JMT 2010: June Update

The calendar continues clicking down towards my summer thru-hike on the John Muir Trail, now less than two months away. In the past few months, I've met several fellow JMT'ers via Facebook that will be on the trail near or at the same time as me. We've shared info, tips, and gear and food suggestions. Several local hikers have also posted current trail conditions. There's still alot of snow up there!

Gearwise, I'm pretty set. In the next month, before heading down to CA, I'll be taking several shorter backpacks in the Glacier Peak and Garibaldi areas where I'll be breaking in the Big Agnes Copper Spur UL1 tent. This ultralight solo tent weighs in under 3 lbs—including fly and footprint!—yet offers an ample 22 square feet of living space, and 37" of headroom. That's plenty of room for both me and my pack, safely away from chewing little critters. The compressed size—not including poles—is a super-compact 6" x 12". I bought this tent last year, near the end of the season, and haven't had the opportunity to use it yet, but I'm really looking forward to putting this lightweight little beauty into some high-country use. Available at REI and Mountain Gear.

Another recent milestone in the continuing preparations for JMT is that I have placed my ginormous food order with Packit Gourmet. I've mentioned in previous postings how great this food is. Filling my bear canister will be several packages of tortilla soup, chicken & dumplings, bangers & mash, and the super-tasty breakfast smoothies. I've also ordered alot of bulk dehydrated grocery items—meats and veggies—for some of my own concoctions from recipes found on TrailCooking.com, BackpackingChef.com, and of course, Backpacker.com. Add to that lots of Annie's noodles, instant mashed potatoes, energy bars, dehydrated fruit, granola, trail mix, and some awesome beef jerky made by one of Oregon's own local farmers. Once everything is in hand, likely early July, I'll be spending a good deal of time repackaging and trying to squeeze those last 14 days worth of food into that bear can...