jmt-blogs

Got Gear?

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:37:36 +0100

Soon I will be weighing all my gear courtesy of the digital scale in the mail room at work. When I am done, I’ll post the the individual weights and totals by category. I am making a conscious effort this year to minimize my pack weight without giving up too much camp comfort. The older I get, the more serious I get about minimizing the weight, simplifying my meals, and enjoying the trail more. I don’t plan on spending lots of money this year on new gear, but I do have a birthday in June. REI gift cards are always appreciated!

Batteries Not Included

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:37:52 +0100

When I started backpacking, the only technology I took with me was a camera. It was a Pentax MX manual SLR camera with a few rolls of Kodak slide film. My inspiration was Galen Rowell and I studied his amazing photos of the high sierra with great admiration. Every year I take a camera with plans to take amazing pictures of the high sierra. I have yet to come home with pictures that match my memory of the mountains.

Last year I took a camera, video camera, GPS, a notepad, mp3 player, voice recorder, flashlight, and a deck of cards...all functions included on my cellphone. I only used the phone on Bear Ridge, just south of Edison Lake and on the summit of Mt. Whitney.
I have hiked with and without music and I'm thinking of hiking without music this year. My thought right now is limit the technology to a camera and try once again to capture that magic moment in the "range of light."

Hiking Poles

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:38:15 +0100

When I first started hiking the John Muir Trail 25 years ago, no one used trekking poles. Now it seems like everyone has them. Last year people I met on the trail seemed surprised when they saw me hiking without poles.I have resisted the trend, but this year, I plan to use poles. I have found them to be helpful, especially on the steep downhill sections. I have a pair I bought many years ago for mountaineering, but I am looking for the lightest pair I can find that still collapse or fold up. I’m trying not to add much weight and still get the benefit of poles for the downhill. I doubt I will use them much the rest of the time.

The JMT Effect

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:41:59 +0100

After hiking the JMT the first time about twenty five years ago, I quit my job the first week I returned to work. My wife was pleasantly surprised, and said, “I was ready for a change months ago, what took you so long?” While nothing that dramatic has happened after my subsequent hikes on the JMT, I still think I return a changed and hopefully better man each time I spend time in the mountains. It is the place where I feel closest to God, hear His voice clearest, and recognize things in my life that need to change. I have had the opportunity to minister to people I meet on the trail and one person I met on the John Muir Trail contacted me a year later and asked me to be the minister at his wedding. It was a wonderful experience meeting his fiance and his family and performing their wedding.

Cost Per Mile (CPM)

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 03:38:52 +0100

No long distance backpacking trip plan would be complete without a “cost per mile” estimate. Based on experience from previous trips, I estimate my cost for hiking the JMT at $536 ($33.50 per day) or $2.54 per mile. This includes transportation, lodging (one night before and after), food (on and off the trail), supplies, and resupply expenses. (It does not include the cost for gear or clothing.) I will keep track of my actual expenses and update this post after the trip. Approximately half of the total cost is food. Freeze dried meals and other food items popular on the trail are not cheap. I estimated a little high because I plan to cover some of the shared costs for my hiking partner. I think it could easily be done for under $2.00 per mile if someone was on a tight budget. I’d love to hear from other hikers on their cost for the JMT.

Hiking Partner

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 03:07:45 +0100

So what are the qualities I am looking for in a hiking partner?

Loves to hike for hours and hours.

Good conversationalist on any topic.

Plays cribbage or other card games.

Can make a campfire with wet wood.

No snoring or farting in the tent please!

Can tell jokes or riddles and will laugh at mine.

Can eat oatmeal every day for 14+ days.

I hiked the JMT with a programmer from Intel two years ago. I really enjoyed hiking with him, and we had lots of fun on the trail and around the campfire at night. But when it came to telling jokes, he couldn’t think of even one joke. I teased him about being so serious, and then one evening he says, “I remember a joke” and begins to share the following. Today it is my favorite backpacking joke. Sometimes I tell it to strangers I meet on the trail.

There was a bear taking a dump in the forest when a rabbit hopped by. The bear said, "Hey, rabbit, does poo stick to your fur?" "No," said the rabbit. "That's great!" said the bear as he picked up the rabbit and wiped his butt with him.

The Nicest People

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:38:25 +0100

I have hiked the JMT solo, with a friend, with someone I met on the internet and with someone I met on the trail after starting solo. All of them have been good experiences. I have hitchhiked from several trailheads, and enjoyed the generosity of strangers. I have met the most interesting people on the trail and only once did I ever feel uncomfortable when meeting another hiker. Most of the people I meet while hiking are intelligent, educated, friendly, and adventurous. Like me, most have a career, a family, and a healthy lifestyle. They go hiking for some of the same reasons I do...for the adventure, the challenge, and the joy of experiencing God's creation first hand. I read somewhere that the desire for wilderness is a disease of civilization. If that makes any sense to you then you'll have some idea of the kind of people you are likely to meet in the mountains. And if you think the mountains are only for young people, think again, there are many retired people, both men and women, hiking at their leisure since time is not an issue for them. I am hoping to retire someday and hike the entire Pacific Crest Trail...all 2,650 miles of it.

Fear Not

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:06:07 +0100

What do you call a bear with no teeth?

A gummy bear!

One of the common questions I'm asked is about the dangers of backpacking. For someone who has been robbed at gunpoint in my own driveway, I can tell you I feel safer on the trail than I do in a mall parking lot after dark. Cumulatively, I have spent almost a year in the wilderness. Yes I have seen a few snakes and bears, but the emphasis is on the word few. I am reminded of a quote by John Muir, “In my first interview with a Sierra bear we were frightened and embarrassed, both of us, but the bear's behavior was better than mine." Yes there are risks associated with backpacking, but most can be minimized with the right equipment, knowledge, and experience. When I hike alone I try to stay on maintained trails so if something happened, it wouldn't be too long before someone found me. I am careful when crossing rivers and use a bear canister to store my food safely from animals. And no...I don’t carry a gun.

Wilderness Permit

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 03:07:17 +0100

Below is the confirmation I received for a Yosemite wilderness permit. (Personal information removed.) We will pick up the actual permit on Sunday, August 4th. Awesome!

This confirms your reservation for a wilderness permit for the following trip.
Permit ID: XXXXX
Entry Date: 08/05/2013
Entry Trailhead: Happy Isles->Sunrise/Merced Lake (pass through)
Exit Date: 08/22/2013
Exit Trailhead: Whitney Portal
Number in Party: 2
Number hiking Half Dome: 0
Number of Stock: 0
You must camp beyond Little Yosemite Valley and Moraine Dome. Bears have obtained food from backpackers in this area.There are bear lockers at Merced Lake backpackers camp.

A Revelation

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 03:07:09 +0100

With no plans to hike the John Muir Trail ever again, I put away my gear and the “how to” books and decided that if I couldn’t hike the JMT, I would experience it vicariously. I searched the library and bookstores for books about other people’s experience on the trail. I found a biography by Gene Rose entitled “High Odyssey.” It tells the story of Orland Bartholomew, who in 1928, was the first person to travel from Mt. Whitney to Yosemite in the winter. His journey closely followed the John Muir Trail, which wasn’t officially completed until 1938. I read narratives written by people who hiked the John Muir Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Appalachian Trail. I read wild and inspiring stories of climbing high mountains in faraway places. And in the process of reading, I learned something that a "how to" book could never teach me. I learned that pain, cold or hunger, feeling tired or lonely, fear and sometimes even danger are all normal parts of the experience. I learned that part of the joy of backpacking is experiencing and overcoming the challenges that come with it. And so, with a quiet determination and new attitude, I set out the next summer to hike the John Muir Trail. I am pleased to report I completed the trail in 13 days and my life was never the same. Today I have over 100 books in my mountaineering library...very few are “how to” books.