John Muir Trail – 2009

[Brian Turner]

I'm going to speed hike the JMT in August of 2009. Anyone interested in joining me, please contact via email = brian (at) hikes247 (dot) com.

[Jesse Gibbs]

I'm an SF Bay Area based speed hiker looking to do JMT in July/August too. Hoping to log 35-40 mi/day, and finish in 5-6 days, probably doing a North to south route to make acclimatization easier (coming up from sea level and all).

I can be reached at watkinsgibbs(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Jesse

[Jesse Glover]

I'll say hey to you guys as you fly past me.

[Ed Engel]

I'm going in August, but I like going solo. Tried the trail last August – got to Red's Meadow, called home and the wife had broken her foot. Trip ended. This was my first backpacking trip since 1985. I did the JMT in 1975, Tahoe to Whitney in 1977 and 1979, PCT 1981. Boy has equipment changed. Will be upgrading to UL, this 55 year old body will need it.

[Chris Morgan]

Hey Brian,

How fast is "speed hiking" gonna be?

[Brian Turner]

My goal is to finish in under 6 or 7 days. I typically average 3.5-4 mph on my hikes and have the following 'rough' itinerary (miles per day): 35.8, 39.6, 40.2, 35.6, 34.5 & 23.9. This would have me finish in 5.5 – 5.75 days.

I'm planning on hiking NOBO. Knock out the hard parts first and cruise the latter part of the hike.

[Aaron Sorensen]

Hey Brian,
Just curious on what you plan on taking for your base weight?

You do realize that you are not factoring in the elevation gain and elevation you will be at for the 3.5 to 4 mph speed.

You will be hiking at least 18 hours a day in order to accomplish this. Not the 10-12 you are implying.
You are also doing a lot more miles that the strait line distance measured out. Your legs are always looking for a place to plan your feet and you are zig-zagging enough that it makes you feel slow.
If you placed a GPS on your feet to measure your distance, you would probably find your self doing over 250 miles and none of it at the pace you were hoping for.

[William Duke]

Find it here: http://www.backpacker.com/destinations/11039?page=1

Doesn't sound pleasant. I'd rather savor the experience, but am in awe of anyone who can do it.

[Brian Turner]

Aaron,
My base weight will be between 12-13 pounds. I've hiked the JMT before and I'm well aware of the elevation gain. Personally, I had no issues with the elevation, grade, etc on this trail. I was expecting it be a lot worse than what I experienced. I hike 16+ hours per day during the majority of my hikes, so the time on my feet is not an issue. As an ultraunner and speed hiker, I don't have the issues with foot placement, etc that a normal hiker would experience.

I speed hiked 298 miles of the Mountains to Sea Trail in under 7.5 days – averaging 38.8 miles per day. I found the MST to be more difficult than the JMT.

[Johnny Johnson]

Good luck Phreak! I look forward to following your JMT speed hike in 2009.

Aaron, I see in your profile that you went for the JMT speed record. How did you do?

[Chris Morgan]

Is there any other interest in doing the JMT southbound in late-July to mid-August, 17-23 miles a day? (I am thinking 10-12 days)

The 6 month permit dates are coming up very soon…

Chris

[Anthony Weston]

Chris, I'm interested in hiking the JMT in early August. I can't go in July, I'm on-call at work.

[Ryan Dunne]

Chris, Anthony: I'm down for late july / early august too. just popped on here to see if anyone else wanted to go. I was originally planning 14 days give or take. I'm flexible.

I was originally planning on going north to south, and doing the yosemite valley to tuolomne meadows section backwards and taking the shuttle back. :-P Probably more enjoyable this way. haha.

anyways. hit me up if looking for someone to go with. Need to register soon

sirryanocerous (at) gmail

[Nick Chen]

Hey guys,

I too am hoping to do the JMT this upcoming season.

Probably 10-12 days. (very flexible)

If it hasn't gotten too crowded yet, I'd like to join in.

-Nick
fleetparadox "at" gmail.com

[susana vasconez]

Hey. I am from Ecuador. 25 years old. I live in Pennslvania. I was hiking for the past two years back home but have not done much hiking this 8 months since I have been working and studying. I am interested in doing the john muir trail end of lujy august, maybe 15 miles per day or so. So in about 15 days.
I know you might have already your group, but is there any possibility to join in?
how much money do you plan spending? are you sending your food to the post office points and picking it up there?
are you bringing each your own tent?
sorry for all the questions and please let me know if you are doing it for sure and if I could join to find a chepaer flight there !

[susana vasconez]

My email is [email protected] just in case

[Robert Perkins]

Chris, I will be hiking the JMT from Tuolumne Meadows SOBO, starting on Aug. 11th. I have permit space for 5 and have a couple people dropping off at Reds Meadow. There are two of us planning on going the rest of the way. I have planned on 10 nights, and would like to push ourselves to maybe 9 nights. We will be looking at anywhere from 14 – 20 miles a day, depending on camp locations. There are a few spots that I really like camping at for swimming or for the view, that it is worth it to either push for more miles or have a slow day. We will be staying in Mammoth Lakes Aug. 10th and taking YARTS to TM.

[Author]

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