On Planning and the Great Outdoors

The Outdoors and Me

I am, and always have been, an avid hiker and lover of everything outdoors. It really doesn't matter what, exactly -- hiking, climbing, fishing, kayaking, gardening, etc. If it's outdoors, I love it. Something about being away from our built-up, human world has always scratched some sort of primordial itch deep within me. Somehow, being surrounded by the wilderness brings me a deep state of inner peace that I simply don't get in my day-to-day life.

And it's not like it's just being away from my responsibilities. I've experienced this going as far back as I can remember and nothing changes it. It just somehow feels right to be in "the wilderness". Especially if I'm just putting one foot in front of the other, but more on that later. It's not like I have a deep longing to be away from people: I'm introverted, but I'm not some sort of Edward Abbey type that can't stand people. Even being in more urban "wilderness" areas awash with hordes of other people still feels better than being in the built-up, human world.

As you might expect from someone like me, I love going backpacking. Taking a bag full of food, shelter, emergency supplies, and water treatment, and putting one foot in front of the other to get out into "the wild". Objectively speaking, it kind of sucks: you're carrying lots of weight on your back, you're sleeping somewhat uncomfortably, you can't shower, you're eating crappy food, sometimes the water you drink tastes disgusting, you have to be out in the weather, etc. But, to me, it simply feels right. Taking step after step, with weight on my back, away from the human landscape feels like what I was built to do: physically and emotionally.

Backpacking

Something I've always wanted to do is to do what's called a "thru-hike". Simply put, it's a backpacking trip long enough that you need to resupply on one or more occasions because it's hard to carry more than about a week's worth of food. By far, the most famous thru-hikes in the US are the ultra-long Appalachain Trail and Pacific Crest Trails. They're a huge commitment because it takes months to hike. But they're far from the only ones in the country: there's the Continental Divide Trail, the Colorado Trail, the Arizona Trail, the Long Trail, and loads of others. Many of these other tails are significantly shorter and can be completed without having to put your life on hold for half a year.

One such trail is the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada. For most of its length, it runs together with the Pacific Crest Trail along the highest points of the Sierra Nevada from the Yosemite Valley to the summit of Mt. Whitney. Last summer, I did a short backpacking trip that briefly touched on a portion of the trail. I've done a number of backpacking trips in the Sierra, so the idea of hiking the JMT has always been on my mind, but my trip last year put me over the top. I decided I was going to do it.

Plans and Planning

Now, I'm not and never have been a goal-oriented individual. Some people see a mountain or see a trail and think to themselves: "I'm going to do that". That's never been me. I could care less about summiting peaks and completing things because I want to. This extends to other things, too: I am simply not the kind of person who sets goals for myself because they don't do anything for me. Just having a goal doesn't change anything.

Here I am, sitting, early 2026, with a goal to hike the JMT this year. Where was I going to start? Well, the first (and hardest) step, was to get permits. Hiking southbound out of Yosemite National Park involves entering a very comptetitve permit lottery 24 weeks before your hike begins. Hiking northbound from Mt. Whitney involves entering an even more competitve permit lottery in February. Hiking northbout from just south of Mt. Whitney involves grabbing permits six months in advance. They usually fill up pretty quickly (within an hour or two of availability), but that's also the easiest. For once, I actually had a plan: I'd grab the permits out of Cottonwood Lakes, then apply for the Yosemite lottery.

Sure enough, I managed to snag both northbound and southbound permits for myself (if you're curious, SOBO are out of Tuolumne Meadows, not Happy Isles, but I also grabbed a permit to hike from Mirror Lake up and out of the Yosemite Valley). Now, here I am, only a few months out and I still haven't done enough planning for the rest of it. I know I'm starting in Yosemite, and have grabbed reservations there. But plans for resupply? A guesstimated itenerary? Not yet. I have a start date and have taken a whole month off of work (more than I need), but now comes the actual nitty-gritty of planning that I absolutely hate. Some people are total freaks and micro-plan all the minuitia of their hike: where they want to camp each day, what meals are for what days, etc. But me? I'm stting here thinking "Well, I know where I need to resupply, but beyond that, I'm just going to enjoy myself!". I'm looking forward not just to the hike, but also to various little side journeys along the way.

Is it a little stressful not having much of a plan? Yeah, it is. But I know I'll managed to get everything shaped up in the next month or so. It's going to be such a relief to get back onto the trail and get fully immersed in the real world, not our silly human one. To make matters even better, the Sierra are incredibly awe-inspiring, so, even more than a regular jaunt into nature, a hike like this really sticks with you for a very long time.

A photo from a portion of the JMT

----------

Back to miscellaney

Back to home