“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.”—John Muir
Many people hike the trail in the Sierras named after the famous naturalist, preservationist and spiritualist John Muir, but how many can say they did it at the age of 82?
Morgan Hill’s Joanne Rife can.
Hiking the John Muir Trail is quite a feat when one considers the elevation begins at 4,000 feet at the northern trail end in Yosemite to the summit of Mt. Whitney at the southern end at about 14,500 breathtaking feet. With six mountain passes over 11,000 feet, the trail is about 211 miles long; but that does not include the hiking required to get to the Trail.
But Joanne is a seasoned Sierra backpacker who had attempted hiking Mt. Whitney several times previously.
She and her husband Ed, who moved to Morgan Hill in 1979, backpacked into the wilderness with their three children, Susan, Dan and Chris until they were in their 40s. Dan, the youngest, continued the tradition with his own backpacking trips into the Sierras.
Known as “Sherpa Dan,” he wanted to do something special with Joanne for her 70th birthday so, on a three-day trip, they successfully conquered Yosemite’s Half Dome.
Sherpa Dan then convinced Joanne, a once avid bicyclist who rode across the country in 1992 with her husband, to take a journey on the John Muir Trail.
Between vacations and availability of family members, the journey was broken into four separate hikes over a period of four years, with each hike taking a week-plus to complete.
The first leg of the journey was from Yosemite to Devils Postpile in 2011. That portion was followed in 2012 by Devils Postpile to Muir Ranch, Muir Ranch to Kearsarge Pass in 2013, and finally in 2014, Kearsarge Pass to Mt. Whitney. Each journey required additional hiking to reach or disembark from the trail, to or from the closest portal, which Joanne calculated to be about 44 extra miles.
All or a combination of family members took part in these journeys, including son Dan Rife from Bend, Ore., son Chris Rife from Watertown, Mass. and daughter Susan Rife, her husband Steve Kreidler and their son, Aaron, from Sarasota, Fla.
“The third leg of the journey, Muir Ranch to Keasarge Pass, was the most stunning, yet hardest of the hikes,” Joanne said. “It had the most spectacular scenery and was very isolated. The mountain passes were awe-inspiring as they open up to you in a fantastic way.”
Joanne was not allowed to carry more than 15 pounds in her backpack, but it was still difficult to hike the terrain.
“I kept putting one foot in front of the other and I made it,” she said.
According to Joanne, there were only a couple of complications during the journeys.
At one point, a 4-foot-long rattlesnake found its way into their campsite and on the Mt. Whitney hike—the final leg on the John Muir Trail—Mother Nature was not kind. The group started the hike at 3 a.m. and when they reached Mt. Whitney Crest, known for its spectacular views, a winter-like storm had moved in. According to Joanne, lightning, thunder, horizontal snow and hail rained down, and without shelter, they huddled together against the steep granite mountain.
In fear for their lives, Sherpa Dan concluded it would be impossible to reach the summit, so, he led the family down to the Trail Camp (about 12,000-feet elevation) for shelter.
Joanne said the next morning, sunshine and blue skies reigned over Mt. Whitney and the Summit was conquered, bringing an end to the journey of the spectacular John Muir Trail.
“The people you meet on the trail are wonderful,” she said. “I’ve met people from Australia, Italy, England and New Zealand. They all have a common interest in hiking this trail, but they all have different experiences that they love to share. We always stop and talk.”
Because Joanne took her time hiking, her family members often met people ahead of her on the trail. They’d share information about her and her journey, so by the time the other hikers met Joanne, they know quite a bit about her.
After conquering the John Muir Trail, what is Joanne’s next momentous journey? Only she and Sherpa Dan would know.
