No ordinary walk in the park

JMT 1: seven days on the John Muir Trail

Looking west from the John Muir Trail, north of Thousand Island Lake.

From the snowfields of British Columbia to the desert of Moab, we've had more than our share of truly memorable walks in the last couple years. And for David there have even been a handful of very memorable single-day strolls in the 25-35 mile range. (Yes, this is all to be fully explained in future dispatches). But this -- 81.5 miles of the John Muir Trail -- was The Walk.

The seven-day trek along the spine of the Sierra Nevada covered most of the north half of the JMT, between Tuolumne Meadows and Mono Creek. (For those of you keeping score at home, the mileage includes the exit lateral up Mono Creek and out over Mono Pass to the east.)

We were a foursome for this fearsome task. David and Susan were joined by Zach and Erik. Each of the four brought something vital to the team. And not a day went by that we didn't lean on each other (literally and otherwise). We'll remember this trip for a lot of laughter -- credit Zach for that.