Hiking the JMT has been on my Bucket List for awhile. I decided to cross it off the list this summer. :)
I did not have a reserved permit, but I was able to get a walk-up permit fairly easily. I thought I would have to camp out for a few days and stand in line at the Yosemite Wilderness Center, but that wasn't necessary. I was shocked to get a pass-thru permit from Happy Isles to Whitney Zone at 4:30pm. I was elated to get on the JMT, but it made my first day rough given such a late departure time.
My GPX file is mostly intact, but the first 5 miles are missing since I forgot to turn on my GPX that first day. Also, I lost approximately 9 miles of data when my GPS unit failed to save the file correctly. I was not happy about that since it included the part going over Forrester Pass... :(
In any case, although the official JMT trail is only 211 miles long, I hiked an additional 50 miles or so in side trips to Upper and Lower Cathedral Lakes, Lembert Dome, and from the summit of Mt. Whitney down to Whitney Portal.
The JMT was a challenging hike that took me 19 days. Going over the various mountain passes was strenuous and hard on the feet. However, the scenery was absolutely spectacular. It is rightly considered the most beautiful trail in the country (and perhaps the world). I highly recommend it!
