I got to the trail at 5:30 AM and headed out. As always it was a climb. The wind was howling. With the very heavy pack and the gusting wind it was a real struggle to hike. Here is a picture looking back with Highway 58 where I started. It is now just a thin ribbon of a highway curving into the distance.
Good Morning – what a lovely view! I’m the one checking with Kathy since we hadn’t heard from you for a few days. Stay safe!
The wind is amazing, isn’t it? It carved some of those mountains.
Great to see you’re beyond Kennedy Meadows, just a few days from the high Sierra. As you know I’m back in civilization (Bethesda version). My first impression when I drove with my daughter into my neighborhood was how intensely green everything was! My calf is still sore, but I don’t think I had a serious injury.
Anyway, the reason I’m checking in right now is that I was thinking about the trek you and your son will take. As I mentioned I did almost the identical trip with two of my Tuesday hiker buddies 4 summers ago, and the trip is documented at vigoroushikers.org. We covered about 145 miles spanning 12 days (no zeros). Because the first and last day were partial days it effectively took us 11 full days of hiking, so we were averaging about 13+ miles/day. All of us were exceptionally fit for old guys and experienced backpackers, but of course we started the trip cold so we took some time to get up to speed. My recollection is that it was a tough but not wipeout pace.
I don’t recall what Justin’s expectation is and I don’t remember how you characterized his conditioning, but I thought you might find our experience useful in anticipating what a comfortable pace might be. For example, I’m sure in hindsight that I would have had a mutiny on my hands if I tried to make my little team cover 18 miles/day, which of course is a piece of cake for you right now after 700+ miles of training. Hope this is helpful
I regret not having the opportunity to hike more with you the last few days. I hope you saw my register entry at Walker Pass campground. Enjoy your next couple of weeks on the Muir Trail!
Thanks for this info. I’ve passed it along to my son. And I got a message from GoalTech hiker, but missed the Walker pass register entry. I too enjoyed our time together. All the best (as I trudge through snow in the Sierras)