John Muir Trail Days 17–18 | Yosemite Snowstorm & Tuolumne Meadows Magic

John Muir Trail Days 17–18 | Yosemite Snowstorm & Tuolumne Meadows Magic

[Music] theme song to the JMT. Literally. All right. Good morning. Day 17. Is that right? Mhm. Holy cow. Day 17. We’re here. We’re having coffee. We were expecting a really awesome view, but we got rained on uh starting at what 12:30 through the night, and now we’re socked in. So, no good view, but still having coffee and having the slow morning that we blamed. [Laughter] Hi. What’s up, dude? How are you? Top of the morning to you. [Applause] [Music] Well, we made it to the top of Island Pass. Not a big pass on the John Mir Trail, but we’re counting it anyways. And it is snowing. I don’t know if you can tell, but it just started. Like, literally. Look at my Can’t catch a break. Were [Music] you singing walking in a winter wonderland? Yeah. Walking in a winter wonderland. Basically day 17. It’s snowing over Island Pass. We had such good weather the first like three fours of the trip. I guess we earned this and couldn’t have an easy trip on the JMT. Got to have a little bit of a test. I just think this mountain with the line through it is so cool. Fueling up for our last pass. Donahue. Last pass. Donna Hue. Let’s get it. Cannot believe we’ve come this far. And we only have a short wave left to go. Finding these grape jelly packets in the hiker box has changed my life. And I’m so thankful. That’s why I was like, I’ll send you the one that the YouTuber guy makes. The ultimate crime has been committed of Donahghue. Spitting snow, some thunder in front of us, but we’re making it. [Music] Entering Yosemite. We are leaving this place and going into Yoseite. We are at the top of Donahghue Pass. Woo! Last pass. Donahue done, baby. Last one. And it’s snowing. What do you know? Celebratory Snickers after our last pass. Still, baby, time to Meowom. Oh my gosh, she’s smiling and it’s snowing. What’s happening? Take advantage of the good weather hiking days because days like these, you need to remember them and remind yourself that it’s not like this all the time. And on a 20-day trip, you’re going to hit some bad weather. You just kind of got to laugh through it. Reminder for next time, bring ski goggles. Yo, this is nuts. It’s Christmas. Night 17, dinner. Spaghetti with meat sauce. Me’s having pad thai with chicken and a Snickers. We’re hiding from the rain. Mac, what are you eating? Spaghetti with meat sauce. What did you say would be good with it? Cheese and wine. After a long day of hiking and a cold, wet, rainy, snowy day. Chocolate salt for the win. on mute. What? I’m Meg, why are you in my tent? I’m lonely and cold. We’ve been sleeping in the same tent since the temps have dropped to make sure that we stay warm and cozy. It’s the best. And then I just don’t know if we’ll go back now. We’ve kind of gotten into a habit. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night. I thought somebody was coming into our It was the rain and I yelled. I was like, “Mac, right in your face.” It was funny. True story. Nothing that comes out of her mouth though at this point surprises me. So I was like, “What?” Unbothered. Literally, what? All right, Meg. Day 17 done. Tell the tube how ready you are to be done. I literally asked Mac if we could just hustle our 37 more miles and finished Saturday, a day early. I just am wet and cold and I don’t know. The past few days have definitely been kicking our butts. Just the weather. It’s been Yeah. putting our putting a damper on our morale. Mhm. Everything’s just wet and cold. Cold. We jinxed it. We jinxed ourselves last week talking about how fun we were having and how the weather was awesome. But it’s going to be good again tomorrow. So stay tuned. Yeah, Megan. That butt is on fire every day. Stay hydrated. Stay salty, folks. In the morning, I got out my snacks for the day. Make my lunch, make my breakfast, brush my teeth, make my element, set myself up for success today. Day 18. The chaos of camp after a storm. Everything’s hanging trying to dry. Wonder how many pounds it is. She ultra light. Ultra light backpacking bros, get at us. Oh, hello old friend. The sun is back. Day 18. Yay. That first sun feeling after multiple days of snow and rain. So joyful. [Applause] stickers and fun stuff. Whoa. What is it? Cheers. Meg, what just happened? We hitched a ride. Forgot our trekking poles three miles down the road. What do we do? We asked the lady to come back and she’s going to get there for us. I feel so bad. Can we just be done already? Those Lunchables and Reese’s got us. I’m assuming that’s Cathedral Peak. [Music] Y’all, today has been an interesting day. Me and me hiked into Twami Meadows. We went to the ranger station, got our permits for Half-D because we didn’t automatically have them with our JMT permit since we’re going northbound. And then we hiked to the like store post office and got some good lunch, a little lunch bowl and some cheese and a Reese’s. That was really yum. Um but then we hitched a ride to the um what is it called? The visitor center which was like a mile away and we forgot our trucking balls at the store. So then the lady that was kind enough to drive us just went back and got them for us. What a sweet gal. I think her name was Liz. You go Liz. You saved our life cuz we need those to put our tents. Now we are headed to upper Cathedral Lake and going to camp at High Sierra. And yeah, it’s been a long day, but we got two more days and we’re done. My best dance. Yep. Cyclone. You had it on command. [Music] Yep. Nope. You got to get me a different one. Okay. Okay. Meg, are you in a good mood? cuz we only have two days left. Here we go tomorrow. When there is sun, you take the advantage to dry out all of your things. But check out this campsite, though. Stunning. Thanks to Walami Meadows for the Reese’s. That was that was interesting. Oh, huh. I didn’t get that. [Music] I didn’t get that. Okay. Today was our longest day yet. How long was it, Mag? 17.58. And how do you feel about that? I’m so tired. But we only have what, 20 miles left, 14 tomorrow, and then six on Sunday, and then we’re done. So, we’re so close. And we got half dome permits today. So, we are for sure doing halfdome, which is a huge blessing. We weren’t sure if we were going to be able to do it or not. And so, that’s super exciting. And we’ll do Cloud Rest and Half Dome. Two bucket list things for me specifically. Um, I don’t even know what they are. Just here for the sounds about right. But yeah, so um, cheers to day 18. Yeah. And we had some Reese’s, which was great from Talas. Cheers to Talas. And cheers to the guy. There’s no water. He was hiking um to go get water because there’s supposed to be a river here. There’s not. He went and got us a liter of water while he was going. So, thank God for him. And yeah, and also the girl who gave us a ride. Well, I talked about her in a different video, but yes, and who went back and got our trekking poles. People have just been so kind to us today and super thankful for that. The trail provides. Happy trails. [Music]

On days 17–18 of our John Muir Trail northbound thru-hike, we entered Yosemite National Park through snow, sunshine, and some of the trail’s most iconic miles. @movingmountainsmeg

Day 17 kept us socked in at Thousand Island Lake before we climbed over Island Pass and Donohue Pass. As we reached the top, heavy snow fell fast, transforming the Sierras into a winter wonderland. Spirits were low as we set up camp in the storm, officially inside Yosemite but longing for sunshine.

Day 18 delivered exactly that—blue skies and the warmth we had been waiting for. It became our longest day yet, covering 17+ miles into Tuolumne Meadows, where we raided the general store for a Lunchable, cheese, and a much-needed Celsius. After a kind hitchhike (and retrieving forgotten trekking poles!), we pushed into one of the most breathtaking sections of the JMT—Cathedral Lakes. We ended the day at High Sierra Camp, tired but grateful for sunshine, knowing we were nearing the finish line.

From a snowy Donohue Pass to the magic of Cathedral Lakes, these two days reminded us of the highs and lows of the JMT adventure.

My favorite gear:
Hardside Hydration – https://www.hardsidehydration.com/?dt_id=2344922
Use code Kenzie10 for 10% off your purchase
Stio pinedale pants: https://glnk.io/8049/kenziefromkansas use code kenziefromkansas for 15% off
Zpacks ArcHaul 60: https://zpacks.com/products/arc-haul-ultraepx-60l-backpack?aff=199
Glacial Gear Trail Rag: https://glacialgear.com/products/merino-wool-trail-rags?aff=4
JetBoil Stash: https://rei.rockporch.com/prdlink/ckfhiCQumq

Full Gear List with links:
https://lighterpack.com/r/1q0345

Food I ate on trail:
https://app.rockporch.com/llink/D1xAEAXUUHCp1

✨ Catch up on the series from Day 0–7 here:
Part 1 (Day 0 & 1) here: https://youtu.be/usXvqkClyrQ?si=UTIwcfJZq2pqmbos
Part 2 (Day 2 & 3) here: https://youtu.be/r8WoAp81dxs?si=FyBcyqJ9dhKJ4ZeR
Part 3 (Day 4 & 5) here: https://youtu.be/99uyQOb9ax0?si=-ztV49l2oPLc2ILD
Part 4 (Day 6 & 7) here: https://youtu.be/eqN41ktRfAQ?si=3rinC-Vs9nKxx2fQ
Part 5 (Day 8 & 9) here: https://youtu.be/hPoncQ2ZZnM?si=6mHvJHRR0d2XPGeO
Part 6 (Day 10 & 11) here: https://youtu.be/IrNh_9bk2vc
Part 7 (Day 12 – 14) here: https://youtu.be/VvKkFuVcos0?si=GHrXjp-1cB0Q_rPz
Part 8 (Day 15 – 16) here: https://youtu.be/l7gHlqZ1bE4

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