This was excellent, thank you for sharing your awesome journey! My partner and I are hiking the JMT this June/July so I've been watching every video I can find for info, inspiration, and out of sheer excitement :). Thanks again!
I've watched this movie a couple of times now and I don't get tired of it. The scenery is beautiful and the editing is great. I'll definitely try to hike the John Muir trail sometime in the future. My feet itch to get out there when I see films like this one.
Holbrook House Films: I have been hiking trails in the Northeast (where I live) for many years and often watch videos on RU-vid of other peoples' experiences. Your video perfectly captures the joy and comradery of having good friends that share the same passion for the outdoors. It is so well produced and edited with the perfect soundtrack that I would have paid money at the theatre to see it. Take care...Greg
Loved it! Great editing job. Would have loved to have been on that trip. Happy Trails. "There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more." ~ Lord Byron
God this honestly makes me so jealous. Beautiful. I couldn't think of a greater thing than getting away from daily life and living in nature for almost a month! Its amazing. Wish I can do this someday with my friends.
Hey man, thanks for the vid. So great and enjoyed it much. I loved my Whitney experience so great to hear of others and their experiences as well. I'm new to the community and looking forward to seeing more of your stuff. Nicely done.
Excellent video. Entertaining, and informative as well. My son and I are just starting to backpack, and this is inspirational. Thanks for sharing your adventure!
Oh my God! I love this video! Lots of fun and enthusiasms . This video is filled with beautiful scenes of the amazing landscape you guys are in! I'm truly jealous but thankful you guys shared this! Man, keep it up!
This was a super well made video! Brought back some special memories from the Yosemite portion for me...thanks for putting this together, it was inspiring!
Fantastic! Planning JMT hike 2019. Pulling down all posts I can find to study them. Excellent work. WHITNEY at sunrise, did that 9.21.18 up and down in a day from the portal. What a thrill. Also everyone under estimate that late 1.9 miles across the ridge to the summit. One huge boulder scramble the whole way. Nobody films much during that stretch! Great job, great video, Congratukations!!!
Awesome video. One of the best I've seen by my standards! Did 50 miles on the JMT in 1966 as a Boy Scout. Doing the Laugavegur Trail in Iceland next month! Great soundtrack too.
(0:29 - 1:21) Going to California - John Craigie (2:35 - 3:14) In Ear Park - Department of Eagles (4:13 - 4:48) Down From Above - Vetiver (5:54 - 6:21) The Mall & Misery - Broken Bells (7:34 - 8:52) 40 Day Dream - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (9:55 - 11:13) Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap (13:00 - 14:21) The Cascades - Fleet Foxes (15:01 - 18:10) Black Crow - Angus and Julia Stone (19:10 - 22:25) All My Days - Alexi Murdoch (23:14 - 24:31) Wide Eyes - Local Natives (25:46 - 26:43) Storm - Jose Gonzalez (27:49 - 28:34) River Love - Angus Stone (28:40 - 33:38) This Life - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (33:39 - 36:40) Girls Just Want to Have Fun - StrFkr
Excellent video. Highly informative and visually stunning. What's the song at 15:00? In fact, could you give us the entire soundtrack list? I'm loving all the new sounds.
11:49 You can tell it's day 7 by the way he talks hahaha "...idk some valley canyon thing..." translation: I just know we're somewhere on the trail and headed in the right direction.
Beautiful, thanks for sharing. I do, however, feel compelled to speak up for the plant communities that are getting damaged by hikers that continue to disregard the portion of the permit that stipulates no tents on plants.
Thanks for the feedback! I know that as a group, our back country skills are still evolving and we have made and are making some changes in our LNT practices. I think a lot of people use these videos as research tools when planning their own thru hikes so it's important to note the positive and negative aspects of everyone's documented experience. Cheers!
+Serge Killingsworth You've got to be shitting me? Yosemite is 761,600 sq acres and youre worried about a few spots the size of a tent footprint? Incredible.
+dmb3305 "Few" tent spots? You do know they aren't the only people that have hiked the JMT, right? When a couple people do it, more people follow. Then you have an issue. Sounds like you need to calm your nerves. Get outside and see some mountains soon
+dmb3305 You have to see it for yourself. There are areas along the JMT that have been abused to the point that the NPS/Dept. of the Interior has had to close them off to camping. As Cory points out below, there are a lot more people out there than you would think, and one tent, for one night, on one vegetated spot can sometimes be enough to kill off that spot. Some areas really do not have many places suitable for tents, but nonetheless the best policy is to always look for a spot with exposed mineral soil for the tent. It might take a few more minutes to locate, but it is what ALL really experienced backcountry users do. And on the plus side, your tent will stay cleaner, drier and lighter (vegetation breathes moisture).
some advice dont move the camera so quickly. and turn on you anti shake mode. also you tube has an anti shake option. Nice adventure looks fun. Ill be on that trail in 2017. Happy trails
This video is amazing, I can't wait to do the trail one day. Hopefully I can bring along some good company like you had. But when did you start your trek??? And if you were to do it again, would you start sooner or later??
+Quasi Frizky We left Yosemite Valley June 13th. I think the best start date will always be dependent on how much snow has fallen during the previous winter and spring. The Sierras received very little snowfall during the 2013-2014 winter, so we decided to start early to ensure that there would be enough water (snow melt) during our hike (keep in mind that while peak snow melt means plenty of water it also means plenty of mosquitoes, so you have to choose your battles). Starting early June also means less crowding on the trail, and you get to meet some cool northbound PCT thru-hikers, as they tend to hit the Sierra section around that time. If I were heading to the JMT this year, I'd probably start at least a month later because the passes are packed with considerably more snow now than in 2014. Thanks for watching!
+Holbrook House Films *and* you're assuming, based on my comment, that I disliked the video, which is also not true. I am hiking the JMT next year myself, although I'll be walking Northbound to Yosemite from the Portal, perhaps up the North Fork then over Russel Col most likely through the Wallace Creek drainage to join the JMT north of the crowded Whitney region. Having climbed Whitney four times already, twice by the East Face Route, it no longer holds the appeal it once had. Nice music in your video ... thanks for taking the time to compile a pleasant record of your trip.
Where are you guys from? Did you feel unprepared for the high altitude? I'm from an area with an elevation not going much higher than 1300 feet, but want to hike the JMT. However, I'm a little afraid of altitude sickness.
At the time the whole group was living in Phoenix Arizona, which is right around 1,000'. We did have access to lots of mountains in AZ for altitude experience, but if you're hiking the JMT north to south, altitude sickness shouldn't be much of an issue because you'll be climbing gradually the whole time. By the time you hit the really big passes (11K+) you should be well acclimated. If you are really nervous about altitude sickness you could always spend a couple days sightseeing in Yosemite valley (4,000') before starting the JMT.
The begs way to acclimate is to hike high and sleep low ... if time permits, a week of day hiking up into timberline country and sleeping low back in the valley will help, though I must tell you even the most acclimated hikers can get ALS at any time. Best advice is to always stay hydrated as well ... i.e., drink when you're not thirsty. Best to you.
+Rock Slide Thank you! Most of the video was shot on my cell phone, a Samsung Galaxy S5. We also used a GoPro, a canon 60d, and some sort of Fuji point and shoot for certain shots as well.
RU-vid has a feature that allows you to lookup restrictions on songs you might want to use. Basically, I can't monetize my channel while I have copyrighted music in my stuff, but I made sure to pick songs that wouldn't get my videos muted.
+Holbrook House Films In normal years, this trail would be unhikeable without snow gear at that time, but because of the very low snow fall in 2013-2014, it clearly seems not to be a problem. I point this out in case other try to do the same at the same time of this or other years. I would guess something like mid July for Donohue Pass to be anywhere near this clear for 2016, assuming snow rate stay the same.
Thanks! I use a Goalzero solar panel to charge most electronics on the trail. My buddy Jon had a dslr with him, but he mostly just shot still images so he was able to get by with just a couple extra batteries and the occasional opportunity to use a wall charger (Red's Meadow, Muir Trail Ranch and Vermilion Valley Resort)
In 2014 it was pretty easy. We went in mid June, which is earlier than most JMT thru hikers so the permit demand was lower. Also, I made sure to fax our permit request exactly 168 days before our trip date and I woke up early and sent the fax first thing in the morning so it would be waiting on the machine when the permit office opened. That was 2014, though, and I've heard it's more difficult to get a permit now because they have set a limit on how many people can exit Yosemite via Donahue pass per day.
