Mt Whitney Zone Forums Trip Reports JMT Video

Here's a nicely done video of three guys' hiking the JMT:

John Muir Trail - A Journey Through The Range Of Light

It's long! 1 hour 25 minutes! Posted by John Amorosano.

Nice videography, and quality editing. I only watched parts of it, but it really captures the beauty of the hike. And I am really envioius of their fishing -- watch the section at 56-59 minutes!

Watch it full screen if you can.

Hi Steve,
Great find! As you say "Nice videography, and quality editing".
I noticed that the group had improved energy after ~8 days. Is this "typical" for extended hikes? It just takes several days to adjust to the pack, altitude, and long days?
They did have a few difficult days thereafter, but not like the 8th ( and it was not the longest, most elevation gain, but uphill all day I guess)
Comments?
John

John,

I actually did experience the same thing with my bid on the JMT. I got used to the rhythym of walking with a heavy pack, I adjusted to the altitude and the change in diet as well. I did experience a drop in my energy due to lack of nutrition later on in the trail; I was only eating about 2800-3200 calories per day. I am 6'6" and the lightest my pack got was 49lbs when I finished at Whitney Portal, I guess I was burning 8,000+ a day seeing as I lost 23 lbs of body fat in 18 days.

I too was surprised at how well I adapted to the life. My 1st day I did nearly 30 miles (I couldnt get permits out of Yosemite so I did Tuolumne to Yos in a day). Then Day 2 we did 10 miles to the Lyell Creek Bridge that day I was utterly burnt out, I went to bed wondering how on earth I was going to finish, Day 3 we did 14 miles to Thousand Island Lake (went over Donahue and Island Pass in the snow). Both of those days felt rough but towards the end I did the full section (20 mi)from Woods Creek Bridge (lowest elevation on the trail short of MTR and YV) up over Glen Pass and I did an additional 2,000 ft up towards Forester Pass. The Next Day I did Forester all the way to Crabtree Meadows (18 mi), and then up whitney and all the way out (18 mi).

I wasnt even really struggling those last three days.

Although the motivation of a WPS Burger was a strong motivator...

Liked it. Very well done. I'm robbin' some techniques from these guys for future vids. Thanks!

Well, I have never been out more than 8 days, but I hope to change that record in the future. My mindset is to start wishing for a hot shower, soft mattress, and all the creature comforts of home after a few days. I hope to work on that so I can do an entire JMT in one trip sometime.

So I'm certainly not the expert, but I can say, after a few days, the body does get stronger and more accustomed to the weight of the pack and the rhythm of walking the trails. On my shorter trips, the pack has always become progressively lighter, too, and that really helps, too.

Whoa! I just looked at the comments by the author, John Amorosano. Here's one:

That confirms what I often think about long hikes -- there is a lot of hard work involved.

The video stays away from the grueling parts. I especially liked their "dancing" along the trail in some places. Makes it look like they're out on a lark. But we know the truth.

WHAT? Do you mean that there are actually hikes harder than the Grand Canyon rim to rim day hike we did?

Say it isn't so!

(Tongue. Firmly. In. Cheek.)

Thanks for sharing the video. It is a great resource for those contemplating the journey.

I struggled for the first 4 or 5 days, then hit my stride after 6 or 7 and felt really strong at, yeah, about day 8 and really surprised myself from there on, especially, for some reason late in the day. After VVR, I got this energy burst about 5:00 every day and found myself able to crank out 3 or 4 really fast miles, up hill, to set up for the next pass, pretty consistently.