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Just found out the JMT has over 15,000 feet of elevation gain one way
Was planning a thru-hike of the John Muir Trail for next summer and finally sat down with the actual topo data from the USFS website. Always heard people say it was 'climb heavy' but I figured it was like 8,000 feet total. Nope. 15,000+ feet of climbing from Happy Isles to Whitney Portal. That's almost 3 vertical miles. Kinda makes me reconsider my gear weight or at least my knee braces. Anyone else get caught off guard by the real numbers on a route they thought they knew?
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felix4787d ago
Heard a guy at the gym say the JMT was "mostly flat" and he crushed it in 10 days with a 50 pound pack. Either he was lying or his definition of flat is a lot different than mine. 15,000 feet is no joke, that's basically climbing a mountain every single day for a week and a half. I'd look at swapping out a few heavy items for something lighter, especially the tent and sleeping bag. Those knee braces might not save you when you're coming down Whitney on the last day with dead legs.
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sanchez.blair7d ago
Totally agree, it’s like how people call a 5 mile hike “a walk in the park” but then complain their feet hurt after walking to the mailbox. Underestimating something just because you’ve done it once feels like a deeply human instinct, haha.
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