The Gear List

Gear lists for backpacking trips differ according to personality preferences and types of trips (considering where and the type of terrain and weather, how long, and what activities you plan on doing).  Regardless of whether you're going out for a weekend or a multi-week or multi-month trek, many items are essential, such as a backpack:

                                                      
                                                                Traditional Backpack

                                                                 Ultra Light Backpack

A tent or shelter system:

                             Traditional Enclosed tent with bug netting and a waterproof tub floor

                                         Ultra Light Tarp Shelter supported by Hiking Poles

Sleeping system:

                                                           Traditional Sleeping Bag

                                                                   Ultra Light Quilt

And of course, meals.  Some people go to great lengths to maintain eating near full course cuisines, but most commonly, freeze dried breakfasts and dinners are packed and trail mix, beef jerky, dehydrated fruit shreds and other simple, energy boosting snacks are munched on throughout the day.

I personally have gotten into the more rugged thru-hiker diet of mostly eating peanut butter and nutella plastered on flower tortillas for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  You can throw in a variety of foodstuffs to mix up the taste, am I actually like adding olive oil and different jams.

Other essentials include a first aid kit, sewing kit, flashlight, waterproof matches, kindling, a knife, sunscreen and a map and compass.

Regarding clothing, many hikers prefer bringing only two pairs of pants, two pairs of long sleeve shirts, maybe three pairs of socks, a wide rimmed hat, a camp shirt and trunks or a bathing suit. Underwear is optional, as many thru-hikers prefer to go commando for various reasons.  Your will and wits is the last thing you will need along the way.

Recreation in Cedar Grove

The Cedar Gove area of Kings Canyon National Park is in my opinion one of the most scenic portions of the Sierra Nevada front-country (forest accessible by motor vehicles).  It is nestled in a canyon about an hour's drive from the park entrance, and is only open to visitors during the summer months.  Cedar Grove Village consists of four campgrounds and a lodge along the Kings River, and the windy, 6-mile drive to Road's End (the end of Highway 180) has many points of interest interspersed along it:

                                                                      Knapp's Cabin

                                                                         Canyon View

                                                                   Zumwalt Meadows

                                                          Zumwalt Meadows Trail

                                                                 Roaring River Falls

                                                                         Muir Rock

These points of interest require no hiking, but there are plenty of day hikes ranging from the Hotel Creek Trail which leads to an overlook of Cedar Grove:

The Don Cecil Trail, another semi-strenuous hike leading up to "lookout point":

The River Trail along the Kings River:

And the very popular Paradise Valley Trail leading to Mist Falls:

I have enjoyed all of these places many times during my seasons working in the area, and I annually spend time there every summer still, it just never gets boring.  To learn more about recreational opportunities available in the Cedar Grove area, visit this site here.

The Thrill of Night Hiking

Night hiking in the mountains is one of the coolest activities you can experience.  I have done it on a few occasions, from short distance trails near campgrounds to a couple hours trekking on the John Muir Trail at high altitude, and the sensual perceptions registered are seemingly more heightened, which produce an extra-euphoric feeling as surrounding environments are far more mysteriously majestic.

One trip that stands out in particular was a late night drive up to Road's End in Kings Canyon National Park for a weekend backpacking trip with a friend of mine that had been a former co-worker in that same area.  He got off work late on a Friday night, and we arrived at the trailhead at about 10:30 p.m. and quickly began our journey to a backcountry campground known as Upper Paradise Valley about 15 miles further into the Sierras.

The first few miles of the trail doubles as a day trail up to a popular waterfall called Mist Falls, but the trail continues on past it to three backcountry campgrounds (including the aforementioned Upper Paradise Valley campground) and eventually to the John Muir Trail.  It was thrilling walking parallel to and meandering along with the Kings River, and once the trail began to ascend, walking along the loud rushing rapids in the dark was quite an adrenaline-filled experience.

There were particularly beautiful sections of the hike that I remember especially well.  One being when openings in the thick tree canopy above allowed light to flicker like glitter on the foamy water and smooth, shiny rocks.  Another was when we ascended a rocky ledge where a moon-illuminated vista was visible to the south.  It looked surreal the way the barren granite walls and mounds of talus were gleaming seemingly candescently.  A little further up from there, a large portion of the southern Sierras was visible, and the luminescent peaks and ridges shadowing layers of jagged crags and spires created an eerie, gothic looking landscape.  

Here are some tips for night hiking, and here are some ideas to entertain if you want to go out and enjoy the experience yourself!

Trail Angels

Trail angels are wonderful people who aid thru-hikers on their treks by bringing them food and water sometimes miles into the wilderness so they don't have to exit to get replenished.  What makes them extra special is that they usually do it out of the kindness of their hearts, and usually they are backpackers themselves or retired backpackers.  What's cool is that since they are only backpacking for one day usually, they tend to bring thru-hikers long-yearned for junk food and soda, and sometimes beer.  I saw a documentary where a trail angel humped a pretty good sized plastic ice chest up to a junction on the John Muir Trail one season (he might have done it multiple seasons, he nor the documentary film makers specified) and then brought up beer to fill it with.  He kept them cold by keeping the ice chest filled with snow, and chatted up the hikers who stopped for a beer (or two, or...).

I've had experiences with trail angels and I agree with a couple of the people interviewed in this Pacific Crest Trail trail angel documentary trailer that they reflect what humanity is suppose to be (paraphrasing them), which is people helping people.  An experience that stands out because of a forum post I saw recently is my 2011 John Muir Trail jaunt through Independence when I attempted to continue on after a couple days of healing.  When I took a shuttle to Independence from Lone Pine, I intended to hitchhike up to Onion Valley where the Kersarge Pass trailhead leads to the JMT.  I ran into a trail angel named Uber Bitch that told me I could wait at her and her husband's motel while she waited for more hikers destined for Onion Valley.  A little later we all took a ride up to the Onion Valley campground, which was about a 15-20 minute drive up into the Eastern Sierras, and had a barbeque and campfire and plenty of cold ales throughout the night before beginning on the trail again the next morning.

I was reminded of this because this JMT forum post informed readers that a motel in Independence was recently purchased to specifically be converted into a hiker destination.  I assume it will be made to resemble the hostel in Lone Pine that caters to thru-hikers and Mt. Whitney hikers.  As stated in the PCT documentary trailer, transportation is provided to and from trailheads and houses are offered for rest time and showering, but trail angels buying a motel for hikers is truly awesome and takes the philosophy of "people helping people" to a new level.

Options for Summer 2013

There are three routes I've been scoping out recently to hike this summer.  Since I've already hiked the 211 mile John Muir Trail a couple of times, I want to add another segment that I haven't done before.  There is an interesting, 154 mile hike called the Big SEKI Loop (SEKI is the government acronym for Sequoia-Kings Canyon [National Parks]).  This route was linked to a John Muir Trail group forum on the Internet, and it was suggested as a possible alternative or addition to the JMT:

Big SEKI Loop

It looks really cool, as there are portions that I've never hiked before, and I'd like to tinker with more trail that connects through it.  I have also read about experiences on the same John Muir Trail forum about combining the JMT and Tahoe Rim Trail.  The Tahoe Rim Trail is 165 miles long and is part of the much larger 2,663 mile Pacific Crest Trail, which extends from the Mexican border to the Canadian border, spanning California, Oregon and Washington state.  I think combining these two would be an awesome, extremely adventurous 376 mile experience.

Tahoe Rim Trail

The third option and the one I'm most leaning toward is combining the JMT and the 49 mile long High Sierra Trail.  I think it would be fun to hike the John Muir Trail southbound, rest and replenish in Lone Pine (near the JMT's southern exit, Whitney Portal) for a couple of days, then head west toward Lodgepole in Sequoia National Park.  I've hiked portions of the High Sierra Trail, and it would be nice to complete it this summer.

High Sierra Trail

I am taking more precautions this summer in order to prevent injuries, and foremost among them is reducing overall pack weight.  I always experiment with different types of equipment in order to reduce weight, minimize the amount of items I bring, save room, improve weight distribution, and the like, and this summer I think I'm going to experiment with taking only a backpacking tarp for shelter.  Another major experiment I'm considering is not bringing a stove and fuel canisters.  I've read about an extreme minimalist who pours water into his dehydrated dinner packets in the morning and fastens it to the top of his backpack with foil under it to reflect the sun all day, and in the evening, when it's nice and hot, he'll eat it.  I think that would be very interesting to try.

Busted Knee and Busted Hike

     This past summer, I enjoyed my second attempt at through hiking the John Muir Trail.  I was able to complete it, but not in one outing, known, as mentioned above, as a through hike, or more commonly among backpackers spelled "thru-hike."  True to form, I got injured again, about half way through the 211 mile trail.  About noonish, I was crossing a shallow but very slick creek with large, smooth rocks covered in algae.  I was about a third of the way across when I slipped, and I reflexively shot my right leg out to prevent myself from falling, but I over-compensated and my knee locked very awkwardly.  It was no doubt due to the weight of my backpack, which was about 65 pounds, but I was able to stay on my feet and gradually walk off the funny feeling (not really pain) on the other side of the creek.

     I felt nothing after I got back up to a steady pace, but later that evening it started aching, but it wasn't significant enough to stop for.  The pain subsided that night and I woke up good to go, but this time the pain returned earlier than it did the previous evening, so I reluctantly took a couple Ibuprofen tablets and rested a bit.  It worked, but by the late evening it was pretty much throbbing, so I stopped and camped earlier than usual.  On the third day, I hadn't hiked more than a half hour before it started hurting again, and I tried to ignore it until I became a gimp, then began popping Ibuprofen every couple hours, which was becoming less and less effective.  Wanting to prevent long-term damage, I decided to hike out the nearest exit, rest and recover, and pick up where I left off near the end of summer.

     I did just that, and here are some cool pictures I snapped on those adventures.

Boots and Marmots: The Demise of My 2011 JMT thru-hike.

In the summer of 2011, I decided to finally hike the John Muir Trail.  I had wanted to for a long time, ever since my family and I encountered JMT thru-hikers on my first backpacking trip in Yosemite.  I was familiar with it's layout, location, and length (211 miles) because I had hiked sections during previous summers, so I felt confident I could hike it solo in about 3 weeks time.

I found it apt that Dr. Godfrey said my first blog story was full of "recklessness," because I do tend to be more impulsive, deciding on plans and changing them on a whim, and I get myself into harry situations quite often because of that.  This trip was no different.  Instead of beginning the trail in Yosemite or at the Whitney Portal, the official start/ end points, I arranged to get dropped off at Road's End in Kings Canyon National Park, about a 2 hour drive east of Fresno.  Many trailheads into the Sierra Nevada backcountry begin at Road's End, and I wanted to get to the Whitney Portal on the other side of the Sierras by taking a route I'd never been on before.

The snowpack that summer was measured at 150% above normal at many high altitude sites, including many portions of the JMT, so I knew it would be quite an adventure, especially on the less traveled Bubbs Creek trail leading to the junction I intended to use while heading southeast toward the Whitney Portal.  When I got to the area where Avalanche Pass was suppose to be, it was completely snowed over and only a few protruding pine trees were visible.  I only had a map and compass, not a GPS device, so I decided to backtrack since there were no footprints.  No one had been through the area yet (late May).

As I trudged along heading toward a familiar junction leading onto the JMT, I was exhilarated, relieved to finally be back in the wilderness, where time seems to pass slower and survival as well as the surrounding natural wonders supersede all else.  After I reached the junction later that day, I continued on to camp near a pass I wanted to climb that night, but the threat of collapsing snow bridges caused me to stop and camp at a high altitude, a decision that began the demise of my hike.  Sometime that night, marmots chewed the ends and heels of my boots, and when I put them on the next morning (they were practically frozen, and so were my feet), I hiked with what amounted to little blades gnawing on my feet.  I didn't feel the damage being done until later that morning.

Needless to say, by noon, similar to my first blog, I was in a predicament.  To keep this blog down to it's suggested length, I ended up making it to the eastern end of the Sierras and hiked my way out on the Kearsarge Pass trail near the town of Independence.  When I was nearing the trailhead, a man and his son caught up to me and I asked him if he could give me a ride into Independence, which he agreed to.  From Independence, I caught a shuttle to Yosemite and eventually got picked up in Merced.  A cool story I want to end this on is sometime before I got dropped off in Independence, my camera fell between the man's jeep seats and I thought it was gone forever (I realized I didn't have it in Yosemite).

For the heck of it, I decided to create a Craigslist post in the San Diego area inquiring about a hitchhiker's lost camera, and I posted similar threads on the Whitney Portal Store and Whitney Zone message boards.  What happened?  I received an email a couple days later by a Whitney Portal Store message board member (an Inyo National Forest Park Ranger) with a link in it to a Fresno Bee article about a lost camera.  The guy remembered I said I was from Fresno and called the Bee!  Marek Warszawski, a sports writer and the Out There outdoors columnists wrote an article to see if they could find the owner, and when I emailed him and got it back, he wrote a follow up blog about it, explaining that I used my middle name with the guy at the Road's End permit station, that's why they couldn't locate me.  I was going to post the links but they are nonexistant now, but the point is to emphasis the fact I stated in my first blog post that it is a sort of culture of backpackers, and the generosity and camaraderie is unbelievable.

http://journeytojmt.blogspot.com/

http://jmtbook.com/?cat=3