music: Grateful Dead- 4/11/1978
The Ides of March are behind us, the Equinox directly in front of us, the full moon just past, the end of Daylight Savings is nigh, and the days are lengthening. Time once again for our hero to fix his eyes on the horizon and stumble over things directly in front of him.
Teaching is a Faustian bargian of sorts: you essentially give up the majority of your weekends from September through June, but get all the time back all at once in July and August. I’ve maximized utility on the summer front for the past two years: 2004 involved driving around the American West, hiking, and playing music with AJM. 2005 took me overseas to Australia and Hawai’i. Each of the previous two years involved a lot of distance and a wide variety of activities. Plans for 2006 have been in the works for a couple months, and the plans involve something much more focused and restricted as far as distance. 211 miles, to be exact about it. This summer AJM and I will be hiking the John Muir Trail.
I’m one of those that likes to put 50 lbs (more, sometimes) on my back and walk up and down mountains for fun. This is more or less unfathomable to people who don’t do it, but whatever. I’ve done some pretty wild hikes and have pushed me and my backpack past the point of common sense on occasion, but nothing I’ve done will measure up to this. The JMT is rugged terrain, snaking thorugh some of the best scenery the High Sierras of California has to offer, but it’s remote. We will be out for a total of 26 days. We will be several days’ walk away from paved surfaces for most of it, dependent on food cache drops and prearranged resupplies every 5-7 days. We’ll be doing anywhere from 7-15 miles on any given day, plus elevation changes of up to 3,000’. And we’ll be doing all of it above 7,500’ until we descend into Yosemite Valley and wrap the thing up.
This is an intimidating undertaking. I’m rarely nervous when it comes to hiking trips, but this is one for which I have a very healthy respect. No matter, we’re going to do it. Everyone I’ve talked to that has done it says it was one of the highlights of their life. We have the experience, we have the training, we have the gear, we have the motivation, and despite the advice of many distance hikers, we have the travel guitars to write a song about it as we go. This weekend I finished the first draft of our itinerary and with it the ideations about doing the JMT this summer have become much more real. The wheels are in motion for a very different sort of adventure this summer. Next up: dates, permits, gear lists, training…gettin’ there. as always.
Posted by davidtaus at March 19, 2006 11:41 AM | TrackBack