No more suspense ...

I did not break any records. I had to stop my hike after 3.5 days, at mile 130. (was planning 5-6 days and 210 miles.) The choice to stop mainly rested on my inability to eat my main food source. I'm not a fan of coconut and the food-bars that I was planning to use for the majority of my calories ended up tasting like coconut bars. (At elevation, under extreme exertion, food tastes different, and never for the better. I thought I had sufficiently tested these but apparently not.) I was left with only about 1800 calories / day (instead of the planned 4000), roughly amounting to 5 handfuls of nuts and some energy shots called Shotbloks. Instead of the planned 1lb of weight lose per day I lost over 2lbs. After 3.5 days, 35 - 40 miles/day, and 27,000 ft of elevation gain I ran out of gas and called it quits. I exited at Vermilion Resort. In the end, it was an amazing experience and one more thing I've learned not to do on a low calorie diet ;)

Last post before attempt ...

I'm extremely anxious and nervous but ... I feel mentally and physically strong. My logistics are in order. I fly to LA today and start the hike tomorrow morning. Please cheer me on and thank you for your well wishes and support.

- Jon

The ramp-down

The hike is close. Only 9 days away. The past weekend was my first ramp-down weekend in 5 months. I hiked 12 miles with someone I met after he read this blog and contacted me. (Thanks Matt for the email message.) It was nice to take a shorter hike. I'm pretty tired of walking :)

The last 2 training weekends in June were my toughest.

I backpacked two 15 mile days with Ken which wasn't too bad. (Though I think Ken was slightly abused.) We hiked from Alpine road up to Skyline and then down into Portola State Park where we spent the night. Sunday morning we hiked back.

The previous weekend I hiked the last 60 miles of the JMT with Aaron. We drove up Saturday morning, hiked 30 miles, slept 3 hours, from 3:30am. - 6:30am., hiked 30 miles, then drove home. I finally went to sleep at 5:30am. Monday morning. It was one of the hardest hikes I've ever done. The trail was more technical than I remember (more large rocks in the trail). It makes running tough and requires a lot of lateral motion.

I have new respect for the trail. It makes me nervous. Even getting close to the record is possibly out of reach. (It is a record after all ;) ) Whatever happens, if I finish and I give it my all, I'll be happy.

It's a date

It's final. I'm starting my attempt on Thursday July 19th. Ken and I fly down to LA on Wed. July 18th and meet up with Nate. The three of us then drive up to Lone Pine and spend Wednesday night at a hotel. Early Thursday morning (3am or 4am) we start up Mt. Whitney. I expect us to summit around noon, where we'll have a nice meal and I'll try to nap. Following that, the three of us will start back down and my clock begins. At the pass, I'll head down the back side of Whitney and Nate and Ken continue back to Whitney Portal where they start the drive back to LA. If all goes according to plan I arrive at Happy Isle in Yosemite Valley on the evening of Tuesday July 24.

Six Weeks or less ...

I haven't written in a while ... sorry ... to much working and walking.



I recently met with Gillian and Don, the owners from ZombieRunner.com. They offer a coaching service for ultra-distance runners and while I don't run much I figured they might offer some sage advice, considering their combined 280 distance races. I was right. They were great. (I'll be meeting with them again.) They helped refine my pacing and sleep strategies for the actual attempt as well as helped me think through my final 6 weeks of training.

Speaking of which...

I'm planning my attempt some time between July 19th and July 23rd. (I'm getting closer to a specific date.)

My last 3 weeks will be a ramp down, probably 20 miles, 10 miles, and then none. I'll be combining this with some heat training to help my body conserve salts.

My next 3 weeks will be intense. I've been hiking about 40 - 50 miles-a-week for a month and I need to step it up. This last Friday was my first official sleep deprived hike. I slept 5 -6 hours on Wed. and Thurs. then slept 2 hours Friday. (Actually Sat. morning 1am - 3am) After waking I headed out and hiked 27 miles from my house to Rancho San Antonio Park in Cupertino. It was 22 miles to the park where I met Mike and we did a 5 mile loop before heading to Chili's for lunch. It was also my first trial with all (at least 95%) of my gear. I finished alert and strong. Next, I need to camp out with my gear. Maybe this weekend or next.

Training update

Three weeks ago I hiked a 44 mile week. In general, it went well but I felt my body was heading toward injury. I was not recovering as fast as I should, I was starting to have some right knee pain, and I was getting minor shin splints in both legs.

I needed some changes if I was going to continue training. First, I took a rest week 2 weeks ago and only hiked 22 miles. I also went out and bought a pair of road running shoes. I was training on pavement more than expected and it was taking a toll since I was in trail runners. After some research it seemed that tight calves could be part of the shin splint problem so I started stretching at least 3 times during training hikes. Finally, I reduced the speed of my hiking to roughly 3.5 miles per hour. In order to maintain a 4 mile per hour pace I hiked with a different gait than normal. I believe the exaggerated gait was causing a majority of the problem.

This past week I hiked 41 miles, 21 miles Saturday morning was my longest training hike to date. With the new shoes, additional stretching, and the slightly slower pace, I ended feeling very strong with no problems at all. Back to increasing mileage.

The other guy

Three weeks ago I spend a morning hanging out with Aaron Sorensen. I've mentioned him before in this post. He made most of his gear and we spent a couple hours geeking out discussing various backpacking gear nuances. In fact, he ended up making a pair of pants for me (AS specials from the last post). I hadn't been able to find ones that I like and some of the material he had was exactly what I was looking for in breathability. A pair of shoes which weren't working for him may become my sneakers of choice and he also had a flashlight which I was thinking of using. After seeing his light I ordered a very similar one. LED lights can clearly do some amazing things.

Looks like I will make an attempt the week of July 22 ish.

New Gear

I'm in Chicago and that gave me the opportunity to test some new gear. Last night the weather was around freezing, drizzling, and moderately windy. I brought my cold weather gear with the hope of exactly this type of weather.

Hat - 1 ounce
Balaclava - 1 ounce
Shirt - Micro weight zip tee - ? weight
Wind Jacket - 3.7 ounces
Insulating vest - 3.5 ounces
Wind pants - AS special (more on this in the next post) - 2 ounces

I also had random gloves (still undecided on specific gloves) and shorts.

Everything worked perfectly. I spent about 3 hours out in the weather, most of it without the vest. The jacket and pants didn't wet through for about an hour. (These aren't my rain gear, so that's good.) I was very comfortable without the vest but wanted to see how warm it would make me. With all my cloths zipped I was too warm. I could easily warm up or stay comfortable in colder weather. This is exactly what I was hoping. The clothing system will keep me comfortable and give me enough margin of error. (I'm still adding better gloves and lightweight leggings.)

Varietal Update

During training I'm focused on averaging 4 miles per hour while walking. So far it's going well. Last weekend I completed 14 miles on steep terrain and kept the pace though I was pretty tired for several days after. When I hike with other people I generally add 50 percent to my weight. (They are generally less interested in maintaining a 4 mile per hour pace.) The variety of strength and speed seems to work well for my legs and I feel the difference. This is a 27 mile week.

I purchased my first piece of gear specifically for the hike. The vest is my insulation layer. I have to say, gear does get me excited. In addition I nervously got my first pedicure. Since my feet will make or break the hike, it seemed important to take care of them anyway possible. I wanted to reduce my callouses and get my nails appropriately cut and filed, all to reduce the chance of blisters. (Blisters under a callous are impossible to fix.) It was great and I will continue to schedule monthly.

I've been corresponding through email with the other person also trying to break the record. It's been interesting trading tips.

Gear list - warmth system

I've been working on the system of gear I will use to keep warm. Here are a couple posts I've done at http://www.backpackinglight.com/ in an attempt to refine it.

Questioning which wind shirt

Questioning gear list in total

Aaron Sorensen (who responded to the gear list post) is the one serious contender also making an attempt this summer. (He is the only one I know about :) )

Countdown timer

I need help finding gear. I'm thinking of carrying a countdown timer to wake me up from sleeping. In my debilitated state it will be easier to user than trying to set my watch. Maybe some type of cooking timer?

Requirements:
- At least 3 hour max. with increments as small as 10 minutes.
- Easy to use
- As light as possible (of course :) )

Please sent any suggestions. Thanks!

P.S. Training is going well.

Training mileage

My first week of training passed without incident. It's roughly the mileage I normally hike each week just for fun so I wasn't expecting any problems. Below is the mileage I plan to hike each week for training.

February:
Week 1 - 16 - Done
Week 2 - 18
Week 3 - 20
Week 4 - 22

March:
Week 5 - 24
Week 6 - 27
Week 7 - 30
Week 8 - 33

April:
Week 9 - 36
Week 10 - 40
Week 11 - 44
Week 12 - 49
Week 13 - 54

May:
Week 14 - 60
Week 15 - 67
Week 16 - 74
Week 17 - 82

June:
Week 18 - 90
Week 19 - 50 mile days - 2
Week 20 - 100
Week 21 - 110

July:
Week 22 - 120
Week 23 - 40 mile days - 3
Week 24 - Sleep training
Week 25 - Sleep training
Week 26 - Sleep training

August:
Week 27 - Recover
Week 28 - Attempt (Actual week will vary)

I took my first step ...

... now all I have to do is continue putting one foot in front of the other.

I started my official training today. I walked about a mile to return a video and then over lunch I walked 4 miles with a 8lb. pack. It's one small bit of walking but a small bit more than yesterday.

Training thoughts

I start my "official" training Monday. (Let me know if you want to take a walk. I'll be doing a lot of it and would love the company.) There are 4 phases to the training.

Phase one works to increase the mileage my body can handle. The first week requires hiking 16 miles total with an 8 lb pack. For the next 18 weeks I will increase my weekly mileage roughly 10 percent until I hit 90 miles the first week in June.

The second week in June I will attempt back-to-back 50 mile days over the weekend with my complete gear. The start of phase 2 is my first body and gear shake-down. Can I do 50 mile days and will my gear work for 50 mile days? The next 3 weeks I'm hoping to continue 100 mile training weeks but I'm not sure my body will hold up. I'll have to wait and see. The final week of this phase, July 9th, I plan to hike 3 back-to-back 40 mile days. This is my final gear shake-down and the end of my high mileage training.

The 3rd phase encompasses the next 3 weeks. My hiking mileage will decrease putting an emphasis on sleep deprivation training. I plan to pull at least 1 or 2 all-nighters per week, probably while hiking. Anyone up for all-night hikes? :)

The final phase, the week of August 6th, is a recovery week leading to my record attempt the week of August 13th.

Note: August 13th is probably not the week of the attempt. I needed a date to focus my training schedule around so I picked August 13th. There are a number of variables I still need to work through for the actual date and my training schedule will adjust accordingly.

Random bits

First ... Guy, thank you for the "gratuitous" cross-post.

I've had several people ask how the record is certified. There is no official body (at least none that I've discovered so far) that certifies or records these type of records. They exist in the minds of the people who care. It is also recorded on Wikipedia so it has to be correct. :) (Toward the bottom there is an entry for records.)

I think Mark's comments on the last post are a great way to continue my gear discussion. Thanks for letting me know about Survivorman. It's a great show and I've seen a couple episodes. While I understand that it's possible to survive with much less gear than I will carry my main objective is traveling close to 50 miles per day. All of my gear choices are a balance between adding weight and ability to keep moving.

Trekking Poles:
The terrain I'll be hiking on isn't that uneven but there is significant elevation. Roughly every 20 miles cycles through 3000ft up over 10 miles and 3000ft down over 10 miles. My knees and feet are in good shape but they will hurt after 2 days and 100 miles. In addition, I do wish to transfer some work (uphill and downhill) to my upper body. There are a number of articles and comments about the advantages of poles. Some people report as much as a quarter mile per hour increase in speed. Even if I experience only a fraction of that, over 200 miles it will add up. In general, I don't like poles from an aesthetic standpoint and I've been lucky enough not to need them. In this case I'm willing to look at any possible advantage.

Flint, steel and other fire issues:
I'm not planning on eating any hot food or starting any camp fires. For the most part I will either be walking or sleeping. This means any fire device(s) is purely for emergencies. The most probable emergency being 3am, rain, and a thunder storm so I have to stop moving because of lightening danger. In addition I'm tired, wet, cold and my body can no longer produce enough heat to keep me warm. I need to start a fire in wet conditions to keep myself from hypothermia. I'm planning on bringing the Light My Fire Firesteel Scout Firestarter and a couple Tinder-Quik tinder. I've played with a number of options but this seems like the best combination for starting a fire in wet conditions (the reason for the Tinder-Quik) with the smallest amount of dexterity (the reason for the Light My Fire). I will probably also carry a Mini-Bic. I normally carry redundant options for starting a fire. A third option that I normally carry is 3 matches and a "trick" birthday candle. (The type that relights when you blow it out.) I will probably leave this option at home. It requires too much dexterity to use.

Batteries:

From what I've read on past attempts one of the main reasons for failure is making a mistake and loosing the trail at night. I will test my headlamp and see how long the batteries last in the cold. I need sufficient light for 5+ nights. That will determine the number of spare lithium batteries. (Lithiums perform much better in cold than normal batteries.)

Side note:

I plan to travel 21+ hours per day and not stop for any extended period in the dark. I wont have enough insulation to sleep at night. The temperatures can range from 20's at night to 90's during the day.

Toilet paper, trowel, and toothbrush:

Toilet paper is a luxury ... I agree but I like it. Staying "fresh" is a nice emotional boost. It is also slightly faster than using leaves, river rocks (much nicer than leaves), etc. If I do bring a trowel it will be extremely small and light, more like a spoon. In my experience it's much quicker to dig a hole, especially when you are tired, with a spoon shaped object instead of a stick. The toothbrush I also bring for the emotional boost. It's comforting, for some reason, to scrub your teeth in the evening. (I find the lack of toothpaste doesn't hurt the experience.)

Cash and satellite phone:

I normally bring cash in case I need to bail out part way through and find my way home. For this trip I may not bring any since I hope to have some support and a phone. The sat. phone has three main uses. The first is the obvious emergency call for help. The second helps with meeting friends willing to hike segments of the trail with me. The third and most important reason is that it makes Danielle feel better since I'm going solo. The phones are heavy and adds about 15% to my base pack weight but I think this piece of gear is non-negotiable.

Side note:

Base pack weight is the total weight of a backpack and non consumable gear carried in the pack. The base weight doesn't include worn clothing, food, or water.

Please keep questioning my choices and asking questions. It forces me to write and think.

Thanks,

- Jon

Gear list - the beginning

I was planning to post a list of specific gear that I was going to take with me. As the list developed I realized that I still have a ton of unanswered questions regarding which specific gear I'm taking along. Almost every piece still has me guessing and desiring to experiment. Because I'm not yet able to post specifics, below is a general gear list with some notes. Future posts will have the questions I'm working through and (hopefully) solutions.

Worn:
Sneakers
Socks
Tights
Pants
Shirt
Watch
Hat - sun
Trekking poles
Necklace

Extra cloths:
Socks
Socks - sleeping
Wind shirt
Insulation - upper-body
Rain protection
Hat - sleeping
Gloves - probably just use socks
River crossing footwear

Sleep:
Sleeping bag or half bag
Stuff sack
Tent / tarp
Stakes - ?
Ground cloth
Sleeping pad

Kitchen:
Food storage
Water storage
Water purification

Kit:
Sun block
Chap stick
Sun glasses
Light
Batteries - extra
Toilet paper
Purell
Toothbrush - ?
Small towel - ?
Maps
ID
Cash
Sat. Phone
Camera - ?
Stuff sack
Foot tape
Personal meds.
Trowel - ?

Emergency kit:
Steri strips
Sterile pad
Neosporin
Imodium
Ibuprofen
Duct tape
Lighter or flint and steel
Tinder
Safety pins
Needle
Compass
Matches - ?
Candle - ?

... defined

It occurred to me that some people may not be aware of what an "unsupported unresupplied hike" means. Well my definition: (and accepted in the backpacking community)

Hike a trail end-to-end personally carrying all needed equipment and food. (Water is acquired along the way.)

Coup at GoLite also calls this style Alpine Style Thru-Hiking.

This style differs from the absolute speed record holders. (These guys are actually crazy - they run the trails.) Support crews meet them with meals, tents, etc ...

The process begins

Well ... I have decided to attempt to break the unsupported unresupplied speed record for the John Muir Trail. It stands at 5 days 7 hours 45 minutes for the 211 miles, as recorded in Wikipedia. I will use this blog to record my steps.

I've arbitrarily decided my "official" training will begin on February 5th and last approximately 28 weeks. I've started work on a spreadsheet to track the progress. I'll post later.

There are many issues related to this that weigh on me:
- The training schedule for the last couple months will be brutal simply based on the time required to tick off miles.
- I need to recruit some people to hike with me for different sections of the trip (hint for anyone reading :) )
- There is at least one other serious attempt being planned. I don't mind if he breaks my record but I worry that if he breaks the record I wont be able to break his record.
- I need to work on my gear list, including food.
- My body is build for speed, not endurance. I continuously fight my physiology when I hike.
- I need to increase my night hiking as well as sleep deprived hiking.

I guess by writing I'm hoping I can humanize the process for myself. By taking away it's monolithic nature the idea becomes possible. In the end it will be interesting to see how far I've gone.