Six friends. 170 miles. Charged a bear. Avoided the plague. Pushed physical limitations. Experienced my first blister within a blister. Saw some of the most gorgeous wilderness in the world.

We set out to tackle 220 miles of the John Muir Trail, which was unfortunately cut short due to the Rough Fire.

Thank you Sarah for all of your hard work figuring out logistics for the trip, as well as this itinerary below. I’m stealing it from you until I can write a breakdown for all these images. I hope you enjoy these photos, although they will never do the real deal justice.

Itinerary (8/7/15 – 8/20/15):
0 – Yosemite backpackers campground
1 – 10.1 miles / 6.1 miles total JMT – Happy Isles Trailhead to Clouds Rest Junction, Half Dome side trip
2 – 11.6 miles / 17.7 miles total JMT – to Lower Cathedral Lake
3 – 14.6 miles / 32.3 miles total JMT – to Lyell Canyon, Tuolumne side trip
4 – 13.1 miles / 45.4 miles total JMT – to Garnet Lake
5 – 13.8 miles / 59.2 miles total JMT – to Red’s Meadow, Devil’s Postpile side trip 
6 – 13.5 miles / 72.7 miles total JMT – to Purple Lake
7 – 15.3 miles / 88.0 miles total JMT – to Lake Edison Junction
8 – 3 miles / 88.0 miles total JMT – to Vermilion Valley Resort rest day!!
9 – 12.7 miles / 110.7 miles total JMT – to Marie Lake
10 – 14.3 miles / 115.0 miles total JMT – to San Joaquin River, Muir Trail Ranch side trip
11 – 11.8 miles / 126.8 miles total JMT – to Wanda Lake
12 – 13.1 miles / 136.9 miles total JMT – to Bishop Pass Junction to Dusy Basin (exit JMT)
13 – 9 miles / 136.9 miles total JMT – to exit Bishop Pass (no JMT miles)

Approximate daily mileage / total JMT-only mileage