John Muir Trail

Walking the John Muir Trail northbound from Whitney Portal to Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley flips the standard southbound permit math — Inyo National Forest permits for Whitney Portal exits are easier to draw than Yosemite Wilderness permits for Happy Isles starts, where the daily-quota system fills 24 weeks ahead during July and August. The trail itself spans 211 miles through three NPS units (Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia) and two National Forests (Sierra, Inyo), crossing 11 passes over 11,000 feet of elevation including Forester Pass at 13,118 ft — the highest point on the Pacific Crest Trail's official route, which the JMT shares for 165 of its 211 miles before splitting at the southern junction.

The resupply window is the actual planning anchor. Muir Trail Ranch (privately operated under USFS special-use permit at mile 87 northbound from Whitney) accepts hiker resupply buckets shipped via UPS or USPS six weeks ahead, charges per-bucket pickup fees, and holds buckets in their barn until the hiker walks in. Vermilion Valley Resort on Lake Edison (also USFS-permitted) runs a parallel bucket service plus a hiker ferry across the lake that cuts 5 miles off the JMT walk. Reds Meadow Resort near Devils Postpile National Monument (mile 60ish) is the most-northern resupply where USPS general delivery still works. Tuolumne Meadows Post Office (mile 175ish) is the last resupply before Yosemite Valley — open mid-June through September matching the road season.

The southern Whitney Portal trailhead lot (60 spaces, an oversize-vehicle section at the lower overflow lot accepts RVs up to 30 ft for day-use only, no overnight rig parking allowed at the upper lot per USFS Inyo NF posted rules) is the only end that accepts RVs up to 30 ft. Whitney Portal Campground a quarter-mile below the trailhead holds 43 dry sites with 35-ft max length on a recreation.gov reservation system that opens 6 months ahead. The northern Happy Isles trailhead in Yosemite Valley has zero direct vehicle parking — every hiker either takes the Valley shuttle or walks from Upper Pines Campground (40-ft cap, dry, year-round but reservable on recreation.gov). Tuolumne Meadows Campground (35-ft cap, dry only, open mid-June through September weather dependent) is the intermediate basecamp for hikers planning northbound exits from Donohue Pass — the trail enters Yosemite from the south here.

Permit math: Yosemite issues 60 percent of JMT permits to northbound hikers via the donohue exit-quota lottery that opens 24 weeks ahead and books for the same calendar day each year (July 21 permits book on February 2, etc). Southbound starts from Yosemite require a Half Dome cable permit if the hiker plans the cables (50 of the JMT's 211 miles are between Happy Isles and the Half Dome trail junction). Northbound starts from Whitney Portal pull an Inyo NF Mt Whitney Zone permit, which is its own separate annual lottery filing in February. The dual-permit complexity is the reason most JMT hikers hire a permit-strategy consultant or accept a 1-2 year wait for the dates they want.

Pass-by-pass snow conditions through July dictate whether the trail is hikeable in trail runners or requires mountaineering crampons — Forester Pass north face holds snow into August in heavy years; Mather Pass (12,100 ft) and Pinchot Pass (12,130 ft) are the next-most-likely to require ice-axe technique through mid-July. Stream crossings at Bear Creek, Evolution Creek, and the South Fork San Joaquin become impassable during peak melt in mid-June heavy-snow years.