Gemini's JMT 07 trip plannin' thread

“yes, marko. all i can get away for is about 10 days.

2 for travel
1 for elevation acclimation
5 for hiking
2 for emergency incase we get hit by a snow storm.

need 5 days of hiking, 4 along the jmt, 1 to get from the road into the jmt.”

“Yeah, that's about the best I can do.

Of course I must get permission from Homegirl here.

I will find a way to broach the subject.........soon.”

“that link is dead, sacco, at least from here.”

“try this one JS,

the link above is the sequoia kings one from this page

http://www.backpack45.com/johnmuirtrail.html”

“yes, this page is consistant with my understanding.

Go midweek, get in line at the wilderness early, and have a day or two flexibility.”

“i agree JS, but follow the sequoia kings link and you'll see that you can reserve permits ahead of time.

so my plan is reserve a permit ahead of time, but still have a day or two flexibilty- cause #&%!$ always happens, somehow.

and since i'm flying out of vegas, if i don't need the extra day/s then i'll chill in vegas and see a show, ect.”

“I found that you can reserve 24 weeks in advance? no??

Of course you should never book a flight on the exact day your HOPING to get off the trail. Never know what happens, by god, maybe you even want a rest or clean up day? LOL”

“rest? clean up?

this must be the kind of wusstalk that has infected your sons!

from a gorp page:

The majority of days on the trail are beautifully sunny. Temperatures can range greatly, from the upper seventies and even the mid-eighties during the afternoon to below freezing at night. The numerous clear days combined with the high elevation means a thru-hiker can get fried pretty quickly by the sun. The dangerous stream fords and the sun are the biggest concerns on the JMT . . . okay, besides the lightning . . . all right, and the bears . . . and the possible summer snowstorms. But that’s it. Really!

hahaha!”

“http://www.nps.gov/archive/yose/wilderness/permits.htm

are you all talking about the whitney stamp we need?”

“You can not rely on the National Geographic TOPO maps to give you accurate daily milage. They are good for elevation profiles but they are off sometimes 20% in distance. Instead you can use the link that Gem mentioned http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~rbell/johnmuir.htm#Itinerary

I fell into this trap this past summer. I planned some 13-15 mile days and they turned out to be 17 mile days. I was in deep $#%# with my buddies!”

“gem, i think your link/info (24 weeks) is specific to the yosemite/northern end of the JMT

my link/info, (march 1) is for the southern end of the JMT/sequoia kings

but i'm just guessing.

where's buck when you need him? that guy is to the jmt, what stink is to poo.
he should know all about this stuff for sure.”

“oh crap...he almost said yes, then he read something about bears. I may [a big HUGE may] get him to hike this. keep your fingers crossed.”

“This link below is specific to the entire JMT. There are some updates though. For instance, you can now mail your resupply packages for $25 each to Red's Meadow instead of taking the bus to Mammoth Lakes.

http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~rbell/johnmuir.htm

Here is the link to Red's Meadow Resupply
http://www.redsmeadow.com/pdf/PackagePickUp.pdf”

“Do any of you remember Sierra Mel.

She knows the JMT.

http://www.csupomona.edu/~rosenkrantz/personal/llama2001a.htm”

“Hey Gem, I planned North to south. Thanks LarryB I'll keep that in mind.”

“I just ordered the Harrison map set. Woohoo!!”

“Wow - I've got my sites set on the JMT, too. Probably in '08 though. I'll be watching this thread and hoping to learn a bit.”

“BTW: there are two 2007 JMT trips on the trip page.”

“jackstraw, that's a great map!! you're gonna like it so much better then what you have right now.

N to S for me too.”

“Sacco, if you're coming in Onion Valley/Kearsarge Pass, you're entering within Inyo National Forest. http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/about/
Navigate your way to wilderness permits. If you exit with Gemini via Mt. Whitney, your permit will need to be satisfy entry and exit quotas.”

“Bowlder, we're leaning toward a start date of later in August. I may go to a work-related conference in DC early August.”

“D.C. in August...........its gonna be hot with swamp humidity.”

“which is the best JMT guidebook the one by Starr or the one by Winnett? Or which is the very best giudebook?”

“i didn't think the winnet was too great, not bad, but not great.
the starr: is that the marron one that was revised in the 1970's? I have that one, and it has NO pictures. I am german, i need pictures. LOL No really, I have read it's not very accurate because the last revision was done in the 1970's. I am not sure if that's true though. It is the lighest one of all.

The John Muir Trail: Through the Californian Sierra Nevada (Cicerone Guide) (Turtleback) by Alan Castle

http://www.amazon.com/John-Muir-Trail-Californian-Cicerone/dp/1852843969/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b/105-6990925-8622845
last edited: 12/05/06 12:45:46 PM”

“You can not rely on the National Geographic TOPO maps to give you accurate daily milage. They are good for elevation profiles but they are off sometimes 20% in distance. (Larryb)

I just checked the mileage from that web site against the mileage I got from the TOPO maps I have created. My mileage is about 5% shorter than on that site. I find that you can get this close if you spend a lot of time drawing the routes, and, of course, every switchback in a steep area is not depicted on the map, so that's a factor. Also, since my longest day might only be around 10 miles, a 5% goof only puts me off by a half mile....”

“okey dokey
thanks wanna”

“Another thing about resupplies - You can easily resupply at Red's Meadow, Muir Trail Ranch, and then Leconte Ranger Station.

Red's Meadow is $25 per package via mail
Muir Trail Ranch is $45 per 5 gallon bucket.
Rainbow Pack Outfitters (out of South Lake Bishop) will pack in a 150 lb resupply to Leconte Ranger Station for about $600. This is sort of pricey unless you have about 10 people.”

“the book gem quoted is a good book except it's written like it's for european visitors (which explains why she likes it). so take a lot of what it says with a grain of salt. still, it's a good read.”

“Right now I am trying to figure out how to get my pack weight down. LOL it's not easy. 1lb of food per day? was that it? I forgot...”

“1lb sounds about right. I always eat the heavier foods first. Judging from the elevation gains the north to sout direction will allow us to assimilate fairly well and the major milage/alt gains seem to be after the first week. I find its as much cramming that much food into a bear canister.



I have a Bearvault.”

“Anyone:
Would it be better to get together and coordinate food for the trip with whoever goes or do you think each (Wo)man for themselves would be more ideal for this trip.”

“Jackstraw,
I beleive they will not let you use a BearVault in some sections of the JMT. When you pickup your permit they will ask you to borrow one of their Garcia's. Actually I never saw a sign of a bear except at Red's Meadow. They have a nice restaurant there with trash cans. They also have bear boxes in their wilderness campsite.

If you are looking to save weight then you can leave your canister home and use the bear boxes which can be found at most established campsites. These are reserved for hikers doing at least 200 miles.”

“Switchbacks............switchbacks???

They have switchbacks?

Wow, The West really is the best!!!

And The East is still..............The Beast!!”

“You're welcome, Sacco.

Yeah, Marko, it'll be hot and humid in DC. They always do the conference in August in or near DC, probably to cut costs.

Bowlder, I don't think Topo! takes altitude into account when calculating mileage. Have you decided which part you're doing?

Gem et al, the JMT in July and August may very well have a lot of people on it, all following one or the other guide book. If you like people in your wilderness experience, that will be great. If not, it might make sense to use the guide books to decide where not to camp.”

“"They always do the conference in August in or near DC, probably to cut costs."

Huh?

D.C. is one of the most expensive cities in the U.S.

Baltimore would be the place to cut costs.”

“i thought the bearvault was approved? i was gonna get one.
i thought that camping near the bearboxes= tons of people and lots of bears too.


you guys have/gonna get bear spray?”

“I bought bear spray a long time ago, and NEVER took it on a trip. I doubt I'll start now. LOL

wannabp, got your email. thanks about the warning. Here the picture wannabp send me:


It was shot in 2005
last edited: 12/05/06 9:37:55 PM”

“I have the garcia, I love it :) keeps rodents out too, unlike those bear boxes they use at campsites.”

“When Sunshine1, G-Force and I did the JMT last year, we met a ranger at the Charlotte Lake Trail Junction who was warning hikers about the recent problems with bears in the area. He told us there were five incidents where a bear had broken into the Bear Vault containers, and even one that had opened a Bearikade canister. The Ranger specifically okayed my use of the bear spray I had on any bears that should try to get into our canisters. At the start of our trip, the spray was used successfully to get rid a bear in Yosemite that was eating some brownies and trail mix that was left in a bear locker.”

“better living (and safer hiking) through chemicals...”

“Marko, I meant maybe August is cheaper because of the heat and humidity.”

“Beats me, Wanna.”

“sacco - Is 5 days enough for the hiking part of your trip? Don't forget you are going over Forester Pass and Trail Crest. But I think you would want to grab Mt. Whitney since you are so close.

I was thinking of doing North Lake to South Lake the Last week of July. Might be a match here.”

“you need your permit stamped for whitney zone”

“I thought the Bear vault was approved. I guess that may be a valid reason to return it to REI. No?”

“I thought it was approved too. Shows you how much I know. I have the bearikade, so I am good.

I know about the permission stamp for whitney.”

“How many days food will the bearikade handle?”

“I smooshed in all my food for the sierra trip. was it 9 or 10 days? I can't really remember, I do know we had the first day of food not in the bearikade. I have the weekender, so that's the medium sized canister.

I am not about to buy a different canister, so I guess I'll have to think a little bit more about this.

Looks like the first night has bear containers at the site. So that would mean 2 additional days of food that do not need to fit into the bearikade.”

“Someone suggested making the first food drop at Tullume(sp) meadows. This would allow an easier hike up out of the valley and extend by a couple days the second food drop.”

“sounds good to me. are you excited yet? when you're gonna find out if you vacation has been approved?”