John Muir Trail Thru-Hike - Anyone Inter ested?

“Hey Scott..I have the Bearikade weekender..carry it everywhere now..love it..it is worth the price promise..would like to see you again..”

“they have good customer service too. not only do they sell them, they rent them. i had bought the expedition, decided it was too big after one use, so i couldnt return it for a refund, so i wrote them and asked if i could send it back and just treat it like a rental and have me pay the daily fee for the days i had it, and send me the weekender instead. they said sure no problem. i liked that. hassle-free. i broke the steel lanyard that keeps the lid with the canister, but im hard on gear, and i like it better without anyway”

“CB, I have the Bearikade Expedition. I'm for frequent resupplies, too, although I expect it'll get pricey. I'm reading your AT journal - lots of fun.

TG, Landscaper will maybe come, but probably not. He thinks he has to work. I'm working on our son to take over his work for him.......... I wish you could come, too.

Pros, I'm looking forward to some good stories.”

“at a glance, it appears the itinerary you have planned is straight from the guidebook, with day 16 broken up into two days. those pictures from the book make me very excited”

“Yup cb, it fit our 21 day time frame perfectly. We decided after the fact to split the 16 mile day into 2 days so that camp location has not been decided yet.”

“Gforce...coming from the low East coast, you may want to allow 1-2 days at altitude for altitude acclimitization before you start the hike.

Good luck on your hike!”

“gforce is such a megahiker he wouldnt need to acclimate if he was in the alps!”

“Uh oh, I'm going to be eating dust again.”

“Got our permits, got our permits, got our permits, got our permits............”

“make that the himalayas!”

“I got the official USDI reservation confirmation in the mail today . . . now if I can only shake off this flu.”

“hey gforce what are you doing this weekend?”

“Sounds like he's shaking off the flu...........”

“Jerry and I were hiking in our local state park today. At the top of the mountain, we overheard some people talking backpacking, so we joined in. Then, someone else joined in and mentioned that he is hiking the JMT this summer. Turns out he leaves the day after we do, but will spend the first night at Sunrise, so we'll be there the same night. He also plans on around 21 days, but may finish sooner. We ended up finishing our hike together.”

“I see someone on the trip list going by the name Sunshine1. Is this Sunshine from the U.P.?”

“Wow, who is Sunshine 1 and where is s/he coming from? A harbinger of good weather. Maybe s/he e-mailed Gforce. There are no posts here.”

“Wow, that'd be an awesome trip. I'd love to do the Muir Trail sometime, maybe I'll copy your itenerary for later ;-)”

“Gforce pretty much got the itinerary from the Castle book he lists on the Trips page. It's a neat book. The author is English, and the book talks about things to be aware of that are different from over there. It gives an outsider's view of CA.”

“nope, I havn't received any e-mails. I'll check with the two others that I know of who were thinking about the trip.

Just a little more than three months away . . . :)”

“Is this trip still on? . . . just kidding . . . :) Just 13 weeks from Monday and we'll be heading west!

I checked with the other two and they did not sign up as sunshine1. Must be a troll.

I've got all my gear now . . . I think . . . anybody started on meals?”

“I know Prosecutor is looking forward to this trip..we were talking about it last week-end while in the Black River State Forest...it sounds like it's going to be an amazing trip..I think he'll even take pictures..I'm sure you will gforce..where have you beenhiking, lately...weren't you preparing to do a long hike when I saw you last fall?”

“MH - I was sidelined by a nasty virus and then surgery early in the year. I've been out twice on the Tecumseh Trail in the past month . . . going to Deam Wilderness tomorrow. I want to try for a 50 mile day sometime in the next month - before it gets too warm. I'm hoping to make the Upper Iowa River canoe trip too.”

“I have all my equipment. Meal planning is in progress, and I will ship out my food and fuel for the resupply points by mid-June.”

“gforce, it would be great to see you in Iowa so do try and make it..do you kayak or canoe? Glad you're feeling better...50 mile day, huh? I would find doing a tenth of that a full day..LOL..did you see my post about geeky, lightweight tablewear?
http://www.gearreview.com/flatworld_orikaso.php

It certainly is light and packs well..I've been playing with it all week-end..”

“that is cool!!!! but uh...I usually just eat out of my cooking pot :)”

“So it's time to start counting weeks? And then days. Crash Bang should get his flight plan arranged.

I haven't hiked a 50-mile day since back I was a kid and 50-mile hikes were the thing. And this and last weekend, I've been doing gardening rather than hiking. But I will be in shape, I promise.”

“Hey, were two of you guys out at Paradise Lake last week? and bumped into hikerDuane? He said he bumped into two guys heading out on the JMT a couple days after me, thought it may be a part of your group.”

“Nope, I don't think that was any of our group. What day do you begin your hike?”

“i REALLY REALLY REALLY hate like hell to do this, but i have to pull out of this trip

i got back from thru-hiking the AT with no money, no job, no apartment. I was bouncing around from crappy dead-end job to crappy dead-end job. so i figured it wouldnt hurt to drop out of society for a few weeks again come august, i could always pick up a crap job when i came back. well, last week i started a decent paying job with a little bit of a future. i dont have any business quitting that with the job market in the tank right now. so, im going to hold on to it.

also, with my dad having passed away recently (the first day of the hike will be exactly 6 months), i dont think mom is ready to be alone for 3 weeks (i have no siblings).

so, as depressing as it is, im out. have fun, y'all”

“i look at it this way. i told gary i was going to look at it as a win/win situation. by august, either i will have a decent job, or im hiking the jmt with you.”

“Hey, CB, I'm sorry not to have the opportunity to get acquainted, but the JMT will always be there. It sounds like your heart is in the right place for your mom. And with a decent job, you could even work up to a vacation with pay.”

“if it hadnt been for the job, i still might have gone. i just would have felt guilty about it. at least, until i saw that first glorious mountain!”

“We are starting on the 30th, out of Tuolumne. I think our schedule keeps us a couple days ahead of you the whole trip. But if you see a woman with a twelve year old (who looks like she's 16;) then say hi! I'll also be using my pink and purple backpack for this trip, pretty much gives me away every time.”

“CB - you're going to miss a fantastic trip, but I would have made the same decision. Wannabp is right, the JMT will always be there.

paige - too bad our paths won't cross. If you decide you want to hold back for a couple of days you know our schedule. A pink and purple backpack should not be too hard to pick out . . . :) Good luck on your trip!”

“Crash Bang, fly out on the week ends and do a few sections with us.”

“I would love to have gone on this trip. Stupid job getting in the way of backpacking!”

“Paige, I tried to e-mail you thru your website. Undeliverable.”

“hey wannabp, paigefalk@sbcglobal.net

I am unable to access my website to change it, it was a freebee so I am not stressing too much.”

“I made the final revisions to the schedule on the trips page. I've been thinking about this trip for sooooo long it's hard to believe there is only 2-1/2 weeks before we begin.”

“Here’s a breakdown of our major passes on the trip and when we will cross them. A good link for the trail conditions on most of the passes around 7/4 is:
http://www.pct2005.com/dispatches/conditions/

Cathedral Pass – 9,700’ on 8/4

Donohue Pass – 11,056’ on 8/6

Silver Pass – 10,900’ on 8/11

Seldon Pass – 10,900’ on 8/14

Muir Pass – 11,955’ on 8/16

Mather Pass – 12,100’ on 8/18

Pinchot Pass – 12,130’ on 8/19

Glenn Pass – 11,978’ on 8/20

Forester Pass – 13,180’ on 8/21

Mt. Whitney – 14,496’ on 8/23

Right now, Donohue Pass is the one that would concern me the most since it is very early in the trip. Maybe we can get a conditions report from a ranger station before we leave. Hopefully, the higher passes in the last week of the trip will have plenty of time to melt down before we get there.
last edited: 7/13/05 4:39:34 PM”

“gforce, I think Donahue is probably one of the easier ones even with all the snow. It's really rather gradual with no serious drop-offs along the trail. The stream crossings may be a different story along that streatch though. One PCT hiker made it through without crampons.”

“We're off to the airport to pick up Gforce and Prosecutor. Sunshine is meeting us in Yosemite. We start tomorrow morning. TR and photos coming in late August!!!”

“Wow! Already...have a great trip!”