[pct-l] Section H (JMT Hike)

[Reinhold Metzger]

Hey Paul,
Congratulations on your JMT hike.
The JMT & the Grand Canyon are my favorite trails.
Great pictures especially the ones of Banner & Thousand Islands Lake.
I'm curious, why did you start at Glacier Point instead of Happy Isles, the Southern terminus?

BTW, there are 10 passes, not 9 and the first one, Cathedral Pass, is only 9730 feet.

Again, congratulations....looks like you had it down to a science and finished in decent time,
thanks to your UL strategy.

Scott & Joe are shooting for a 71 + - day finish on Aug.18-19.
Monstro (Adam Bradley) caught giardia and left the trail around mile 1400.
He was very much in contention until that time.
Oohhh well, that's life in the wilderness.

JMT Reinhold

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Paul wrote:
I am back on the list. Due to a 14 day trip to complete Section H (the JMT), I got bumped - too many email bounces. Gotta love technology!

My goal of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) from Mexico to Canada has reached the 500 mile mark, a fifth of the total distance. I am on the 5 year plan.
 "Doing the T" was my mantra for this 
14 day,  212 mile trip from Glacier Point to Mt. Whitney. There were 9 passes to climb, each one is over 
10,000 feet. I made it a point to climb one pass each day.

Except for two days of thunder and lightning in Yosemite, the weather was superb. 

I started the trip with 3 friends but they left the trail during the first week for various reasons. I hiked the second week solo.

This section has a special social network; I hiked the trail with some very nice JMTers from around the world, and shared many stories about their adventures. I met the 19 year old who yo-yoed the trail (congratulations), and heard the story about the SPOT rescue in the Palisade Lakes from Ranger Dave Gorden at McClure station. 

My pack and equipment were liteweight, in line with WS Monty's
motto: "When the weight goes down, the fun goes up".  Going lite is the only way to hike these days!
 
I love testing gear and tweaking my system.  Two things worked well: going DEETless and using solar cooking for some of my new no-stove recipes. 

I have posted a few pictures from my trip at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/beemancron/2008PCTSectionHJMT

Sidenote: What is the latest on Tattoo Joe and Scott's PCT record? Are they still trying to complete the trail in 74 days?  I met Monstro in Lyell Canyon. He was also  attempting a record, and was apparently 2 days ahead of Scott and Joe. His picture is on my web site. Is there an update on these 3 hikers? 

Happy Trails

Paul
"The Beeman"