Four Days Earlier Than My Original Permit Date—JMT Started Before I Was Ready
(Happy Isles → Camping zone near the Clouds Rest Junction)
Four days before my original permit date, I decided to go to Happy Isles “just to see.”
A friend had told me, “If you line up at the ranger office early in the morning, there will always be cancellations. You’ll get a walk-in permit.”
He was right—almost too easily.
I went to the permit office first thing in the morning, and I got a walk-in permit that allowed me to start the same day. All the worries and “what ifs” in my head vanished in an instant. At that point, there was nothing left to do but commit and go.
Still, I was me.
I took my time, ate breakfast slowly, shopped at the store, and after my friend dropped me off and gave me a final pep talk, we said goodbye. In the end, I didn’t start hiking until around 11:30 a.m.
Excitement and a strange sense of unreality sat side by side—like my mind hadn’t fully caught up with what had just happened.
Mist Trail, ten years later—and still crowded
Right away, I was back on the Mist Trail for the first time in ten years.
Even though peak season was long over, the trail was packed with tourists. Honestly, it was a little annoying.
But this is the gateway to the JMT.
Once I got past the front-country crowds, the atmosphere would change. That thought kept me moving as I climbed, step after step.
The climb was hard—but the real problem was my pack
The day was basically uphill the entire time, and it was brutal.
It was close to 7 miles with about 3,000 feet of elevation gain. But the steepness wasn’t the only reason it hurt.
My pack was heavy.
- Base weight: 28 lb
- Food (7 days): about 10 lb
- Total: over 40 lb
Outside of snow camping, this was the heaviest I’d carried all year. The Mist Trail climb made that painfully clear. And a question surfaced much earlier than I expected:
“If this already feels like this… will I really be okay in the 11-day no-resupply stretch after MTR?”
Finally, a place to stop: near the Clouds Rest Junction
In the late afternoon, I passed the Clouds Rest Junction, and that was where I finally reached a legal camping zone.
I found a good spot almost immediately and set up camp at around 6:00 p.m.
Once the tent was up and I had a place to call “today’s home,” my nerves finally settled.
And just like that, my JMT had started—four days earlier than planned.
My body and mind still weren’t fully in trail mode, but there was no turning back now.
From tomorrow on, it would be the real thing: day after day of simply walking forward.
Day 1 Log (Final)
- Route: Happy Isles → camping zone near the Clouds Rest Junction
- Start: around 11:30 a.m.
- Camp set-up: around 6:00 p.m.
- Distance: 6.5–7 miles (my notes vary)
- Elevation gain: ~3,000 ft
- Permit: walk-in permit (obtained in the morning; started the same day)
- Pack weight: 28 lb base weight + ~10 lb food (7 days) = 40+ lb total
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