John Muir Trail Journal Day16

I did 211 mile (340 km) John Muir Trail thru-hike in July, 2014, by myself.

JMT hike is memorable and life-time accomplishment.
Every night during JMT, I wrote journal. I will share them.

Although I have officially finished JMT yesterday, I would say today was the most adventurous day. It was the most dramatic weather I have ever experienced.

At 5:30 a.m., the time I always got up during the JMT trip, I was woken up by the sound of thunder. Because thunderstorms don't usually last so long, I decided to wait for it to stop in my tent. In a half an hour, it actually stopped, I ate breakfast and folded up the tent. I packed up everything and I was about to hike down to the trailhead. However then, I heard the thunder again. Then in a moment the sky was full of dark grey clouds. In a minute, it started raining and even hailing. I sat under a big rock, and put my backpack under another rock to protect it from getting soaked.

Trail Camp

Famous Pancake

I was under a rock to avoid the thunderstorm, but it started hailing in addition to the thunderstorm. Furthermore, it was getting windy. I got wet even though I was under the rock. I thought I would definitely be soaked anyway, so I decided to go down.

I was under the switchback to the summit. Surprisingly, I saw about 100 hikers descending the switchback at a very fast pace. It is very dangerous at high altitude without trees. They were in a rush. It made me feel upset.

Anyway I started to descend. However, the trail was already full of water from the hailstorm. The trail was like a small stream. Actually within a few minutes, the scenery was all white like winter due to the hail. I was very cold and got frostbite, so it was hard to put my backpack on the back.

Because of this weather, the last 6 miles were most adventurous. However, it made the trip more memorable and the pancake I ate at the trailhead more tasty.
Just after the first thunderstorm stopped.