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(mid-tempo pop-rock plays)

JASON: Sometimes you need to get
away, you need to get out into
nature.

And you need to cross rivers,
and climb mountains and breathe
clean air,

and really experience something
special that, you know,

in the modern world not really
many people take the time to do.

Honestly, if anyone anytime is
like, "Hey, let's get outdoors
for the weekend,"

I just... I can't
get out enough.

JEN: I wanted to do something
for me, and so that's what this
trip is:

It's for me, to show that I can.

I hope to have a lot of fun with
some good friends, and capture
it all.

RIC: Either a documentary,
or an art exhibit.

We weren't quite sure what
we were going to finish with,

but we knew what
we wanted to get.

(Opus Orange's
"Nothing But Time" plays)

* Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,
ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,
ooh! *

* Oh, oh, oh, I've got
nothing but time *

* Oh, oh, oh,
I've got nothing but time *

* Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,
ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,
ooh! *

JASON: "Wander a whole
summer if you can.

"Time will not be taken
from the sum of life.

"Instead of shortening,
it will definitely lengthen it

and make you truly immortal"--
John Muir.

Really excited.

Four weeks on the trail, I
guess, but it's gonna be great.

There's not a better place
to start than right here.

And what a great way to start
it-- going out in the truck,
too.

Hell, yeah!

This is... this is epic camping
style. This is the way I like
it.

I'd like some of your fresh
lemonade and a Hotdog on a
Stick, please.

Look, guys. Zee's ready.

I was telling Zee that he's
about to do something

that I've dreamed about
for many, many years.

Hiking the John Muir has always
been one of my desires that I
never...

never got around to.

But he gets to do it.

Take care. Be safe.

-Thanks.
-Bring me back pictures.

Goodbye, cruel world.
Hello, cruel world.

Yeah, hello, cruel wilderness.

It's amazing that in
a state like California

that has nearly 40 million
people, you can hike this trail

through pristine wilderness
that's nearly the same distance

as Los Angeles is to Las Vegas
or New York is to Boston.

For about ten years,
I'd been dreaming

of doing a documentary
on the John Muir Trail--

to basically take several of my
friends who are amazingly
talented artists,

and to capture all of its
beauty and its grandeur.

This is my... my masterpiece
that I created via an old tripod

and Home Depot on a stereo mic
stand, so... and attached to a
trekking pole.

Pretty excited.

My mission on the trail was to
go out and capture the wild
sounds

in places that are
starting to disappear

as civilization starts to
encroach on these spots.

I think it's really important to
get this down while there's
still an opportunity.

(whispers):
Be vewy, vewy quiet.

We're hunting wabbits.

My job on the trail?
Try and keep up.

MARTIN: What really comes to
mind is his favorite childhood
book,

"The Pokey Little Puppy."

He's excellent at
conserving his energy,

and I think "Pokey Little
Puppy" would really fit.

ZEE: Even under the best
circumstances, this isn't an
easy climb.

It's 50,000 feet of elevation
change over 211 miles,

and it presents a
serious challenge.

All right, we're off.

Zee with his, uh, Pokey hat,

and me in my captain's old lady
granny underwear on my head.

And the trail begins

RIC: When we picked up the
permits from the ranger station,

they were giving us some
pretty dire warnings.

There was heavy snow pack,
there were high river crossings.

Hikers had already turned back.

RIC: So when we got to
Illilouette Creek, it became
very clear

that this was not going to be an
easy year to complete this
trail.

But we had spent six months
planning for this trip, so there
was no turning back.

The first real crossing.

Being the only girl and height-
challenged, as well, I know it's
hard

for everybody to try and find
the path that we can all... all
master.

Everything I do in my
photography involves people.

It's portraits and
commercial work.

It's not just this nature that
surrounds us, so one of the
challenges,

creatively for me on the trail,
was just capturing the
landscapes.

Granted, there's a little bit
of a "Where's Waldo?" effect.

You look deep into the picture
and you can see, "Oh, there's a
person!"

But I want to show you that
scope. I want you to see the
grandeur of it all.

And then also just the
simplicity of life on the trail.

JASON: Next time you get a hold
of the California quarter,

flip it over and you'll see
the likeness of the man

who founded the Sierra Club
and dedicated his life

to the preservation of
wilderness and natural beauty.

So when the 211-mile trail was
completed in 1938, it was named
in his honor.

ZEE: "When one tugs at
a single thing in nature,

he finds it attached to
the rest of the world."

John Muir.

JASON: We're right off
the Panorama Trail.

I actually have not been where
we are standing right now.

I've been down there at what I'm
shooting which is Nevada Falls,

and I think as Jen said a few
minutes ago, it takes your
breath away in a really good
way.

For all the
physically-challenging things
that we did on this trail,

I still think the hardest thing
was actually getting a permit
out of Yosemite Valley.

JEN: We ended up getting a
permit to start south of the
valley,

so we met up with the John
Muir Trail at Nevada Falls.

ZEE:
What you're seeing is my view.

Watching where my feet go.

Make sure I don't twist
my ankle on those rocks.

After Nevada Falls, the trail
gains a good deal of elevation
really quickly

leading up to the back of Half
Dome, and it hit Zee pretty
hard.

And because I'm so far behind
the whole time, I rarely...

give myself the
chance to look up.

So what's the hardest
part so far?

-ZEE: Walking... uphill.
-Your breathing?

-Huh?
-Your legs? Your breathing?

Um... I think mostly legs.

Although stopping because my
legs are wobbly gives me a
chance to breathe, so...

RIC: There was this gorgeous
meadow with purple flowers,

and off to the right there's
this amazing, amazing vista.

And I just kept thinking,
"There's nothing more beautiful
than this."

At that very moment I
happened to check my phone,

and I got this text message
in from my mother-in-law.

-From Grandma?
-Yeah.

-Every Monday, we have a care
package for her. -Oh, nice.

So, this... this Monday, I got
her the hat that I made.

Oh, that's so adorable.

JEN: Isola is our daughter.
She is three and a half.

And she is even more awesome
than Yosemite, in my opinion.

RIC: It's not easy, but it's so
great to know that she's with
family that loves her,

and I know that we're missing
her more than she's missing us
at this point.

Every day with Isola we're doing
something new, and we see
something new in her eyes.

And I get to see something
new every day here,

and to not be able to share
that with her... that's hard.

JASON: Leading up to our
departure, I became obsessed
with reading

the snow reports, and it ended
up being a 200% snow year,
meaning there was

two times more snow than there
was in the average years in the
Sierra Nevada.

And over the first couple of
days we ran into several hikers

who had turned back because the
snow conditions were so harsh.

Let this be the point
where it is made known

that all those crampons are
just going to be dead weight.

Some of us are gonna man up
and just hike right through it.

JEN:
"Some of us" meaning only...

Only me!

JASON:
Day three was pretty hard.

We started the morning with
a good thousand-foot climb

pretty much straight
up over a pass.

ZEE: Here's a sight you're
not going to see too much.

It is everybody
catching up to me.

Then the snow started. We had
our first stretch coming down
Sunrise Pass.

And that was pretty
much snow-hopping.

RIC: Oh, look at the captain
making a nice slide down.

DURAND: The trail into Sunrise
Meadow vanished almost
immediately into the snow.

It quickly became apparent that
a 200% snow year was gonna be
interesting.

(shouting, laughter)

The best way to get
down the mountain.

Boy, this stuff is
not for everybody.

Um, truth be told, it's
not really for me.

Zee mentioned that he really
loved hanging out with us.

Um... but he never got a chance
to really hang out with us that
much.

He said he didn't
have solitary moments;

he pretty much just had solitary
confinement all throughout the
day.

You go to Yosemite
Valley and you look up

and there's this
beautiful waterfall,

and you think all that
water is coming off the top.

The thing is, that's not the
top. It's the top of that cliff.

Behind it, there's a dozen
mountains that are much taller,

and it really drives home
that the top is not the top.

I think one of the biggest
challenges about doing this
trail

and trying to
document it as well,

is you just come across
so many beautiful moments

and there's only so much that
you can do because you have to
make your miles.

And it was... you know, it was
tough... it was tough for Zee.

I appreciate what all
these guys are doing.

They are... kick-ass,

and I really do feel like
I'm dragging them down--

probably 'cause I'm
dragging them down.

It started getting dark, and so
I headed back up the trail to
look for Zee.

And on my way back down,
I noticed this junction

about a hundred yards
from the bear boxes.

We must have all missed it.

It could either take you to
the bear boxes on Highway 120,

or along the John Muir Trail to
the Tuolumne Meadows Ranger
Station.

And I realized that's what Zee
did. He stayed on the John Muir
Trail.

ZEE (sighing): I think
that pretty much seals it.

Ric just headed up into
the woods looking for me.

I think this just goes to show
how big of a liability I am on
the trail.

I don't want to die out there.
I don't want to get lost.

I don't want to break a leg. I
don't want Ric having to chase
after me.

It's tough. I'd like to do it,
and say I did it, um...

but I don't know
if that's enough.

(slow pop-rock song playing)

* I think I see a
little sunlight underwater... *

All right, man, we'll miss you
on the trail. I'm so sorry.

I totally get it, but...

Please meet us at Postpile
if you can, and definitely

meet us at Muir Ranch
if you can't make Postpile.

I ain't got no other
plans this month.

(laughing)

JASON: Zee, unfortunately, when
we woke up this morning...

You could kind of tell, kind of
early on, he was pretty done.

He looked pretty banged-up, he
was coughing, and he was pretty
exhausted.

See you later, Zee.

RIC: He never complained,
and he did it.

And he really had
an amazing third day,

and it was just a shame
that it ended the way it did.

And I respect him for making
that decision. Nonetheless,
we're still gonna miss him.

Thank you, Zee.
This is going to a good home.

-Durand's gonna drink it all.
-Yeah.

JEN: "Camp out among the grasses
and gentians of glacial meadows,

"in craggy garden nooks
full of nature's darlings.

"Climb the mountains
and get their good tidings.

Nature's peace will flow into
you as sunshine flows into
trees."

John Muir.

Let's go.

RIC: We were hiking
along Lyell Creek,

and there's this massive pass
covered in snow way beyond.

Jen and I kept asking each
other, "Is that really what
we're crossing?"

JASON: The first thousand
feet of it was just trail,

and then you cross
a bridge over the creek.

And then basically it was
just snow the whole way up.

I stayed back and got this shot
of Durand and Jason and Jen

starting to climb it,
and they were just dwarfed

by the enormity of the climb
and of the snow and of the bowl.

DURAND: The snow made
it a little more challenging

than I was initially expecting,
uh, but it was fun.

JEN:
Donahue Pass was sketchy!

Hi, Iz. We are really in snow.

RIC:
Love you, LaLa.

-Daddy's here.
-Love you.

Love you.
Talk to you soon. Bye!

For me, honestly, it was
one... one step at a time.

Jason made perfect
tracks for me.

And I just had to follow in his
footsteps, and then I was good.

JASON: It was basically
mountain climbing,

'cause you're kicking
your steps into the snow.

No one would really die falling
off that, but you could
certainly hurt yourself,

and you know, it would be a
pretty scary slide on the way
down.

RIC: It's amazing when you
go up in the snow like that.

All of a sudden your pack
doesn't weigh anything, and your
breathing's fine.

It's all about putting one foot
very safely in front of the
other.

And that view behind
us is unbelievable.

JASON:
Donahue Pass was tough.

It was like five hours of
climbing straight up through the
snow.

And I don't think any of us
had really expected that

when we signed on
to do this trail.

DURAND: This little guy...
creeping up on our lunch.

That's right, buddy,
I'm on to you.

You're not as sneaky
as you think you are.

Apparently, the marmot was as
sneaky as he thought he was.

JEN: So tell us the
situation, Durand.

DURAND:
We're under attack by marmots.

I think the best meal we've
had so far was some kind

of spicy potato mixture that
Jen made that was so tasty.

Unfortunately, I get up to
the top of Donahue Pass,

and there's a marmot with
his head buried into the bag

chewing on the potatoes.

DURAND: He already ate
part of our lunch.

I put the lid back on the bear
bin but didn't screw it tight...

and these evil geniuses
managed to open it up.

It's so funny how, earlier today
it was like how cute they are.

They're little trail bandits
is what they are.

Get!

JEN: Heading down
from Donahue Pass,

we actually enter into
Ansel Adams Wilderness.

And I don't know how you can
be a photographer in nature

and not be inspired by his work.

So, heading into one of the
places that he considered his
favorite--

that is truly thrilling.

RIC: Going through the snow,
carrying that weight

just slows you down, and it's
exhausting after a while.

JASON: When hiking
through snowy conditions,

one, you have to be very
careful where you step.

Two, the snow really bogs your
feet down when you're moving
through it.

So I think we probably, at best,
could make about one mile per
hour.

DURAND:
There was no trail for a while.

The footprints
disappear really fast,

so we lost the trail a couple
times, which sucked.

It's really frustrating
and mentally exhausting.

JEN:
If I were doing this on my own,

I don't know that I would
have lasted past day two.

I can't seem to find a trail.

It's been good to rely on the
eyes of Jason and Durand to
either

find the trail or to figure
out where it is we're

supposed to head,
and then just head in

that general direction, and by
hook or by crook we get there.

RIC: When we were going over
Thousand Island Pass,

Jen actually had
located the trail,

but Durand at that point in
time was just so over it.

DURAND: I was following
a trail of footprints

which apparently
was not "the trail,"

though I knew we had
to get over a pass

and that pass was
sitting right in front of me.

And there was no way you were
talking me down to go back up.

JEN: By the time we got
close enough to think,

"Oh, we're a few miles from
Thousand Island Lake," it was
gorgeous.

The pinks and the
reds in the skies...

we had to stop and
shoot some more,

and even though we
were headlamping it in

to Thousand Island,
it was worth every step.

LaLa... it's at night and
we're getting ready for bed.

There's Daddy,
and we're in our tent,

and I just wanted to tell you
we had a crazy day today!

But we did good, and now
we're ready for bed,

so we can see what
awaits us tomorrow.

RIC: I think my first memorable
moment on the trail

was the morning we woke up
at Thousand Island Lake.

It was the first morning we woke
up knowing we had a reasonable
day

ahead of us, so we didn't feel
quite so pressed to get on the
trail early.

And we had some laundry to do,
and it was the first opportunity
we had to do it.

Thru-hiking isn't all going over
passes and seeing beautiful,
amazing scenery.

It's mostly that, but there's
also little mundane things like
doing your laundry.

RIC: The sun was shining,
we all had a good night's rest.

It was just a really
relaxing morning.

DURAND: We were really
hoping for a snow-free day.

Unfortunately,
we didn't get our wish.

RIC: There was this huge
slope, and I looked down

and noticed that there was
just water at the bottom of it.

And I mentioned to Jen,
"Don't look down"

and see what she could possibly
fall into if she slipped.

JEN: That was the most
nerve-wracking, and probably
wouldn't have been

if Ric hadn't said, "Hey, look
down, there's water below. "

Might not have been the smartest
thing to do at that particular
moment in time.

(Jen shouts)

We got to this pass and we had
cell reception, so as Jason said
it perfectly,

it was like a Starbucks because
all of us were standing there
with our iPhones.

Yeah, there's a lot of snow up
here, so a lot of it's been
hiking through snow.

Then we looked over and there
was no snow on the way down, and
it was heavenly.

It's the only time we're
grateful for switchbacks,

is after we've hiked
through snow.

RIC:
A couple of years ago,

Jason and Jen and I had done a
stretch of the John Muir Trail,

coming in at Thousand Island
Lake and going through Devils
Postpile.

That was the first incarnation
of shooting something on the
John Muir Trail.

But doing that stretch of the
JMT a couple years ago

was so different than
it was this time around

because of the snow,
because of the heavy water flow.

I remember we had met this
couple that was hiking the JMT
northbound,

and I think it sort of inspired
us to want to take on the trail

in its entirety down the road,
and we finally had the
opportunity.

RIC: We only hiked for seven
hours, and we probably did
eight, eight and a half miles,

as opposed to, uh... 11 hours
of hiking through snow.

Uh... (chuckles)
But it was awesome.

JEN: Our spirits were
high at Rosalie Lake,

despite the unfortunate
state of our feet.

DURAND: Looks like Jen has a
little situation that's popped
up.

Oh, my goodness!

JEN:
I now have 12 toes.

It was either day five or day
six when everyone's feet just
hit the absolute worst.

Yeah, I know this is gonna hurt.

Oh, oh, Kelly Clarkson!

Look, these are old blisters
that already popped.

DURAND:
Oh, my God!

Kind of reminds me of the
pickled ginger you get when you
eat sushi.

RIC (laughing):
It does!

That right, sweetheart?

JEN: Tree, yeah, from
the middle and now out.

DURAND:
Like a young bird...

-Tree pose!
-...this awkward creature.

(laughter)

RIC: As we were nearing Devils
Postpile, we came across

what should have been a log
crossing, but the heavy water
flow

had washed out the log
downstream, so we had to cross
it.

JEN: Devils Postpile
is a National Monument.

It's actually the last place
that you can drive to along the
trail,

and we were there to stock up,
'cause they have a store

and a restaurant, and you can
have a shower if you get lucky.

JASON: Don't get me wrong. Jen
did an awesome job with the
food.

But the bacon double
cheeseburger and root beer float

were a great reward for
five days of really hard work.

Ric had asked me to
come up to Devils Postpile.

We were gonna do a media dump,
give them some supplies.

Because it was
Jennifer's birthday,

I decided to also bring some
steaks for everybody to enjoy.

DURAND: I think we're all pretty
goddamn excited about this.

Everybody looked a little
thinner in the face, but still
everybody was

in great spirits, so it was
really nice to see everybody.

One of the few things I was
hoping to have for my birthday

was a real conversation
with Isola.

ISOLA:
* Happy Birthday to Mommy

* Happy Birthday to you.

RIC: What's your treasure
today, Durand?

The greatest thing ever.

Mount Hagen, I salute you.

Oh, my God, there they go.

-Oh!
-JEN (laughs): Pick 'em up!

It's still good...
It's still good.

Ain't none of this going
to be used as suppository.

RIC:
"I only went out for a walk,

"and finally concluded
to stay out till sundown.

For going out, I found,
was really going in." John Muir

DURAND: We hit the trail the
next day, which is good and bad.

You're happy to be back out
and one day closer, but...

it is hard to leave
civilization sometimes.

This is a backcountry
iced coffee.

I feel like I'm in a cafe in
Verona, sipping cappuccino.

RIC: It was just one of those
days where you have to make your
miles,

and for that reason
we didn't shoot a lot.

But one of the great things that
comes out of those exhausting
days

is the silliness
starts to surface.

Day five of my, uh,
no deodorant experiment...

(sighs)

(sniffs)

-Yep.
-DURAND: Results?

The results are,
I think I stink so bad,

and the rest of my group stinks
so bad, it doesn't really
matter.

Right, honey?

I'll disagree.

Whoever you are in civilization

is who you're gonna be in
the backcountry, as well.

(howling)

So if you're a huge
goofball back at home,

you're going to be a huge
goofball in the backcountry,
too.

DURAND: Jason is preparing
for his outdoor GQ photo shoot.

Sandal socks: By the way,

a quick message to all of our
viewers about sandal socks.

No-no in the city, okay?

Out here, perfectly acceptable
in the wilderness, all right?

You have to be at least two
miles into the wilderness,
though, to wear sandal socks.

The easiest way to make a
tough day a little more bearable

is with a heavy dose
of smart-assery.

What are you up to
down there, Emmett?

-Just drinking my colostomy bag.
-(laughing): Oh, God!

JASON: How much does your
hearing aid from the 1950s
weigh?

RIC: What's been your
favorite moment so far?

I think it's this
one coming up here.

Uh... we got some water
left in the bucket here.

Jason asked me to get the
coffee off the rock.

JASON: We had, I think,
seven days worth of food.

Our packs were heavy with all
the camera gear and the food
before,

but we probably had twice as
much food per person from that
drop.

We're having a pissing contest
to see whose bear canister
weighs the most.

I'll tell you what:
The packs weigh a ton!

We're all gonna close our eyes
and Jen's gonna move the
canisters around,

so we have to find out who has
the heaviest bear canister.

Okay.

Okay.

Yeah, three, I think it's
heavier than three, yeah...

Three or four.

Four, dude, for sure!

Four! (chuckles)

Oh!

JASON: I may have lost because
my bear canister was the
heaviest,

but really we all won, because
Jen's food was just excellent.

I made homemade sauce at home,
and then dehydrated it for two
days.

RIC:
Tell me how it is, Jason.

Good.

Like everything else Jen's done.

Really, really good.

It is delicious.

JEN: Okay, the truth is, the
only reason I volunteered to
cook

every single night is then I
didn't have to do any of the
dishes.

JASON: We broke through that
foresty ridge that we were
climbing on

and looked out and we saw this
amazing, amazing valley called
Cascade Valley.

So, we came around the ridge and
saw Purple Lake, and it was
really windy that day.

And it was just amazing, 'cause
the wind was just dancing across
the surface.

It was really a stunning view.

DURAND: I have a tradition of
jumping into bodies of water
while I'm out backpacking,

and I failed miserably for the
first week on the Muir Trail.

So, coming into Purple Lake,
I realized I couldn't let this

stand any longer, so we finally
nutted up and jumped in.

It's cold! It's not...
that cold!

Whoo!

(gasping)

JASON: From there, we headed
through the John Muir Wilderness

and ended up at the headwaters
of the Cascade Valley.

DURAND: I saw a trail at the
bottom and I was like,

"Damn, I would hate to be the
sucker that was gonna be on that
trail."

And lo and behold, we actually
went lower than that trail.

JASON: We hiked all the
way down to the bottom

and then followed the stream
a little ways down, uh,

to this just really
amazing bridge.

And we had a good 1,200-
foot climb to get up

to here to Squaw Lake,
where we are right now.

My favorite day thus far
of hiking was probably today.

One of the things that's kind of
cool about this trail is you
meet

a lot of really cool people that
are kind of going along with
you.

My name's Kelly Finlay.

And I'm Dave Finlay.

We're married,
from Dolores, Colorado.

Kelly's a science teacher,
and I'm a special-ed teacher.

We had the summer off, which
made doing this a little easier.

We feel really fortunate
to have met you all.

JEN: I think there's a little
bit too much pepperoni.

DURAND: What?!
You can put some on this pan.

(laughing)

KELLY: I think you have to be
the funniest group on this
trail.

JASON:
Looks aren't everything, Kelly!

-I'm sorry.
-Exceedingly good-looking.

The most attractive
and funniest group on the trail.

DAVE: There s a huge panoramic
view that is pretty
awe-inspiring.

I m just kind of looking out
right now at these high,
snow-covered mountains.

Yeah, I m pretty impressed.

Being a Colorad, I m gonna
give it up to ya, California.

These are solid!
Some good mountains.

Our little family of four now
expanded to six, because Dave
and Kelly,

for some reason, decided to join
us for the rest of the trip.

RIC: That evening at Squaw Lake
there was this gorgeous sunset,

and to look down the valley
and see your friends

silhouetted in this
golden hour light...

There s something very
pristine about that,

and it just makes the whole
experience that much more real.

DURAND: Never while anything is
left of me shall this camp be
forgotten.

"It has fairly grown into me,
not merely as memory pictures

but as part and parcel
of mind and body alike.

John Muir.

RIC: You gonna miss
this campsite, Durand?

It was a fine campsite.

Yes, I will miss this campsite.

I suck today.

All of us had one or two bad
days, and going over Silver Pass
I just felt awful.

But then in the afternoon
we got to Mono Creek Falls,

and it was this giant cascade
just coming over the rocks,

and it was just so beautiful
that it really revived me

and saved me for the
rest of the day.

DURAND: So Jen, what do we have
in store for us today on the
trail?

Apparently, Plus Hell.

-What is Plus Hell? -I think
when we were writing it out,

there were so many ups and downs
that we just decided to write
Plus Hell.

I guess that was probably
my executive decision.

So we got two miles, about a
little over 2,000 feet up, at
least.

DURAND: So how are you
feeling about Plus Hell?

(whispers):
Awesome.

(Opus Orange's
"Nothing But Time" playing)

* Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,
ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,
ooh! *

The climb was a little... a
little hellish, but I feel
great, man.

It was awesome.

I just think it just goes
back to our theory

that Plus Hell, before we d
done the first ten days...

DURAND: At what point did you
find time to smoke meth on the
way up?

Hell Schmell,
that s what I have to say.

* Oh, oh, oh,
I've got nothing but time *

* Oh, oh, oh, I've got
nothing but time *

* Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,
ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,
ooh! *

* Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,
ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,
ooh... *

RIC: When you re on a thru-hike
like this, you have plenty

of opportunities to hike with
someone and have great
conversation.

But then you have a lot of
opportunities to be by yourself,
and I love those moments.

I love those moments to just
think, and to be alone in the
wilderness.

And there was this one moment
on our way down to Bear Creek

where we passed
through this aspen grove.

And we had not even seen aspens
up to that point, so I had to
stop.

The breeze was blowing, and when
you look at aspen leaves
up-close,

there s this really beautiful,
subtle movement to them.

But then you take a step back
and you look at the trees as a
whole.

There s this beautiful poetry to
the way the wind just flies
through those leaves.

Those moments are amazing to me.

That absolutely captures
what this trail is for me.

DURAND: So guys, it sounds like
there might be a babbling brook
behind us.

(laughing)

Perhaps just a
little bit of water.

Bear Creek had a lot of hype to
it. People talking about having
to swim.

People talking about having
to use ropes to get across.

DURAND: The first couple days we
hear people telling these horror
stories

about girls getting swept away
down creeks and medevaced out.

I m gonna have to get closer.

I can t hear you over the small
din of the babbling brook.

-Bear Creek. It's Creek, right?
-Yes.

There was a really eerie energy
in the campsite that morning,

because we didn t really know
what to expect at Bear Creek.

We tried to find some other
small woman to go through it for
us beforehand,

so that we could be like Well,
what does it look like with a
woman going through? but...

-Apparently, they re not as
handy. -No. There weren t any.

RIC: Obviously, we don t
want anyone to go down.

But we also have our gear that
we re all concerned about, too.

We put all of our electronics up
top, and made sure that it was
going to be really safe.

Oh, Dave, come back!

KELLY: I just got to that one
section where the current was
just really pushy.

And I just didn t really
feel like I was very stable,

so I called out to Dave to
come back and help me.

-I think Ric grabbed you first.
-(laughs): I... I...

Somebody grabbed me, and
then I immediately felt better.

Made it across.

JEN: The trail hype itself, I
think, is real to whoever says
it,

because, you know, on any
given day I could do

the same water crossing, and
would feel differently about it.

So I think that it might seem
like hype, but for them it was
real.

KELLY: It was exciting.
I wouldn t say

that it was scary, but it was...
it was pretty thrilling.

Crossing the snow field right
behind us, these frogs started
chirping at us.

Which was pretty cool, so I want
to see if we can get a little
sample.

Getting all the sound gear
out was a challenge.

It took about 15 minutes with
the mics and the cables

and getting them in the right
pattern, so when I finally

decided to record stuff, I chose
those moments very carefully.

Of course as soon as I had
gotten all my gear out and the
mics set up,

the frogs decided to
end their conversation.

Just literally got all
my gear packed away.

(frogs trilling)

Maybe they know I m leaving.

But I just said...
if I didn t have my pack on,

I d come down there and beat
the shit out of both of you.

I know there s two of you,
'cause I can hear two distinct
calls.

There s A... and B.

Muthu....

Little known fact:
Durand was actually

one of the most altruistic
people we had on the trail with
us.

Particularly for
small amphibians.

-He s almost frozen.
-There you go, buddy.

All right, dude,
stay away from the snow.

RIC: The big news is,
according to the chart,

this is the hundred-mile
marker of the John Muir Trail.

(joyful shouting)

JEN: We saw Sallie Keyes,
and it looked so welcoming,

and there was a great lake,
and we figured we d

get to go swimming, and
really enjoy this environment.

It was going to be
our Indian summer.

It was just heaven,
and then we just put

our packs down for one
second and they swarmed.

(insects buzzing)

KELLY:
The group was silent.

The mosquitoes actually had
the power to silence six people.

DURAND: Sallie Keyes was
both beautiful and awful.

The highest of highs
and the lowest of lows.

The only way to escape the
bloodthirsty cloud of mosquitoes

was to dive underwater.

I just crawled into my tent,
killed the 20 mosquitoes that
followed me in there,

and I did not appear
again until dinner.

(mosquitoes buzzing)

JASON: So we had planned a
rest day at Muir Trail Ranch,

which is a ranch in
the Sierra backcountry,

which is privately-owned
but anybody can visit.

KELLY: When we first got there
we just wanted to unload our
packs

and sit for a second, and then
when we realized the buckets...

If you ve ever wondered what
backcountry looting looks like.

DAVE:
Hikers come through there

and they get resupplies and
they don t take all their food.

And that s nice for other people
coming through to resupply.

We just treated it
like a lunch buffet.

-Just like Christmas.
-What is that?

-I think it's M&M's.
-Jellybeans?

And everyone was,
"Look, Barbecue Pringles!"

-Ohh!
-Can I steal some?

Can I get in on some of that
action? I love barbecue
Pringles. Thank you.

Side note: Barbecue
Pringles, M & M s...

-And peanuts. -...and peanuts
are a really good combination.

Excellent combination. Congrats
whoever came up with that one.

Thank you very much.

We just picked up our food drop,

and we ve got all kinds of
goodies and food in here.

It is a little bit
like Christmas.

Oh, look at that--
toilet tissue.

-Fuel, more toilet tissue.
-Dinners.

-Dinners.
-Peanut butter.

I did have a care package that
my brother had sent out.

-Is there just one?
-That s it!

David s a pretty
awesome younger brother.

-Oh, my God.
-Oh, yeah!

-Look at that-- Milano cookies.
-Oh, with mint!

-Her favorite.
-Knob Creek.

-Nice!
-Nice.

JASON: They had these awesome
baths that were fed by natural
springs,

and just to be able to wash off
the two weeks of trail grime was
the best feeling.

For us it might as well
have been a five-star hotel,

'cause we hadn t seen anything
resembling civilization in over
a week.

Our cabin s name is...

DURAND: You ll have to speak
louder into the camera, Huell!

Our cabin s name is
the Tenthouse Penthouse.

And as you can see, ours
is elevated a little bit higher.

I wanted to wash my hair.
I just wanted to wash my hair.

And so I did it three times.
And it was heavenly.

-Hey! -Maybe they're here and
they've just been in their
room...

Actually, this is the cleanest
I ve been in like a month, so...

-What s up, man?
-How's it going, man?

-Oh, man, I m so happy you
guys made it. -Yeah, man.

That s crazy, that s so great.

My friends Doug and Shelley came
out and surprised me out here,

which was really
amazing, really great.

-How goes it?
-Good.

-How are you?
-I m good.

DURAND: We were sitting
around eating dinner.

We knew that Zee had said he was
potentially coming out there,

but we weren t, I guess,
entirely sure, you know.

I m back... just for
a very short time.

I was missing the guys, and I
was anxious to see how everyone
was doing.

So I headed up to Muir Trail
Ranch, and had forgotten

that there was a five-mile
hike after the ferry.

So I got there a
little bit late.

DURAND: Lo and behold,
spotted him up on the ridge.

He had unfortunately missed the
trail sign, and was hiking up
the ridge

that we had come down earlier in
the day, but it was great to see
him.

I got there that evening, and
rolled in just as they were
finishing dinner.

(hearty chuckling)

It was good to see them.
They were having a good time.

And it just made it a little
bittersweet, because I wish that
I d been able to keep up,

but the way that I was
lagging behind, I think,

they wouldn t have had the
adventure that they had if I had
stayed on the trail.

Your whiskey, my friend!

RIC: It was perfect.
It was rustic, it was relaxing.

We had a meal with steak and
potatoes, and greens...

-JEN: Salad.
-...and fresh vegetables.

And it was awesome.
It was amazing.

-So Durand, you gonna
weigh your pack? -I am.

The least favorite day of
everyone on this trail is
restock day,

and the most favorite is the day
before restock day, because
there s

probably a good 15-to-20-pound
difference between how much your
pack weighs.

-Oh, shit.
-Oh, my gosh.

I m a touch under 75.

-Oh!
-Sixty-five?

Pretty beastly.

What do you think?

-Forty-five.
-No!

-Ooh!
-I d say forty-nine. Nice!

-Sixty-seven.
-That's way more than me.

Whoa, nice, fifty-five.

-Fifty-five.
-Fifty-five?! -Fifty-five?!

We need to start
calling him Jen.

Damn, Zee,
I shouldn t have weighed it.

-Now they re gonna be like,
Hey, Dave. -Hey, Dave.

(indistinct conversations)

There was really a gorgeous
hike out of there afterwards.

JASON: My friends Doug and
Shelley hiked the first stretch

of the trail with us that
morning and when they turned
around

to go back, I have to admit
that was the first time

I really started to feel
a little bit homesick.

When we crossed into Kings
Canyon, I felt like we were in
this entirely new world.

The Sierras are incredible.
They re amazing.

I feel like they re more amazing
than any school, any church.

We crossed into the San Joaquin
drainage and walked up the San
Joaquin,

an immensely powerful,
churning chasm of water...

...that kind of culminated in a
huge climb up these switchbacks

that the stair-master
made up to Evolution Creek.

-Where we at?
-We're at Evolution...

Excuse me--
Theory of Evolution Creek.

My running joke has been

that Evolution Creek
has evolved into a river,

'cause that was certainly no
creek that I ve ever seen.

JASON: Evolution Creek,
along with Bear Creek,

was one of the ones that
we d been warned about.

But you know there s signs just
saying, hey, go cross it in the
meadow

if it s really high, and that s
what we did and it was really
nothing.

RIC: Looking good, Jason.
Looking good. Work it...

JASON: Other than the fact that
my boots dropped in, which was
kind of a bummer.

Oh!

I had two clean, dry pairs of
socks, and one of them bit the
dust.

DAVE: These vast, calm,
measureless mountain days,

"inciting at once
to work and rest...

days in whose light everything
seems equally divine.

John Muir.

RIC: Going through Evolution
Valley, it was gorgeous.

It was probably one of the first
times we saw so much green.

We re at Evolution Lake, which
is, I mean, really an amazingly
beautiful place.

DURAND: The last seven days
we ve camped by water,

and I have completely submerged
myself seven days in a row.

So I probably smell
the best, I d like to think.

JASON: If you go around the
bend, the lake spills out

into this amazing cascade
that falls probably

over a thousand feet into
Evolution Valley down below.

The view is stunning.

It's one of the prettiest I
think I ve seen on this trail so
far.

We showed up at Evolution Lake
and these two youngish kids show
up,

and they had these giant black
boxes on the back of their
packs.

Everyone was looking at that,
and we really wanted to know
what it was.

I m Kristen Stipanov.
I m 17 years old.

I m Tom.
I m her older brother. I m 23.

We re both from San Diego,
and having a blast.

In the boxes are canvases,
and what s in our backpacks

are just medium and cleaner, so
what we use to do all the
painting.

TOM: We just
started getting into oils,

and before this trip, actually,
we took a bunch of trips

to different art museums
on the East Coast to check out

the early pioneers in the
Hudson River Valley movement.

It s something for
us to aspire to.

We try to bring light into our
paintings as much as possible.

That s what makes it
so awesome out here.

KRISTEN: We wake up at 4:00.
It s still dark.

He makes breakfast, and then we
both roll out of bed and start
hiking

-around 5:30 at first light.
-Yeah.

KRISTEN: And we have such a huge
age difference that we didn t
really

get to know each other all that
much before just about a year
ago.

I m learning a ton just
by being around him.

He does everything
for me that I can t.

TOM: The challenges with
this trip are ridiculous,

and for us to be going over
these mountain passes

with ice axe and crampons with
120 pounds of combined art gear,

plus whatever else,
that s pretty crazy.

You know, it makes me proud to
see her doing some of this stuff

that, you know, I couldn t have
done when I was her age.

JASON: It s kind of film versus
paint, but it s still kind of a
common goal

to come out here and try
to just capture all of this

amazing, beautiful scenery
that s around us out here.

RIC:
You excited about today?

Uh... yeah, you know. I mean,
you re always a little worried.

You want to have a good day. You
want to feel good going over.

You don t want to, you know, get
sick or get, you know,
exhausted, but you know...

I m a little nervous about that
kind of thing, but I think it ll
be okay.

-This might be the earliest
we ve gotten out, right? --I
think so, yeah.

-Well, it hasn t happened yet.
-Yeah, that's true.

DAVE: This is rad.
This is the end of July.

We are walking on
a beautiful snow field,

with crystal blue ice
and water all around us.

This is amazing.

JASON: The hardest part about
going over Muir Pass for me was
that I kept postholing.

The first time I literally went
in straight to my waist,

and climbing out of a snow hole
with a 60-pound pack

is just really a
hard thing to do.

I had no faith that where
I was putting my foot

was going to be there once
I shifted my weight there.

After having done
that much of the trail,

it would have been horrible to
have to end it because of
injury.

-DURAND: How you feeling?
-Great, actually.

Muir Pass was just... long. It
just felt like it took forever
to get over...

-You did complain a lot.
-I wasn t even with you.

I was shooting gorgeous shots of
you and Dave cresting over the
sun cups.

DURAND: On the trail,
I was really impressed

with Ric s dedication
to getting the shot.

He would often run in front
of us or behind us and set up

the tripod or the dolly, and I
think it really came through in
the shots.

They re beautiful.

-Yeah! -Whoo-hoo!
-Good job.

-Yeah, man.
-Party at the Muir Hut!

We decided for the Muir Pass,
the homework assignment

would be to come up with
a haiku about John Muir.

So mine goes...
"Idyllic Muir Pass,

"with friends and snow
aplenty... Stone hut! Down we
go."

RIC (chuckling):
Nice, well done.

"With flowing white beard,

"small dog Spot
and wool blanket,

you hiked this cool..."

(laughing)

"John Muir would be proud.

Snow did not deter our
quest, majestic Sierras."

-Nice.
-Nice.

"He hiked it northbound,
we went the opposite way...

"Spirits"-- excuse me--
"Souls crossing today. "

DURAND:
Nice! Very poetic.

Okay. "Today on the trail, I
saw things of wondrous awe...

And felt things of ow!"

-(laughter)
-Nice.

Mine goes a little
something like this:

"Ol bearded John Muir...

Epic wanderlust you had.
Cheers in your honor."

-Nice!
-Whoo!

JASON: While I was sitting down
in the Muir Hut, which is this

amazing stone structure that was
built by the Sierra Club and the
CCC,

I struck up a conversation
with two older gentlemen,

Jim and Tip, and it turns out
they were doing eight days on
the trail.

I m Jim Slinger and I had done
the John Muir Trail 50 years
ago.

And maybe it'll be never again
here. You know? Those things
happen.

And so I wanted to go back over
Muir Pass on the 50th
anniversary

of the first time that
I went over Muir Pass.

50 years ago, I wanted
to do it just because

I knew that I liked
the mountains.

And I'd learned of the existence
of the John Muir Trail,

and it just seemed
like a fantastic trip.

We had minimal snow 50 years
ago. Nothing like this year.

This year the snow was much
heavier than 50 years ago.

It doesn t matter whether
there s a lot of snow or not,

everybody is very happy when
they get to the top of any pass.

We noticed these guys who were
carrying incredibly heavy
cameras,

and that did not seem like what
I would want to do on the Muir
Trail.

Well, each to their
own, you know.

The only thing that s the
same is the mountains.

The equipment is so different,
the food's so different.

Nobody purified water.
Nobody carried a stove.

Everybody just burned
wood, and that means

that if you don t think about
wood until you get there,

you have a significant travel in
order to get wood for your
campfire.

We didn t have a tent at all,

and I just really grew to like
sleeping under the stars.

I can remember after doing
my first Muir Trail trip

that I felt like I
was going home.

And I still feel that way when
I go into the wilderness.

Every day was a highlight.
I love being there.

The down was the most difficult
pass that we ve come off of.

It was a lot of snow.
Some route finding.

Snow bridges over rivers
that weren t real safe,

and we did really kind of have
to come together as a group for
that.

RIC: How s that working
for you, Durand?

The one great thing about Muir
Pass was on the backside

we were able to do
our first long glissading,

or as Durand has aptly
named it, "ass pass. "

-Ass path? Ass path.
-Ass path. Ass path.

(joyful shouting
and raucous laughter)

-(scream)
-Whoa!

(shouting)

(Opus Orange's
"Take Your Time" plays)

* This life is what
you make of it *

* So we're gonna make it up,
make it up as we go... *

This looks to be
an epic glissade.

* When I'm in the sunshine, got
myself a shadow, it goes
wherever I go... *

-Whoo!
-* So take your time

* 'Cause there's
always tomorrow *

* Let's live for today!

RIC:
Lift your feet on the bump!

(shouts)

What? Say it again into my good
ear. I can t hear you.

* I don't know,
we gotta find our way... *

11 1/2 hard miles.

DURAND: A tough 11 1/2.
Did you see the creature?

I m sorry, but we have to
sacrifice you to the beast.

-Okay.
-It must be fed!

(deep growling)

* Let's live for today!

DAVE:
Today we have a 13-mile day.

About another thousand feet
down, and then if we get the
whole 13,

about 2,000 feet
up on the Golden Staircase.

Dun-Dun-Dun!

DURAND:
Do it, Tank! Tank water no fear!

Oh!

Oh, that wasn t very Tank-like.
What is this, the Barbie Tank?

DAVE: Here it is--
we are making wagers

on making the next seven miles
over 2,600 feet of elevation.

Here are the rules. It s based
on when the third person gets to
camp

at Palisade... Lower
Palisade Lake.

Jen?

-Whoa.
-Wow

I'm gonna say...

Ah, geez.

DURAND: Oh, damn. That was some
"Price Is Right" undercutting
shit!

I m lowballing. I'm gonna...
I have faith in us.

Even though I m the slowest
one, I have faith in all them.

-Whoa!
-That's a lot of faith.

DURAND:
That is a bold guess.

DURAND: Right now, we are
on the Golden Staircase.

This is a heck of a climb
coming up here.

I think we re gaining
1,600 feet in about a mile--

maybe a little bit over a mile--
but it is pretty brutal.

JASON: You turn around when
you re going up that thing

and you look down the valley
at where you came from,

and it s just amazing-- the
peaks around there and
everything is so beautiful.

I really hope they never make
it easier to get to this place.

You need to earn that view.
You need to earn that place.

You keep thinking you ve
seen the most beautiful thing,

and then the next day comes and
you see something even more
beautiful.

It feels so grand,
so large and that was

probably the most
spectacular moment for me.

At some point we just came up
and we saw Palisade Lakes.

I think that was, by far,
my favorite campsite.

Way to go, Emmett.

The undisputed champion
of time-guessing...

(laughter)

The pride...
of Davis, California...

Jason, "the Irish-American
Hurricane," Fitzpatrick--

thank you very much--
within five minutes.

And I m really worried
about the self-esteem

of the rest of this group.
'cause no one was within

30 minutes of the time
and they were all long, so...

KELLY:
All long.

I feel great.

We ve reached an unfortunate
point in the evening where s
there s too much food.

Now it s become an eating
competition as we attempt to
finish this.

We all have to eat.

-I like your style.
-RIC: She s a good eater.

(laughter)

Whoo!

-Thanks, honey.
-My wife.

That s why I married her.
She s a good eater.

DURAND: As long as I live, I ll
hear waterfalls and birds and
winds sing.

"I ll interpret the rocks,
learn the language of floods,
storm and the avalanche,

and get as near the heart
of the world as I can.

John Muir.

I was naming all the passes and
Mather was actually a very, very
difficult one to do for me.

KELLY:
It was seriously scrambling,

You d have to sometimes, you
know, really pull yourself up on
something.

And trying to follow a guy doing
that, you know they have a much
longer reach,

and a bigger step, so it was
nice we could actually find

a route that was safe for both
of us, and watch out for each
other.

JASON: I felt pretty wretched
when we started out

that morning, but by the time
we got to the technical section,

you know I felt pretty good and
then when we go to the summit I
felt great.

-Mather was tough.
-Yeah.

This is really the crux
of it right here, Ric.

I thought that one honestly,
that was some of the most fun,
though.

I really like the pseudo-
mountaineering where, you know,

we re not actually roped up,
but going straight up the snow.

-You gots it?
-Yes, sir.

Yeah!

DAVE: It was our most technical
pass that we went up.

Lot of steep snow,
some scrambling involved.

DURAND:
First thoughts?

That was a hell of a climb.
(chuckling)

DURAND:
You go over the other side,

and the rocks actually crest
over the top of your head.

And it looks like it could
crumble on top of you, which is,
I mean...

-RIC: Intimidating.
-Yeah. A little intimidating.

And then, that s where Jason
made the mighty fine piece of
ass path.

Jason is merging our former ass
path with a brand-new section of
ass path.

It goes all the way
down the mountain.

I went down first, and because
I m the biggest I made a pretty
good...

pretty good channel
through the sun cups.

DURAND: I actually
ran back up the hill

so that I could do the
whole complete slide.

RIC:
Which was very ambitious.

DURAND: Scared the shit out of
me, but it was totally worth it.

Oww!

I think we all had
a pretty good time.

(thunder rumbling)

JASON: So we hadn t even
seen a cloud in nearly

a week and a half,
but coming over Mather

the thunder clouds rolled in and
we got our first rain on the
trip.

DAVE: Pinchot Pass
was our only experience

going over a pass with
potentially scary weather.

We started hearing the
thunderclaps, the sprinkles
started coming,

everybody was scrambling for
pack covers and rain jackets.

And by the time we got to
Pinchot Pass, there was no
hanging out.

RIC:
One of the unfortunate things

about the storm rolling in was
that we weren t able to shoot a
lot.

I was able to get a few GoPro
shots on the way back down,

and I know Jen was able to get a
few stills at the top of the
pass.

But you have to
protect your gear.

I mean, we want to get the
shots, but we also have to make
sure

that our cameras are going to be
around with us for the remainder
of the trip.

And so I was a little
disappointed that we didn t get
to shoot

as much as I would have
liked during that day.

RIC: Durand, I see you have
some rain gear on. Why is that?

-We think it might get sunny.
-(thunderclaps)

Uh, it was sort of... actually,
we started getting, uh...

some thunder coming
over Pinchot Pass.

Fortunately, there was no
lightning till, uh... we got
over,

and then we looked back
and there was a couple strikes--

I would say at most two miles
off the pass-- so that was a
little intense.

That might have been our longest
stretch of going without
stopping, I think.

You know, you hike for six,
seven hours straight--

a couple thousand up and then a
couple pretty hard miles down--

it s tough, it takes
its toll on you.

JEN: It did not just rain
on the way up to the pass.

-RIC: Yeah, it hailed.
-It hailed.

It did hail, that's right.

Make note.

JASON: One of the coolest
things we did on the trip

was cross the Woods Creek
suspension bridge.

I ve been looking forward to
this. This thing is bad ass!

You definitely don t see a lot
of suspension bridges that far
out in the wilderness,

so the Woods Creek suspension
bridge was a special moment.

It was raining, and it'd been
kind of a gloomy afternoon,

so crossing that bridge really
just cheered everyone up.

JEN:
We re riding out the storm.

We have, uh... four miles to
get up to Kearsarge Pass,

where we re meeting the mule
with our next cache drop...

-RIC: And?
-...and our four more friends.

(thunder rumbling)

RIC: We were really fortunate
to have a lot of sunny days,

so when the clouds did roll in
not only did it take its toll

on the solar charger, but also
on the general morale of the
group.

RIC:
Miss Izzy?

(whispers):
That s not a fair thing to ask.

Yes, of course I miss Isola.

I really love this trip, but...
I think I m ready to go back to
my life.

JASON: So I had slept most
of the day at Rae Lakes,

'cause it was raining pretty
consistently all afternoon.

But it did let up a little bit
at the end of the day, so I
grabbed my camera gear.

And Jen came along with
me and we went down

to the lake from our
campsite to get some shots.

It was just stunning.

The color of the sky,
the oranges, were just amazing.

So I fired off a couple of
shots, and I was pretty excited
about what I had.

So, I turned around and started
heading back up to camp to get
dinner.

And of course, I get halfway
back to camp, I turn around and
look

and all of a sudden it had
completely changed color.

From the beautiful oranges,
it had just turned into

these incredible pinks and reds
in the sky and it was reflecting
on the lake.

I think it was my favorite
shots I got of the entire trip.

JEN: On the way back from
shooting the sunset, we met a
dad who was

camping with his two kids, and
they offered us two Snickers
bars.

-KELLY: We re becoming very
primal. -(chuckling)

-Wild, ravaging animal...
-What the hell?

-Snickers! Get the torches!
-Snickers!

Going out on a hunt.

Hey guys, tell the truth. You
killed two campers for those
Snickers, didn t you?

Yeah, we did. We did.

KELLY: I would say that Glen
Pass worked out pretty well for
me,

because I didn t
make a wrong turn.

JEN: Ric gave me the directions
that she went one way, and I was
like,

"Well, if Kelly went that way,
that s the way I want to go."

KELLY: And I had totally
not gone that way.

No, so I rock-scrambled
on my own.

JASON: So that was how Jen got
her nickname, which was
Albuquerque.

You know, it s the whole
Bugs Bunny thing:

"I should have taken a
left-hand turn at Albuquerque. "

One of the fun traditions of a
thru-hike, as you re going to be
hiking

eight to ten hours a day, is to
hand out trail nicknames to help
pass the time.

Hey!

RIC:
The Captain!

DURAND: Hey, Captain
Lonely, what s going on?

You guys want to explain why,
uh... why I m The Missus ?

JASON:
'Cause you re fussy.

DURAND: I ve taken to calling
myself "The Ramen Shaman."

Our Sasquatch sighting.

Apparently, my trail name has
changed from The Missus to
Lost And Found.

Jason is a bit of a tank.

By the way, you ve
been dubbed The Loser.

If he were a Garbage Pail Kid,
his name would be Pacin
Jason.

Apparently, my new nickname is
Smee for wearing this cap.

(laughing)

We re really good at
handing out the nicknames,

but not necessarily
at having them stick.

I found fresh meat!

(chuckling)

DAVE:
Here fishy, fishy, fishy...

Our group of merry miscreants
has grown to 12 at this point.

-How was the hike over, guys?
-Great!

In our group of people that just
are joining us, we have

Paul Bessenbacher,
Kit Bessenbacher,

Anne Grossman, Kit s cousin
Pete and Bernie Chadwick.

BERNIE: We definitely came upon
a scene where we had some people

that looked like they had been
through a lot, and they were an
intimidating group,

-I think, because, uh, they...
-'Cause they were smelly.

They were smelly
and they looked like

they had some experience
that we didn t have.

(ukelele strumming
midtempo rhythm)

* Bottom of the sea
is where I m gonna be *

* 'Cause every time
I surface, I sink *

* It s a little bit dark
and a little too cold *

* And my lungs are
full of water, I think *

* But I ve gotten used to this,
if I come up I m gonna miss *

* All the things that I
never have to say... *

One of the cool things about the
new group-- A: It s just always
fun

to see fresh faces,
and have new conversations,

cause conversations get
really old after a while.

But also Paul and Bernie
were kind enough to play

some instruments for us by the
campfire which was really great.

JEN: So every day on the trail,
you hear another piece of lore.

There s two people
swept down the river,

or another person leaves the
trail because of snow blindness.

Or there s a solo hiker
from Japan-- Kazuyo.

She s doing the entire
trail by herself.

* I might open my
eyes underwater *

* 'Cause that s where the
salt blends in with the sea *

* That s where I m gonna be.

-(music fades)
-(cheering)

Right next to Anne and my tent,
a bear decided to pop his head
out.

If he starts moving
this way, get your bags.

It was awesome; he came really
close. First bear we ve seen
since Yosemite.

-And definitely the closest and
most active bear, so... -Yeah.

RIC: What are we doing today?
Last pass before...

Forester Pass is today.

We're going... up almost 4,000
feet over, uh, like six miles.

I think it s... I think
it's closer to 3,000.

-It's in-between... over six
miles. -3,000... Yeah, and
then...

And then we're gonna drop back
down to the bottom a couple
thousand feet,

for a grand total
of, math majors...

5,000.

RIC (chuckling):
Nobody s there.

DURAND: How far abouts
would you say it is

to get, uh, this last
thousand feet, Jen?

Oh, about a mile...
mile and a half.

RIC:
Jason, where we at?

We re about, uh... 600 feet
below Forester Pass.

Forester kicked my ass, uh...

The elevation seems to
really hit me each time.

There s actually people
up there right now.

JASON: Yeah, you can
see our friends, actually.

I think Bernie and Pete and Jen
and Ric are all up there on the
ridge.

RIC: Forester had all the
elements that we had been
dealing with up to that point.

It s like we d been
training for Forester.

PB: In retrospect, I should have
been concerned about Forester
Pass.

I don t think either of us knew
what we were getting into.

You told me something on the way
up here, that this is a first
for you, right?

-Yeah.
-How?

I ve never... I've never
been this high.

I ve never trekked across a
sketchy little trail across the
snow,

where I was imagining my body
flying... sliding down to that
lake.

It felt like real mountaineering
that we weren t really prepared
for.

-Emotionally.
-Emotionally and all this.

And, uh, we keep
asking these guys,

That was a hard one, right?
and they re like No, it wasn t
even close.

-Yeah... But it was.
-So...

-It was tough.
-Yeah.

Whoo!

That was good!

KELLY: Fear not to try
the mountain passes.

"They will kill care, save you
from deadly apathy, set you
free,

"and call forth every faculty
into vigorous, enthusiastic
action.

"Even the sick should try these
so-called 'dangerous' passes,

because for every unfortunate
they kill, they cure a
thousand.

John Muir.

Well, uh, today we are going
this way, south towards Guitar
Lake,

and then a little bit
east up to Guitar Lake

which is, uh... at about
11-five, I believe.

JEN:
Hi, Iz.

We are coming to
the end of our trip.

Walking through these
beautiful redwoods.

We currently have three days
until I see my daughter Isola,

and that s what's itching me--

to like just get up that
mountain right now to get back
down.

I have a three-month-old baby
at home, and I had

that instinct about preserving
that natural beauty

and just wanting to share that
and wanting to show that.

(strumming languid rhythm,
pebbles pinging on xylophone)

(indistinct conversations)

-This is, uh, Durand... yeah,
Guitar Lake. -Guitar Lake.

Durand has definitely done
a better job of jumping into

almost every water source that
we ve been near, but this is

-our last one before we climb...
-Mount Whitney, which is right
behind us.

-PB: Somewhere up there.
-Yeah, somewhere up there.

I think Mount Whitney is going
to be pretty damned tough.

Nothing's been easy
so far, and I don t expect

the biggest peak that we ve
hit so far to be any different.

I think it s going to be really,
really cold and dark tomorrow
morning,

and I m probably not going to be
the most pleasant individual,
but, uh...

-But what s different?
-Yeah, exact... yeah.

(lullaby-like rhythm plays)

BERNIE: We re excited
about coming out here

and bringing instruments that
were light enough to backpack
with,

and make some music on the
trail, and kind of be creative
with sound

and, um... see how the different
places we were camping would
inspire

different kinds of songs and
ways of playing and things like
that.

JEN: John Muir brought artists
out into the wilderness,

and because they were able to go
out there and capture its
beauty,

and bring it back to share with
others, people became invested
in that.

I just think if our project
does that for one person,

then we did exactly
what we set out to do.

DAVE:
What day is it?

It s the day we finish
the John Muir Trail.

It s just bittersweet.

I m glad that we made it and
I m glad that I m going to get

to go home to Dolores and
see my friends and my dog

and my cat, but I m... I'm gonna
miss our little trail family.

Yeah.

DAVE: Jason and I were
talking about it earlier today.

Both of us even got
nearly teary-eyed, um...

Yeah, thinking about the end.

DAVE:
You know, I will miss this.

This is remarkable, what s
surrounding us right now.

This isn t Everest, this isn t
some insane, crazy, you know,

eight-month adventure, but you
know it s a month and it s hard.

And you really form bonds and
you get really close to these
people.

The thought of that ending
is a very sad feeling.

-DAVE: Dorangutan, what s
happening? -Crushing it.

DURAND: I never thought I
would do a trail like this,

and the group of people
we ve been with, it's just...

I really just have not had this
much fun in quite some time.

If I could get paid to do this
for a living, I would do it.

RIC: The most spectacular
thing about this trip,

for me, has been challenging
myself, absolutely,

Doing things that I may not
otherwise feel comfortable
doing,

and at this point you ve done so
much you don t even think twice
about it.

JEN: I sort of go between
watching every single step

and trying to be in
the moment and rushing.

(chuckling)

We have so many things every day
that we can be proud of that we
did.

I ve got to savor this moment,
'cause it ll be gone.

We re on our last
two miles of the JMT.

I m actually a little sad.

Guess I better get to it.

(Opus Orange's
"Almost There" plays)

* So much time spent
in slow motion *

* Don't need to worry
about this commotion *

* You and I, we're going to
catch this light before it's
gone *

* Doo, doo, doo, doo-doo-doo,
doo, doo, doo, doo-doo-doo *

* Doo, doo, doo, doo-doo- doo,
doo, doo, doo, doo-doo-doo *

* Open your eyes,
open your eyes *

* Open your eyes

* 'Cause we're almost there

* Yeah, we're almost there!

-(joyful shouting)
-(laughter)

Yes!

DURAND:
Boozenbacher!

JEN:
Yay, Bernie!

(clapping and cheering)

Emmett!

-Nice job, man.
-Thanks, man.

-ANNE: How you feeling, Jason?
-Great!

(ukelele strumming,
rhythmic handclaps)

* On top of Mount Whitney
with the John Muir Crew *

* On top of Mount Whitney
with a bag full of poo *

* On top of Mount Whitney,
don t you wish you were, too? *

* On top of Mount Whitney
with the John Muir Crew. *

BERNIE: I m a little envious
that the rest of the group

was able to take the time
to do the entire trail.

We re kind of coming
on and experiencing

the last bit of it,
which is really exciting.

But it doesn t have that
full context and the sense

of completion that comes
from that, so I'm definitely

interested in looking at doing
the whole trail at some other
point.

RIC: It s tough to
make the commitment

to be away for this long
from your regular life.

And so, for each of us to make
that commitment, I m really glad
we did,

because it was far more
rewarding than I would have
imagined.

-DURAND: Hey, a lot of good
things start at bars. -That's
true.

A couple beers and brats and
you decide to do something epic.

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

* We ve been through
peaks and valleys... *

JASON: You don t need
to go to the Himalayas.

You don t need to
climb Mount Everest,

or go to the deepest jungles
of Africa to find adventure.

You can find it in
your own backyard.

RIC: I m hoping this will be
motivation for us to expose our
daughter

to things that we ve been
seeing over the last 25 days.

This is what makes life amazing,
and I want to share that with
her.

* ...with the John Muir Crew...
*

DAVE: When we re back in
Colorado, the packs are gonna go
in the garage,

and what we ll wind up talking
about is the experience

of being out here with the
people and things that we saw.

And there s not a lot
of people in the world

that are gonna get
to experience this.

And it s made that
much better by just...

the company you keep and the
people you decide to be with.

* Oh, with the John Muir Crew...
*

(shouting and whooping)

What more can you ask for?

It s an adventure.

* Following the thread,
chasing a passion *

* Tracing the steps
over every mountain *

* Picking up stories
along the way *

* Every step another turn,
and I m forever changed *

* It started with a plan,
should it be unraveled *

* I ll take it as I can along
the road less traveled... *

-The Captain's on the lam.
-Hiding from the police.

JASON (goofy voice): Once again,
it s time for yoga with Jen...

And Ricardo...

Breathe in... and breathe out.

DURAND: That looks like a hotdog
that just exploded on the grill.

Who wants lunch?

How s it taste, Gollum?

I feel like Steve Martin in
Planes, Trains and
Automobiles.

I want a (bleep) dry (bleep)
sleeping bag, right (bleep) now.

PB Suave.
Just think CIA. James Bond.

*...in the valley and at
the highest mountain *

* We're picking up
stories along the way *

* Every step another turn,
and I'm forever changed... *

(music fades)

(whispers):
Nice job.