent and descent was by far our favorite of the entire trip. The area was absolutely gorgeous with lush, alpine meadows. It was out of a picture book. Later in the day after we came down Muir Pass a storm began to build which had us a little nervous since we were pushing to have a 40-mile day. As we began our accent towards Mather Pass the storm began to worsen with lightning, thunder, and cold rain. Unfortunately, we had to make the decision to shelter just before Palisades Lake which cut our day short by 20 miles. We were super disheartened by this thinking our goal to summit Mt. Whitney by midnight on July 4th may no longer be possible. We made the right decision and got a plan together for the following day.
We started Day 7 (July 3rd) at roughly 3:00AM PT.
After waiting out the storm and trying to get clothes to dry we set off early morning to get over Mather Pass. It was very exposed further validated the right decision to wait until the storm passed before pushing over the pass. We would have been completed exposed and in a dangerous situation with hypothermia. We made it over Mather Pass and later over Pinochot Pass which was a wonderful section of the trail. We crossed the WOBBLY suspension bridge and continued on to make the push over Glen Pass. The lake area just below was beautiful and somewhere we’d like to spend more time at in the future. The sun set before we made the pass which left us traversing higher, exposed altitudes in the dark. There were snow patches which made the traverse challenging and not the safest in some areas. We made it over the pass and made the decision to setup camp just below the pass so we could recover, warm up, and prepare for a huge day tomorrow.
We started Day 8 (July 4th) early AM and ended up making a big push through the night and following morning to end on Day 9 at 5:21AM PT. This would end up being our longest day yet at roughly 47 miles. As we started Day 8 we headed down the remainder of Glen Pass before starting the ascent to Forester Pass. The accent up Forester Pass had more snow than we anticipated. There were several small snow melted lakes that were absolutely beautiful. We saw in the distance a hiker cold plunge naked into one of them! FREEZING! As we hit the top of the pass we were relieved but also knew we had a long last push down and then up to Mt. Whitney. It was 4th of July, and Matt’s birthday, so our goal was still to summit Mt. Whitney before midnight! It was a fairly easy shuffle down from Forester Pass. The terrain definitely became dryer and the heat intensified. We finally came up on Guitar Lake which was a huge base camp area for those planning to summit Mt Whitney the following day and/or had just completed their summit from earlier that day. We didn’t take a break and kept moving forward with the summit by midnight top of mind. We felt like all eyes were on us as we were the sole hikers/runners heading towards Whitney as the sun was setting! It was a steep but short climb up to the junction that we worked hard to reach just past sunset. Having reached the junction it was now time for the ~1.8 miles out to the summit and back. We were nervous to do this in the dark but we were prepared, capable, and weather conditions were great although slightly cold. There was actually a lot of snow we had to traverse which made things more challenging and having to make smart, safe steps on and along the route. Before we knew it we made it to the summit just after 11:00PM PT! We did a quick loop around the Smithsonian Institution Shelter before I surprised Matt with a freeze dried ice cream sandwich, “38” candles, and A “happy birthday to you…!”. A very short celebration before quickly getting out of there! We were so happy to make it to the summit just before midnight and so proud of ourselves! It was such a long, hard day (and week). It was now time to head back down to the junction and start the long walk to the Portal. We managed our way back to the junction and shortly after started the descent. We counted the 100 initial switch backs down. The trail was super sketchy at night as there was black ice on rocks and there had been rock slides that destroyed sections of the trail making it fairly unsafe to pass but we found a way. As we were coming down we could see headlamps coming up assuming for a sunrise summit. It felt like forever to get down to the Portal but we did it! WOW—what an adventure!