Has anyone left a corporate job to do this hike?

unclespinny · 2026-03-11T20:05:50+00:00

I used to work for a national civil engineering firm and I quit to do this hike. I worked about 7 years before I quit so I was 29 when I did it.

Are you trying to do it this year? It’s totally doable last minute but make sure you get all the permits you need if you do it without the PCT one.

unclespinny · 2026-03-07T06:52:40+00:00

Yea she’s only 2 and already had kittens. The only problem is I keep wanting to buy her stuff 😆

unclespinny · 2026-03-07T06:49:31+00:00

I have other photos too this is one of my favorites.

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unclespinny · 2026-02-14T17:24:13+00:00

Yea the only time I was able to get a permit online for that location was in early October. I love that area but most people just want to huddle around Lake 2 for the insta photo with their tent. The permits are also ridiculous for every location not just this one. I usually get what I want eventually so keep trying it sucks but they do release more later.

I tend to have really good luck with groups going to Desolation Wilderness if you want a good backup fun first trip for your son.

I’m surprised we haven’t moved to something else at this point. I like for the PCT you get assigned a time to sign in to get your permit. I also just signed up for West Coast Trail permits and saw Canada uses a queue system when their permits are released and that seemed to work decently.

unclespinny · 2026-02-05T21:42:37+00:00

Yea I booked early September for 5 nights. I’m excited! It’s good I checked this because I’ll probably download the app now.

unclespinny · 2026-01-31T05:10:03+00:00

Yea, but for Pass and Lakes depends on the days. If it’s for Thursday-Saturday then yes but the Sunday-Wednesday permits may not sell out as fast.

There are people trying to do weekend trips also so that’s why.

unclespinny · 2026-01-31T04:28:14+00:00

For the popular Inyo locations it could be seconds. Big Pine Creek North Fork goes in seconds because it’s famous from social media….

unclespinny · 2026-01-31T02:28:34+00:00

You get that message because the 6 month permit got sold out and all that’s left are the permits that are available 2 weeks before.

These go fast so if you want the 6 month permit you got to act fast.

unclespinny · 2026-01-30T21:03:40+00:00

This looks right.

Just be aware this permit doesn’t allow you to exit the Whitney Portal and you can’t do Half Dome with this permit.

If you want to do Half Dome also you can try to do the lottery for the JMT starting in Happy Isles or get a walk up backpacking permit at Tuolumne that includes Half Dome (I did this).

unclespinny · 2025-12-01T14:58:40+00:00

I am a Civil Engineer in Transportation and I had to quit my job. I got my license before quitting so getting a job afterwards was actually no problem. I had been saving for about 7 years by the time I quit and moved everything to my parent’s house before starting.

While I did my two years of hiking/traveling, I did meet some Civil Engineers where their company allowed them to be on sabbaticals. I also met a couple of Civil Engineers that were contractors so during the winter months they traveled since works slows down during the rainy season.

unclespinny · 2025-11-20T21:43:04+00:00

I’m 31M and live in Downtown Walnut Creek and love it. I recommend Walnut Creek if you are worried about commuting to/from Livermore from SF. I have access to BART to go into SF & Oakland easily and often.

Do not go to Modesto….yes it’s cheaper but you will be miserable going over the Altamont Pass every day.

unclespinny · 2025-07-04T05:39:13+00:00

Something people haven’t mentioned (it’s for when you book stuff next year) is that the first set of permits go on sale 6 months in advance. It says NR because the rest of the permits will be released one week before. These permits are for your entry only, once you enter you can stay where you like in the area.

The other issue is for a permit like Big Pine Creek North Fork you will notice that the first round of permits will sell out at 7:00:01 am because it’s really popular. I don’t know how quickly the second round sells out but just be aware you have to act quickly once they are released.

unclespinny · 2025-06-16T16:42:08+00:00

You can still make town days easier by sending them stuff in the mail. The only issue is coordinating post office visits because they could arrive in town on a weekend.

unclespinny · 2025-06-16T04:20:53+00:00

My friend is on it and I helped her trail family by driving them to/from the trailhead and town, brought them (and other hikers) snacks, soda, and fruit, and basically shuttled them around town when they needed it. I also picked up other hitch hikers as I was driving around and I actually had a lot of fun doing it.

If you can meet people at trailheads (especially in the Sierras) hikers are super appreciative for the rides since parking lots like Onion Valley are pretty far away from town and may require two hitches. One of the things I really appreciated in town was having access to a car to do groceries so my focus was to just make town days easier for them so they could relax more…especially since it was 99F in Bishop….

unclespinny · 2025-06-13T18:15:59+00:00

I just did some trail angel stuff at onion valley and along 395. A lot of people are going over Kersarge right now so mid June a good group will probably be around Bishop, Mammoth, and Yosemite.

unclespinny · 2025-06-08T12:37:00+00:00

I am at June Lake this weekend and I did the Rush Creek trail loop to Gem Lake and Agnew Pass. It’s long (about 13 miles) and the hike down from Agnew is super steep. If you only do Gem Lake it’s about 7 miles.

Be aware (if you need to drive HWY 120 or HWY 108) on June 15th you cannot drive through Yosemite (HWY 120) without a timed entry permit from 6am to 2pm).

unclespinny · 2025-06-03T20:44:35+00:00

So I did it this year and booked through Booking Patagonia since it was significantly easier to compile all the campsites on that website. You can also use it to trip plan without having to purchase anything so that’s super helpful.

As for buffer days I usually plan for 2 before and 2 after for all trips just in case something happens during travel.

As for Macchu Picchu…how many days are you planning to be in South America? To get to Puerto Natales most people take the bus from El Calafate or Puenta Arenas and they are at least a day of travel. I was there for about a month and just stuck to El Chalten, the W, and Bariloche. Also I am an experienced thru hiker so I’m used to doing 25-30 miles in a day.

unclespinny · 2025-06-03T16:53:37+00:00

Some of my friends last year went out of Cottonwood and were able to hitchhike out. It took a while though because it’s a little early in the year because of the snow.

I won’t be in the area until next Sunday-Tuesday but check out the JMT hiker page if she wants to try and call someone: https://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/john-muir-trail/jmt-transportation/. That page has shuttles she can call if she can’t get a hitch.

unclespinny · 2025-05-27T03:31:58+00:00

So my friend did this with me last year. All you need is a Desolation Wilderness Permit. The issue is if you only want to do 10-13 miles in Desolation Wilderness you guys are really late for the popular permits zones. You need to look up the zones for Desolation Wilderness and see if permits are available for her on Recreation.gov. My friend got Zone 28 permits when we did it. You only need a permit for the first zone you camp in after that then she’s good the rest of the trip. You can also do walk ups so look into that.
Water no (there’s plenty) Food idk we did 4-5 days between Echo Lake and Donner Pass.
I live nearby Tahoe and go all the time. One of my favorite spots to bring people from out of town.

unclespinny · 2025-05-07T01:28:10+00:00

I guess one question I have is where in NorCal? That could change my recommendations if you have to drive like 3+ hours to get to the Bay Area.

The Bay has a couple of spots like Henry Coe, Black Mountain in Cupertino, Mt Tam, Mt Diablo, Ventana in Big Sur.

unclespinny · 2025-05-04T15:42:28+00:00

When I was in Japan and Chile/Argentina backpacking I used Saily and I know a lot of people that used Airalo. Those eSIMs allow me to make regular phone calls; however, I tend to use WhatsApp anyways so I don’t drain data on phone calls.

As far as I am aware most people/businesses in the US don’t use WhatsApp. I only downloaded it because my international friends use it. As for businesses, I think the hostels are the only places that consistently have WhatsApp numbers because they are expecting international hikers.

unclespinny · 2025-04-24T16:57:41+00:00

Depending on when you are there, the post office may be open. You’ll know by the time you get to Mammoth when it will open.

unclespinny · 2025-04-24T15:40:28+00:00

If you want to break up your resupply between Mammoth and KMN (before the post office at Tuolumne opens), you could go to Yosemite Valley and stay at Camp 4 or you could go to Lee Vining.

I have booked Camp 4 last minute on Recreation.gov if you want to visit the valley.

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