John Muir Trail Thru-Hike - Anyone Inter ested?

“Prosecutor and I are planning to start our thru-hike of the John Muir Trail on August 6, 2005. Anyone interested in joining us can check out the trip plan on the trips page. We are going to limit the group size to a total of 4 . . . so there is room for two more to join us.

The only thing left to plan for the trip is shuttling between the north and south end of the trail and where we will plan for food resupply. Any help or suggestions on this . . . especially from the left-coasters . . . will be greatly appreciated!”

“Gforce, man I would LOVE to do this hike with ya!!! No can do though, have a great trip and I look forward to the details!”

“awww come on birch, I'm sure sass wouldn't mind you taking a little vacation . . . :)”

“I've been wanting to get out there.

Depends on what my work situation looks like - too far in advance to plan.”

“what happened to thruing the AT next year?”

“what happened to thruing the AT next year?

I've got to get my daughter out of college before that is going to happen.”

“What a temptation! The seed has been planted.”

“What a temptation! The seed has been planted.”

“Unfortunately I won't enough time off next summer to do this trip - My best friend's getting married so I'll be flying out to Boston for the wedding. I hope you guys have fun!”

“Been there, done that! It was a trip of a lifetime! You will have the time of your life! (There are few things that compare to the experience of a thru hike)

Here are the photos of mine:

http://community.webshots.com/user/wld257”

“I'll gladly help out on a resupply with an entry on the east side of the Sierra.”

“Cool, you guys. And... gforce and prosecutor are such a nice couple. :-)










LOL! Couple a whats??!? ;-P”

“Thanks for the link to your pics WLD! I really shouldn't have looked at them because it only makes me want to go NOW! BTW, I love your "JMT Tourist" theme . . . :)

Bummer you can't go BearCrossing . . . especially since it's in your back yard! It would be great if you, or anyone, could join us for a weekend . . . I'm sure we'll stick to what turns out to be our final schedule.

That would be great if you could wingding! Do you have anything specific in mind?”

“Oh, lizs you disappoint me . . . here I thought you would be the FIRST to sign up for this trip! ;) Just think of the endless photo ops that will be lost, butt then again . . . :) lol!”

“I wasn't sure if I would like "thru-hiking" since I prefer to take trips into remote areas and explore the crud out of a basin or two. But hiking the JMT in one-fell-swoop was such an amazing and incredible and remarkable and astounding and wonderful and marvelous and and mind-boggling and staggering and astonishing and fantastic and unbelievable and tremendous adventure that I can't think of enough words to describe it. You'll love it. You won't always love it at the time, but you'll love it. Take plenty of film or digital memory with you. You'll get carpal tunnel syndrome in your camera-clicking finger by the end of the trip, but it's worth it. Pooping for a month straight in the High Sierra is worth it alone. Cherish the memories.”

“Take plenty of film or digital memory with you. You'll get carpal tunnel syndrome in your camera-clicking finger by the end of the trip, but it's worth it. Pooping for a month straight in the High Sierra is worth it alone. Cherish the memories.”
Buck
5:40:44 PM

This is funny but true. I saw just as much wildlife while taking that casual stroll with the orange shovel and TP. That I began taking my camera with me!”

“I wish I could..can't think of 2 men I'd rather hike with...and, scheesh, neither of you are photography nuts..I'm countin' on you gforce! I don't recollect ever seeing Prosecutor with a camera although I know he has one....he responded to the video thread..
last edited: 11/29/04 6:08:36 PM”

“I've done both the AT and JMT hike and I will say I saw much more breathtaking vistas and animals, in the first week on the JMT than my 5 months on the AT. You're going to dig it but take it slow. Take a minimum of 3 weeks to do it. WSDavies and I were doing 20+ miles a day and I kind of regret it now. It's was over before I knew it.”

“I think I may start doing the JMT one section at a time, starting with the Sierra Rondezvous next July.

You will have a great time! Perhaps others will volunteer to resupply you.

wingding - you going in Shepherd Pass to resupply them at Tyndal?”

“Thanks to all for the encouragement! After hiking all 272 mi. of the Long Trail in VT I understand very well the love/hate relationship you build with the trail on a long distance hike. That trail, especially the northern part, was so tough, but, yet, when I finished it left such a feeling of "emptiness" . . . and I really wanted to go back for more.

Rockman we have it planned for 21 days plus one zero day at Vermillion Valley Resort. (The schedule is on the trips page) The only thing I can say is the trail is still there . . . and there's no law that says you can't go back and hike it again at a more enjoyable pace.”

“Phil: I think I'd prefer Kearsarge Pass for a resupply. :)”

“Yolu will probebly want to add on an extra day or two for 0's :) Trust me on that!”

“wingding - according to our plan we'll be passing the trail junctions to Kearsarge Pass and staying in Vidette Meadows on the 23rd, which is a Tuesday. Would doing this on a Tuesday work for you?

Nicole I'd like to add many zero days, but . . .”

“You really only need one resupply on the JMT, and that would be either at Vermilion Resort of the Muir Trail Ranch. Both are nearby and only a mile or two off the trail. We used Vermilion and that was our only needed resupply. Trying to resupply between Vermilion and Whitney is a major undertaking.”

“I can't quit looking at this thread and daydreaming. Wondering about everyone's hiking style, etc. I pretty much know the left coasters, but not the no-coasters..........”

“I'll have you know I have Lake Superior AND Lake Michigan AND the mighty St. Croix River, lol.”

“I won't be back from my Glacier National Park trip on the 23rd of August, so this won't work for me. If the date changes, let me know.”

“wingding - if we move the date it will be earlier, but that was extremely nice of you to offer!

wannabp - I've hiked with people from all over the country and haven't noticed any "regional" differences in style . . . individual differences . . . yes. Is there something specific you want to know when you refer to style? I'm usually a rather fast hiker when I go solo, but when I'm with a group I hike with the group . . . at least with those that want to . . . and those I can keep up with . . . :)”

“Ah, Snake Eyes, so sorry. I didn't know lake sides were considered coasts. When I was growing up in the Midwest, we talked about the East Coast and the West Coast, but never the Ozarks Coast.”

“I hiked it solo in '02, you will have an excellent time! Buck sums it up perfect above!

Gforce, after the LT, you will not have any trouble hiking the JMT. The trail itself was "easy" on my knees. Relatively speaking that is-not much in the way of scrambles (passes excluded of course)-or jumping from rock to rock for miles on end. The only concern would be the altitude (which you will adjust niceley to with your N-S route).

If you don't end up with help shuttling, public transport is an option. You should be able to grab a ride from Whitney Portal to Lone Pine with day hikers or overniters. From Lone Pine you can tie together public transport back to Yosemite Valley (over 2 days-perhaps 1 day if you time it well).

See http://www.inyocounty.us/transit/transit.htm

as well as "YARTS" for specific routes×.

The above worked for me, and the schedules seem to tie together about the same.

I re-supplied at Tuolumne&VVR with drop boxes. Reds meadow store didn't have much that was apealing to me to re-supply with (at that time) but the grill made a tasty burger. Tuolumne&VVR's stores were stocked better.”

“Thanks for that info on transportation! I can tell you have hiked the LT just by the way you rate the difficulty of the trail in terms of its impact on your knees . . . lol! In reading the guide I could tell the JMT will not be nearly as insane as the LT . . . on the knees.”

“No problem-your welcome. I hiked the LT up to Appalacian Gap (route 17) in 2001. I gave up on finishing a LT thru hike due to knee trouble that trip.”

“Have you guys noticed that a lot of TTers will be hiking the last part of the JMT in July? Just a thought. If meeting other TTers is a priority and dates are flexible, then this is a huge group.
http://mail.thebackpacker.com/trips/trip/517.php
last edited: 12/06/04 10:37:23 AM”

“Yup, I saw that trip, and it would be great to coordinate with them, but I'm already committed to going in August.”

“Yeah. I'm signed up for the High Sierra Trail trip, and no matter how I crunch the miles, it wouldn't be possible to finish the HST in time to do the JMT and coordinate with the bigger group.”

“Interesting resupply info.
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=79852
I linked to this site from the thread about other sites people visit daily. Now I'm systematically reading JMT journals.”

“wannabp - That was an interesting story! The guy that drove 8 hours to deliver the resupply was really something!”

“i am so freaking drooling over this trip. if i can make it work i wanna go”

“It was a nice story. What a good friend!

I spent all day yesterday reading JMT trip reports on http://www.trailjournals.com/journals.cfm

I'm trying to convince my husband that he can take this much time off and do the other two trips we have planned. I'm not having much luck so far.”

“Wow wannabp, that was quite a story on the resupply. I didn't realize that about being in person to send the package. I need to start reading (drooling) over these journals.

CB, I thought you would be the first to sign up for this . . . at least next to lizs . . . lol! If you are truly interested you should put yourself down as a "maybe" now. I'll start sending emails out soon to those interested.”

“It's probably a given that anyone hiking out there would have a hat of some kind... since so many potential TT'rs will be on the JMT - or parts nearby - why not stitch a visible "TT" on it so that anyone familiar with this group will easily see & recognize it?

Anyone who knows about TT will instantly relate, and anyone who doesn't might enjoy the introduction...”

“the question is, can i afford to take a month off of work? the other question is, how well will my dad be at that point? if the answers to those questions are favorable come summer, i just may do this with you. ill put myself down as a weak maybe”

“Still on as a resupplier at Kearsarge area - just would have to coincide with a weekend. Can be at Charlotte Lake any weekend as long as I know in advance so I can rally the socalhiker troops for assistance!!”

“I did it!!! I changed my status to "yes, I'm going." I've taken a few big steps in my life to support my desire to backpack, and the results have always been good. Here's another one.”

“Sounds great wannab! This will be a fantastic trip!

trailtrekker - we're going to try for that area on the 20th of August (Saturday), but it all depends on permits and reservations at VVR. I know we have to wait to apply for the permits, but, right now VVR doesn't even answer phone calls or emails . . . the emails just bounce back. I'm thinking they must be gone and totally shut down right now.”

“WR? Who's that?”

“Wannabp, G-Force is just trying to be cute by substituting a "W" for "VV". Or maybe he is just too lazy to hit the "V" key twice. What he means is Vermillion Valley Resort.”

“It looks like a W, but it is two V's . . . VVR is Vermillion Valley Resort . . . sorry about that!
last edited: 12/14/04 6:36:58 AM”

“Wery veird.”

“"I know we have to wait to apply for the permits, but, right now VVR doesn't even answer phone calls or emails . . . the emails just bounce back. I'm thinking they must be gone and totally shut down right now."

-Don't wait too long to apply for your permits, it shouldn't be too difficult to get yours (as thru hikers), but you never know. I'd apply for your maximum number as soon as they start accepting. You can reduce the number closer to the date if need be (I believe). If I recall, the difficulty with getting the permits is "the Whitney zone" sticker, which is very difficult to get from the south, a bit easier from the north. My permit was checked a few days (?4) before Whitney.

It is odd VVR isn't answering there phone, but I wouldn't worry about it. E-mail has allways been down when they're closed though. You don't need reservations though, you just need to know that they are open+accepting care packages. If all the bunks are full, there's ample tent space.”