[pct-l] JMT thru hiking

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Oct 25, 2008, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> My 18 yo son and I, along with another father and 20 year old  
> daughter are
> planning to hike the entire JMT southbound beginning late July  
> 2009. As our
> time available is limited, what is the shortest reasonable number  
> of days to
> hike the entire trail? We are planning to hike with packs weighing  
> 25 lbs
> maximum and are all in excellent, athletic condition.  We are  
> hoping to
> complete the trail in 8-10 days with 1 pick-up at Muir Trail  
> Ranch.  Any
> thoughts/recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

I'm not really qualified to answer this as I was a PCT hiker that  
skipped some of the High Sierra. I did not think it was possible to  
not like the High Sierra, but I didn't.

What about doing your hike with an open itinerary? Hike the pace you  
are comfortable with and know that you have options to leave the JMT  
at various places whenever you run out of time. There is a public  
transportation system along the 395 and there is always hitchhiking,  
so you would be able to do as much or as little of the trail as  
possible and return to Tuolumne Meadows or the Valley relatively simply.

Diane