Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board JMT in 15 days

Just curious to see if anybody has done the JMT in about 15 days without resupplying. Would love to hear about your experience if you have done it this way.

Also, how difficult is it to hitchhike to Yosemite Valley from Lone Pine?

No worries really.
Food weight will be the real factor.

Every calorie is better burned hiking the trail rather than sitting in a camp.
Ultra lite gear, of course, head to toe and in the pack.
No toys, just take the essentials.

Also stove fuel weight can be reduced by having a pot that easily hangs so you can cook over the proverbial hat full of fire when the opportunity presents itself i.e. seems there are always
small sticks covering the sloping ground a mile from the popular campsites but none to be found at the campsite! Solution is to stop, cook dinner over a little fire, in a scooped out hole, put it out, obliterate its trace, and continue on the last bit and go to sleep in those beautiful sights.

Here's a blog of a self contained solo hiker's JMT trip
with some good beta.
http://www.jacquelineflorine.com/jmt_trip_report.html

This sounds clever and responsible as well, but, aren't fires banned above 10,000 ft? If so, then many prime cook sites would be illegal because of potential fire damage to slow-healing high altitude areas.

Thanks for the tip. While the idea of cooking over an open fire is really enticing, I have never cooked over an open fire and don´t intend to start.

I´m entertaining the idea of being self sufficient and not resupply because I found out that I was able to carry about 20 days worth of food doing the Huyahash trek in Peru. I have been carrying a 60lb pack at altitude of up to 19K´for the past month and half so I´m hoping that this carrying capacity is something I can use on the JMT. I´m not a lightweight guy and I´m hoping to enjoy the Trail on an extended basis instead of running through it.

To me, the only real issue is carrying enough food for 15 days. If you already know you can do that (and more), I don't see you having any trouble. You can carry sufficient gear to live in comfort and food for 15 days and still come in under 60 lbs. You will certainly encounter JMT hikers carrying way more than that. I think that you're in for a grand old time. :-)

My Wife and i did the JMT two years ago in 16 days. we had two food drops along the way which helped. Dont forget that you will have to carry a bear canister which adds a couple of pounds and if you arent getting a drop then you will more thank likely have to carry two of them. you might be able to do all of this and still come in under 60 pounds. im not sure what hiking in peru is like but i know some of those passes on the JMT are tough. Getting food drops is very convienient its just a matter of wether you want to or not. Good luck and have Fun oh yah hitchhiking form lone pine to yosemite can be very difficult i beleive there is a shuttle that you can take though it goes from lone pine to mammoth and then you take YARTS which is a bus service from mammoth to Yosemite .

h lankford - good you pointed that out.
The NF and NPS have for a long time placed a ban on wood fires above certain altitudes due to the local tree growth rate & heavy hiker usage. And it varies depending on where you are. 9600feet in Yosemite for instance.

But on the JMT the average hiker will travel miles of trail where fires are allowed every day. Even down by Mt Whitney fires are allowed at the JMT/HST Junction at 10,405feet altitude.

2lbsfood/day x 15days = 30lbs but noticed from an earlier post by Kevin; his picture of bacon, eggs, and steaks while hiking.
So there's no way we mortals can estimate how heavy the pack will be filled with such luxury.
And the 2 big bear cans to keep it legit. Kevin you're superman!
Have fun.

Cheers
lacrosse

Hi Kevin,

I completed a fastpack south to north in 9 days. You should be fine. As others have mentioned food weight will be important. I used the >100 calories per ounce rule. As for carrying a bear cannister, there are some pretty good lightweight ones available. I don't belive you will be able to get all of your food in one cannister. You may need to schedule your mileage with bear boxes in mind. I didn't use a cannister and stealth camped.

For a stove I used those little sterno squares. I used little square rocks with the sterno lit under it Each sterno square makes one meal. I ate one hot meal per day with leftovers on the top pouch of my pack to stay sun heated.

Filtered water with chlorine flakes and mostly just drank untreated.

Another gift of the trail is that trail angels are out on the trail and willing to offer extra food. I always welcomed this. People do want to help and see you fulfill your dream.

I wish you the best.

Maureen Moran
San Diego
Last Summit July 6, 2009
11 day summits in 10 years!

Most impressive Utramo!
That 'Get ir done' speed paid off.
Have any notable dissimulations with the wilderness gunslingers
that its safe to relate?

Reminds me of this earlier post. If I were to repeat that 8-day JMT trip, but extend it to 15 days by adding 7 days worth of food, and replace the ancient gear with today's lightweight versions, my pack starting weight would be just under 30 lb. Adding a few niceties like tent, stove, book, Crocs, etc., would kick it up to about 35 lb.

So if you can handle a starting weight of 35 lb, it should be a breeze.

Hi Lacrosse,

If I told you I would have to kill you!

BTW, you misspelled your word of the day!

Have fun,
MM

Get a fishing pole dude! Brush-up on some of General Y's dirt-bagging technique's and fatten-up on Wendy’s mega breakfasts before you leave. If you can’t do it nobody can…

i know it is a bit late but i thought i would update this so that others looking to do the trail in the future might find this useful. i did do the trail. started solo and finished with two other solo hikers on a similar itinerary. was able to complete the trail in 14 days without resupplying. took half a rest day at trail ranch to go swim in the warm(er) lake. my pack came out to about 70lbs. 40lbs of it was food. it was a beautiful experience passing through the one of the greatest spectacles on earth.

took some pictures here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=34998&l=eb790e08b7&id=1277197139

Just curious, but what's the hurry? Would you be able to remember much about what you saw and experienced - except the pain? To each his or her own way of hiking, but wouldn't it be better to go slowly and savor the experience? Would someone please explain the possible reasons for during the JMT (or any other trail) so quickly?

While I hiked a section of the JMT this past Summer, I started recognizing the speed-hikers vs. the slow-pokes. The speeders would seldom respond with more than a grunt to a "Good morning" or "Hi!" They appeared so focus on making their mileage goal for the day that they had no time for socializing with other hikers.

True confessions: I used to hike as fast as possible in order to reach a base-camp before the ascent of a peak. It was my type-A personality goal, the summit, that was important. Weekends often left little time in which to reach my "goal"; 10-15 mile push to a lake, collapse for the night, bag the peak on Sunday morning, and return hike on Sunday afternoon; then a frantic late night drive back to the Bay Area in time for Monday morning work. But at least I had bragging rights regarding what I accomplished. Oh, wow! LOL! Does any of this sound familiar?

But having preached about this, please do it your own way and enjoy the experience - whatever it might be. Just remember to say "Hi!" when the slow hikers greet you on the trail.

Congrats on your JMT hike, Kevin! I am in awe of people that do it in such a short time!

I take about three weeks - I like that mileage, and schedule my hikes to stop at favorite places. I could make better time, especially if I lightened up the pack a bit... but I like to set up camp mid-afternoon, and at the end of the day, I like a hot dinner, my tent, and what few "luxuries" I chose to bring.

But I don't know if I'd agree that fast-packers enjoy it any less than people that take more time. The fast-packers that I met had just as many stories and exclamations of the beauty as anyone else I spoke to.

We hike the JMT because we want to hike the JMT, and it really doesn’t matter if our reasons are to fulfill a dream, to get away, to prove something to ourselves or others... or bragging rights. We all probably have a little of all of those reasons (and more) when we do the JMT or any other hike/climb.

Rosie

I've done the JMT in 10 days and I've done it in 21 days and any number in between. Generally, it's all the same experience, just that the longer hikes gave me more of that experience. It is not the miles you do, but the time you spend out there that is the reward. If you go faster, you return to "normal life" sooner.

Kevin, is that the bibler i-tent in your pictures? How do you like it and have you used it in the winter?

Beautiful pictures and a great experience I can image. Maybe some day I can do it.

-Rudy

Did the Muir multiple times myself...shortest was 14 days, (a bit hurried but still highly enjoyable), the longest was slated for 4 weeks but somehow an extra 4 days snuck in there too...must have had something to do with the time/space continuum warp (or perhaps just due to time lost/priorities changing when faced with the prospect of great fishing) whatever...
As I look back now, I still consider that longer trip as one of the better (easily top 5) backpacking adventures of my life.

Hi Mark!!!

Hope you had a good Christmas! Have you ever heard from Bart & Logan (our two "hippie" friends from the JMT last summer)? They were pretty impressed with you.

(Kevin - sorry for the slight "Hijack" of your thread )

Kevin,

I've done it nine times since '96 and there's nothing better than taking your time, but if 14 days is what you've got, then have fun. I did it in 13 the first time, with about a 65 LB pack. Not a lot of fun but certainly an adventure.

I've just tried to make it longer and lighter since then and I've come around to about 35 LBS and an average of 18 days.

Carrying all your food is just, well, I won't say dumb, but rather, why???

it's a no-brainer to resupply at Muir Trail Ranch. You won't lose any time. The VVR will of course cost you a few hours and few bucks, but again––it's a part of the flavor of the entire thing.

If you're out to clinch the title for "without resupply" well, that's no doubt been done and they suffered for it. So what.

Thumbing from the portal to Lone Pine and then on to Yosemite (the next day) is easy.

I always come off Whitney, thumb down to LP, spend the night there (in the Dow's hot tub!) and then––a few times I have thumbed all the way home to SF in one day, but that's rare.

Usually I thumb up from LP as far as Mammoth, where I drop a few mor bucks for another hotel room and then catch the seven a.m. YARTS shuttle into Yosemite Valley, where you can then catch the afternoon YARTS/ AMTRAK bus out of the valley and connect north or south.

You don't have to stay in Mammoth for the night, as long as you are happy to get a ride back into Yosemite and stay wherever, like T'me for the night and catch the bus later in the day.

The last woo times I've done it, I've managed to meet people on the bus and a ride out of Yosemite and to the bay area. beats waiting around for the amtrak bus.