Also, he returned to us from the John Muir Trail, having hiked all 211 miles over 17 days. You’ll see from his photos why he may have considered staying there. The world looks a little different from 10,000 feet.

Proud of this kiddo.
Our 19-year-old son hiked the first section of the trail with his dad (about 62 miles in 6 days), and started on the second segment, but despite multiple means of prevention and treatment, was so plagued with painful blisters from his shoes and chafing from his pack, that he just couldn’t continue. And now he has a hitchhiking story to go with his hiking story!

Due to jumping a little late into the permitting process, my guys started their hike there inside the yellow circle near Red’s Meadow on July 9, and went north, finishing at Happy Isles in Yosemite on July 14, Tim’s 50th birthday. I wrote about that here.
On July 20th, I dropped them off near Red’s Meadow again, and they started heading south. Dane hitched a ride home on the 22nd, and Tim continued hiking for another week, summiting Mt. Whitney and completing the trail on July 31.
Next up for us: we’re heading back to Texas for about a month. We’ve got a Longhorn to get settled back in at UT, we’ve got some medical appointments to take care of, and we need to reconnect with family, friends, Tex-Mex and BBQ!
Webmentions
[…] in 2013, starting with a 3-month trip on the Pacific Crest Trail. He’s also done the entire John Muir Trail, parts of the Appalachian Trail, and a Grand Canyon down-n-up, among […]