Trekking Expedition ‘Northern Sierra’ - California, Aug / Sept 2003
Leeds University Officers’ Training Corps
The John Muir Trail cuts through some of the most rugged and pristine wilderness left in North America. It traverses 260 miles from the famous Yosemite Valley in the North to finish with an ascent of Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the ‘Lower 48’ states. The trail is named after the famous environmentalist of Scottish origin whose lobbying was largely responsible for establishing the National Parks system in the United States. Although he wasn’t the first to walk the trail he was certainly at the forefront of early exploration of this mountainous range and often remarked that he felt the better name for them was ‘the range of light’.
I was inspired by two previous trips to Yosemite Valley and too heavy a focus on climbing to brook any visit to the backcountry. This time I would return with eleven Officer Cadets from Leeds University Officers Training Corps and we would spend the majority of our two and a half weeks away from any contact with civilisation. The whole trail requires more time to truly appreciate it so we opted to walk the northern half from Tuolumne Meadows to Bishop, a distance of about 130 miles.
Group at Muir Pass
Relaxing after Donahue Pass
 At Silver Pass |
After much planning and greatly appreciated financial support from the Ulysses Trust Fund, we finally made it to the trailhead at Tuolumne Meadows. The students were briefed on the dangers of Black Bears (they can rip car doors off to get at food) and issued a Bear-resistant food canister in which to store all their food for the trip! What a surprise then when we encountered a huge black bear that very night in our campsite at the trail head and were all thankful that it moved on with some gentle encouragement. We walked five days from Tuolumne to Devils Post Pile, caught fish bare-handed, swam in so many alpine lakes, made new friendships and were inspired by the fantastic scenery. It made those aching shoulders oh-so-worth it. Then after a rest day and re-supply we walked a further nine days over Muir Pass and Bishop pass (both over 3600m) and out to Bishop. It was wonderful to see how well the team got on, and how it opened their eyes to what the world had to offer in its wild places! It was hard to hold back the tears when one of them told me it was the best thing she’d ever done! Four of the Officer Cadets start Sandhurst this year and I take no small pride in the knowledge that whatever Adventurous Training they organise there and later for their soldiers, it truly will be Adventurous in the best spirit of the word. Capt TM Noakes |