Finished JMT this time in one shot mainly due to support from my family and lots of friends on this chat as well as on JMT@yahoogroups.com. Here is the schedule I originally planned and pretty much stuck to it. Planning and prep were the most important steps in this successful trip.

Training is mostly walking with my back pack (with 8days of food, the most I planned to carry) along with everything else including 1.5 liters of water. Luckily I found a 10 mile hiking trail around Argonne Labs near by and sincerely followed the 2 or 3 times a week. 4 days a week is fitness training (2 upper and 2 lower) and my training adviser focused a lot on balancing and strength training along with a 15 min stationary bike. I am a fair weather biker and whenever it allowed I enjoyed 25-30miles of road biking. All strength training is with 45lbs max.

My backpack weight varied between 28 lbs to 40 lbs atmost. So it was very comfortable from day 1. Here is the resupply and backpack weight. The food weight is around 1.5 to 2 lbs per day.

- HI to TM: 3days of food (TM picked up 4 days of food)
- TM to Reds: 4 days of food (Reds picked 5 days of food)
- Reds to Muir Trail Ranch: 5 days of food (MTR picked 8 days of food)
- MTR to Kearsarge: : 8 days of food (Kearsarge - Dave & Vikas brought 5 days of food)
- Kearsarge to WP: 5 days of food

My food planning did include one protein bar at 9 am and one protein and high cal bar for afternoon lunch. I followed the recommendation of 0.3gms of protein per pound of body weight (150lbs and hence around 40 gms per day). Actually it was a little less and I did loose some muscle mass at the end. Came down to 140 lbs currently. Started my exercise routing today and getting back to normalcy.

Actually at every section I was carrying one day extra food for just in case stuff.

I clearly indicated to my family that I have several exit options if the hike becomes a chore and not fun any more. Also promised to send 2 spot message every day, one around 9a and one at the end of the day. This got screwed up for Aug 23 thru 25th when there were issues with spot messages.

Here are the logistics: I rented a car in Burbank airport and started on 395 on 8/5. Dropped my first 5 day food pkg at WP Hostel at Lone Pine to be picked up by my friends around 8/23. Hostel is very generous and did not charge. Then drove to Mammoth, took the shuttle and dropped my second 5 day food pkg at Reds General store, $1/- per day charge till I pick up. I already mailed my 8day supply bucket to MTR and 4 day supply pkg to TM post ofice. So ended up at 3am at the permit office on 8/6 and there were 3 persons sleeping at the door! My goal was to get a HI to WP permit for 8/7. At 7:30a the Ranger told us that there are 3 permits open for 8/6 and I got the last one. So returned the rental at Oakhurst enterprise car rental and the girl dropped me off at HI! I gave her a generous tip and started on my hike around 2p.

Here is the actual traverse (mileage per JMT Atlas by Erik):

8/6: HI to Little Yosemite valley 4.3 miles
8/7: LYV to Clouds Rest by error then to Sunrise lakes camp: Long day: 11.7 m
8/8: Sunrise to TM: 5m Camp - TM Backpacker's CG
8/9: TM to Lyle Forks bridge: 12 m,
8/10: LFB to Ruby Lake: 10.9 m
8/11: Ruby Lake to Gladys Lake: 6.7 m
8/12: Gladys Lake to Reds Meadow: 5 m (rest on shuttle to Reds), camp: Reds Cabin
8/13: RM to Purple Lk, 12.8m
8/14: Purple Lk to Squaw Lk, 7.4 m
8/15: Squaw Lk to Quail meadows (Mono ck bridge): 6.9 miles
8/16: Mono ck bridge to Marie Lake: 11.5 miles
8/17: Marie Lake to Muir Trail Ranch: 8.6 m Stayed in cabin
8/18: MTR to Mc Clure Meadow: 11.4 m
8/19: McClure meadow to Muir Pass, 11 m, camped in Muir hut
8/20: Muir Pass to Grouse Meadow: 10.8 m
8/21: Grouse Meadow to Upper Palisades Lake: 9.6 m
8/22: Upper Palisades Lake to Lake Marjorie: 12.7 m
8/23: Lake Marjorie to Packer CG one mile below Baxter pass tr Jn:10.4 m
8/24: Packer CG to Kearsarge first lake: 12.8 m
8/25: Kearsarge first lake: 0 m, waiting for resupply. Dave, Vikas brought resupply around 3p and psyche back on JMT track
8/26: Kearsarge first lake to Bubbs ck east bend CG: 9.8 m
8/27: Bubbs ck east bend CG to Tyndel/Shepherd pass tr. Jn CG: 6.8 m
8/28: Tyndel ck CG to Guitar Lake: 10.3 m
8/29: Guitar Lake to MW and to WP: 14.8 m

The spot msgs that were actually delivered are:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7FjzdNfBHRaejJxaHVxMXJNTVU/edit?usp=sharing

The JMT trail profile:
http://images.summitpost.org/original/538195.jpg

My flickr uploaded photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25552148@N02/9676398490/in/set-72157635387294300/

Made lots of friends on the way! Without realizing it, met long time chat friend, Salty at Woods Creek Bridge!

Each photo got a small description and the timings shown on the photo are CDT! Let me know if you have trouble with any of the 3 files I referred.

Lots of Love & Gratitude for this beautiful experience!
Krishna