James Johnson

The Road to Whitney James Johnson

"By the time the rain turned to snow, my jeans weighed as much as the bear canister sitting upon James' backpack. Unfortunately, the snow was no reprieve from the wetness of the rain. In fact, the snow added another element to our trip. Not only was the trail now mud but the snow made the trail slick. Maybe not for James in his trail rated hikers, but certainly for me in my downtown, Trailgear, Christmas presents. My feet would have been just as protected in the box that housed the shoes. Onward we pressed. The bravado was still strong. We marched up the trail, and I sometimes slid back and marched on again. Besides making the trail slick, another fine attribute of the snow was its ability to accumulate. It amassed on my head, my hands, and my backpack. Rule number 2 was taking a beating. So, like the rain before it, it wasn't too long before I was cursing the snow. Fortunately, like the rain, we didn't have to put up with the snow forever."James Johnson and I, Cameron Williams, decided to test ourselves by entering the woods for a weekend with only what we could carry on our backs. Although, as the above passage depicts, the first test was a complete failure, we were so enthralled by the experience that we decided to try again, and again, and again..... Three years and multiple trips into the woods later, we sat atop the highest mountain in the contiguous United States. This book chronicles our multiple failures, our few successes, and the lessons we learned by trial and error over those three years. This book can and should be used as a backpacking guide as well as a trail guide for some of the most spectacular trails in the western United States. But at it's core, this book is a tale of two average guys that achieved more than they thought they could and along the way, forged an unbreakable friendship.