John Muir Trail: Chapter 0

I can't believe we leave for San Francisco tomorrow and start our backpacking trip in less than a week. I'd say we're pretty much ready to go! I'm impressed that things are finally coming together somehow.

I would like to have the Steem community know that @dhimmel totally deserves his Steemian boss title - he has done an incredible amount of work researching and preparing for this hike. He joked that the amount of time he spent watching Youtube videos probably exceeds how much time we will be on the trail. In all seriousness though, the preparation would have taken a lot longer had I not have Daniel's help and constant positivity. His attention to detail amazed me. Just two days ago, while packing (did I mention he's also in the middle of moving?) he stopped to cut off the corners of my toothpaste tube so that it won't poke my toiletry bag. Another time, Daniel contacted customer service when an item was not available in my size:

Hi Nicolas,
Just wanted to make sure the pants would be appropriate for Trang's 65-cm waist and 26.5-inch inseam. If by production time, another sizing option is available that is more ideal for these measurements, please switch to that.
Best,
Daniel

After couple days, Nicolas from Enlightened Equipment got back to us:

Hi Daniel,
Good news: We talked with our production lead and she said she can do a 26.5 inseam for you.

Anyhow, I still have no idea as to where to even start writing because it has been a convoluted process that has required me to learn many new things, from the gear to how to pack toilet papers on the trail. I now understand why there is a whole book for this hike. So here are some highlights to give you a glimpse of our preparation thus far.

Fitness and backpacking experience

This is the part I initially worried about most. As an amateur endurance athlete, I look forwards to new challenges. Back in undergrad, as a Geology major, for my capstone project, I got to do a 6-week summer field camp which consists of many day hikes.

Back then, the furthest I hiked in one day was 22 miles, 6 of which was under 5 feet of snow. Here's my fellow geologist Tanner catching fish under the snow in the lake (credits to Noel Turner):

Now the longest hike I have taken is only a 2-day summit to Fansipan with my incredible group of friends followed by a foot massage session the next day.

(Note the DSLR Nikon D500 I carried - the ultralight @dhimmel must be disappointed)

Had we have more time, I would have liked to do a bit more conditioning, but I have tried my best to stay in shape with running (I logged 75 miles the past two weeks) and am now keeping my fingers crossed for the JMT to not break me. I also went to my doctor to get a prescription of Diamox (generic drug name Acetazolamide) as a precaution in case we get acute mountain sickness. I hope the slow ascent from 4,000 ft (Yosemite Valley) to 10,000 ft (Tuolumne Meadows) in 48 hours will allow our bodies to acclimate to the change in altitude.

Gear

We started off by getting me some essential ultralight gear that require 5+ weeks in production. One item that I'm psyched to put to use is the ultralight Suntactics solar charger #hightech.

I will let you know how we like this purchase! If you're curious what we're bringing and how much they weigh, feel free to take a peek at my slightly incomplete packing list or Daniel's packing list or this screenshot:

Note: Base weight does not include consumables.

Permits

Daniel created a bot he calls hackjohn to notify us when there's availability on the Yosemite trailheads site. For those who don't know, most backpackers' permit applications are processed 24 weeks in advance of entry date via lottery. I had 5 weeks, so submitting an application was not an option. The initial ambiguous plan was for me to obtain a walk-up permit at a less than ideal trailhead which means we would have to do our first 20 miles apart. With hackjohn's assistance and after constant calls to Yosemite and changed my permit any time something better is available, Daniel and I now both have the permits to start on the same date from Happy Isles with Half Dome permits.

Food

I feel like food should have its own post on calories per ounce, protein/fat/carb percentage, stove or not stove, etc. But as of this past weekend, my responsibility was to pack the food to send to the resupply point Muir Ranch. Here was the beginning of the daily proportioning (featuring Valjeanne the cat). The strategy here was simple: assuming an average 110 Calories per ounce, I should pack 50 oz of food for the two of us each day. I quickly realized that we don't have enough food to last us both for 8 days, so after prepping a day with mash potatoes for both lunch and dinner, I made a quick trip to a grocery store nearby for some more diversity in food. We plan to stock up more when we get to SF.

Meanwhile...

Even though the preparation sounds intense, we did not neglect our usual shenanigans, including dancing under the rain in Rittenhouse square and summiting an undisclosed location. We also attended the Fairmount Park Summer League Finals Weekend:

Follows the games was a Jello Disc Tournament that became our only victory of the day, but it was the one that mattered!

That's it for now. I will be sure to take many photos on the hike to show you later!

À plus tard!