Okay, so my original plan for this year was to go to Japan and spend three weeks hiking in the Japan Alps and maybe climb Fuji for the 3rd time. Since Japan isn't allowing tourists to enter the country right now and it's hard to plan for a big trip like this when I have no way of knowing if they'll open up by July/August, I'm going to have to postpone this for the 3rd year in a row.

So, I was focusing on Sierra Nevada treks and hikes for my backup plans. Those plans are now needed.

First, I have a July 2nd Tuolumne Meadows permit that started as a loop around the northern part of Yosemite, but has morphed into a possible NOBO PCT section hike as far as Highway I-80.

Second, I just got a July 25th permit from Whitney Portal in the lottery. That would likely be a NOBO JMT trek.

And as backup, I did get a Shepherds Pass permit in mid August and a Cottonwood Pass permit in September.

Baring me winning the lottery or getting fired from my job, I can't do it all.

3 weeks going from Tuolumne Meadows to Highway I-80 and then hightailing it down south to do the JMT NOBO trek would be an impressive feat for me (and probably impossible).

I could shorten the PCT section hike to 2 weeks and stop at Echo Summit, spend a week recovering from that (maybe doing some work ), and then doing the JMT NOBO. I could always do the Desolation Wilderness to I-80 hike separately in the future since the start and exit are pretty easy to access. That's pretty aggressive for me, but I may be able to survive it and convince my boss for the time off.

Alternately, I can do the 3 weeks PCT section hike, then do Shepherds Pass (Williamson, Tyndall, Whitney, Muir (and maybe Russell)) mid-August. A little less extreme.

The September Cottonwood Pass is a long shot (fires could be an issue), but is just in case I can't manage some of the other big treks and want to end summer with some sort of challenging hike.