Conditioning - John Muir Trail

imported
#1

My fiance and I are getting married soon and as part of our honeymoon we will be attempting a JMT thru-hike. I say attempting because I’m not sure how well my fiance will do as she has never been on a hike longer than 2 days. I’m quite confident of my abilities and am pretty sure I could do well on the hike even with difficulties. We will both start out with packs under 20 lbs. and we plan to take it easy the first several days. The problem is we’ve been so busy this summer that it’s been hard to get in practice hikes. How much conditioning is needed before starting? Will we run into major problems if we don’t get much conditioning in before the hike? I know the JMT is pretty amazing and that it can be tough so we are open to getting off in Mammoth Lakes if things get too bad. I guess we will just start and take it one day at a time and see where we go from there. We have 17 days with a zero at Mono Hot Springs.

zacariah

#2

Certainly, the better condition you’re in, the less difficult the hike will be. There are some big climbs, but the trail is nicely graded and switchbacked the whole way, as it was built with horses and packstock as users.

I did the trail in 15 days in '06 and some of the longer days with big climbs were hard for me. I guess the best advice I could give you, since this is your honeymoon, is to see how the trail wears on you two. You can always cut back on your plan and decide to hike just a large hunk of the trail. There is no shame in not doing all 221 miles in one hike. If it feels right, do shorter mile days. Swim. Take pictures. Do what honeymooners do. :wink: And have a blast.

You can always come out to Independence at Kearsage Pass, then go back sometime and hike the rest of it. Whatever you decide, have fun. And congrats.

JH

#3

Well first of all, Congratulations on the marriage. I would think the you both must already be relatively fit, or else you wouldn’t be attempting the JMT on a relatively quick pace. If that’s the case you should be fine. I didn’t really do much of anything special last year to prepare for my hike. I just hiked fewer miles the first few days to get my body used to it. I didn’t take a rest day until I was forced to with knee pain, so I would recommend taking a couple extra days if you have the time to just rest out there and enjoy it.

For anyone going from the couch to the JMT, conditioning would be paramount.

Have fun.

weez

#4

I did the entire JMT in 20 days last year at age 68. I’m no athlete. I was fine. It took time to get used to the 90= degree heat and dryness during the day. Start slow, allow three days to get to Tuolumne Meadows. You can take a zero if you want at either Tuolumne or in Mammouth Lakes.
Conditioning before hikes is overrated.

swamp fox

#5

The biggest thing is the altitude. Seriously. I have no clue where your coming from but figure it’s lower then the JMT. Depending on which side your starting from take a few days to relax in the mountains and do some short hikes up here. Hang out in the Hot springs by Mammoth. Take a Mono Lake scenic boat ride or sit and drink in a bar. Whatever you do just spend a few days getting used to it. Drink a ton of water and take some iron pills. Alledgedly this helps acclimate you. If you have all the time in the world you don’t have to worry about what physical shape your in. Just don’t carry two weeks of food and do it in a straight shot. All that weight sucks on your back. I went nearly 200 miles of it last year before a resupply and it was insane. GO to the towns nearbye and get resupplyed. Mammoth is a great town stop and has absolutely everything you might want. Hotels from dumps to a 1000 a night outfitters and big grocery stores. If starting in Yosemite definetly just start with 3 days of food hike slow check out 1000 island lake and take the reds meadow bus to Mammoth. A free ski area/ mtn bike park bus will take you to town from there. Don’t skip the free shower by the pool at the Mammoth Mountain Inn either. Then you could hike to the VVR and resupply in their store, then go over bishop or Kearsarge pass and finally drop down to get another resupply in Sequoia. This plan keeps your load super light on the food end. You can go to town more get hotel rooms and bathe your tender none calloused body parts to get rid of trail funk and such. I think this idea will keep your morals high. The JMT isnt a hard trail at all. And is amazingly beautiful. THe only catches are altitude sickness and heavy backpacks if not resupplying often enough. Seriously don’t underestimate the effects of altitude on your body. Even people who are in serious physical shape will have the same problems of a McDonalds eating porker at high altitudes.

Guino

#6

As your wife to be has never hiked more than two days, have a way to get off the trail in three days.

Then take it from there.

Conan

Conan

#7

Let us know how it goes. I’m especially interested since I’m taking my girlfriend into the Ansel Adams Wilderness this weekend and bringing an engagement ring with me. Keeping my fingers crossed!

ducky

#8

One thing that you might think about doing is if you are going Southbound, you might leave your food and bear canisters at Tuolumne Meadows, and carry just enough food for your first two days with you when you leave Happy Isles TH. What food you don’t eat on the first day could be stored in one of the storage bins at Sunrise Camp on the first night, if you plan on going that far.
This would save you a considerable amount of weight for the first two days, and allow you to acclimate to the elevation gains with a lot less struggle.
Good Luck,
UL

ulhiker

#9

Interested in the advice here for my hike.Guino -is Sequoia mentioned a small town, or the park, is it nearer than Independence.I have in mind to carry 3 days or so food between resupplies- at TM then visit Mammoth,eat at Reds,eat and reupply at VVR pick up a food cache at MTR.Undecided how much food to send to MTR ,or bother at all,but trust to resupply there and definitely go to Independence .I Learnt on the AT to enjoy the towns

english stu