Last year I hiked the JMT with the intent to finish the trail as a fastpack. Things went mostly well and I finished in a little over five days. I learned many things about distance trail running, all of it the hard way. Now I want to put it all together and go for the record that Michael Popov set in 2007, 4d 5h 25m. This is from the summit of Mt Whitney to Happy Isles, which are the true ends of the JMT. My run will start on August 2 if the weather is right. This next week my family and I will do a short backpack trip out of Horseshoe Meadow. Time to catch some Golden Trout. We also want to see the Bristlecone Pine Forest, which I have never been to. Last month we camped at the Tall Trees Grove in Redwoods NP, so we saw the tallest trees, and now we will see the oldest. After a week and a half above ten-thousand feet I should be ready to go. This year my pack will be 6 lbs lighter at 12lbs (5lbs base). I have also made many improvements to my gear and my plan. I am hoping everything goes well, but there is an infinite number of problems that could end my attempt at the record. I hope to see some of the people that have announced their JMT trips for this summer. I am leaving early tomorrow, so I can't respond to posts until I get Back at which time I will post a report.
Thanks to everyone
