The JMT – A Series – An Unexpected Adventure

January 14, 2019

JMT 2018 Thru-Hike. Somewhere in LeConte Canyon after the Golden Staircase

Welcome to my new series, a collection of stories about my fortuitous 2018 John Muir Trail thru-hike. These are stories of adventure, misfortune, friendship, perseverance, and sheer darn luck.

In 2017 my husband and I had an experience on the John Muir Trail (JMT) that will be forever ingrained into our cores and has served as a lesson for future adventures. We learned a great deal about ourselves, our capabilities, and a lot about the fact that no matter how much you plan, things will sometimes never go as you expected.

This year, we returned to the JMT with the attitude that we would just do what we could and planned to complete the section that we weren’t able to finish the previous year. We encountered wildfires that threatened to cut our hike short again, requiring us to rearrange our plans, but in the end, I actually ended up unexpectedly completing a thru-hike. Yes, the trail has a way of throwing your plans right out the window!

These events have changed my life irrevocably. I’ve learned not to set my expectations so high that I will always encounter failure, I’ve learned that I can do a lot more than I give myself credit for, and I’ve obtained the mental grit to take every obstacle one step at a time, rather than look at it as one immense ordeal to be overcome.

I’m approaching writing about this past year (2018) on the JMT differently. I’ll be writing a series of anecdotes that will hopefully transport you back in time to walk with me on the trail and share in one of the most gratifying experiences of my life. I invite you to join me, and I hope you will enjoy the adventure.


Additional Reading from our 2017 hike:

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