Now Training!

We're now officially in training.  We plan to hike 21 NH mountains within the next seven weeks.  Here's our trip report for peak number one, Mt. Hayes.

All NH trip reports will be on our main blog.  Our actual JMT hike will be documented here on this site (and not our main one), along with post-hike notes and an extensive gear review.

Vacation

The girls and I are on vacation until mid-June.  When we get back into the mountains, we will attempt to finish the 52WAV peaks and the Trailwrights peaks.  That'll mean about 20 mountains or so in 6 weeks.  If we can pull that off, then we should be more than ready for the John Muir Trail in August.  :)  We're in pretty good shape right now, but we all want to be in GREAT shape so the JMT feels more like a pleasant walk than a hard core trek.

I have all our gear except for last minute clothing items for the girls.  Clothing items for the kids always have to be bought at the last second, since both Alex and Sage have a habit of growing out of things quickly.  I'll post a full gear report after we return in September.

Have a wonderful couple of weeks.  From mid-June through July, I'll post trip reports of our peakbagging adventures...and I'll also get back to the fundraising requests for Feeding America.  We only have 30% more to raise of our $2104 goal.

Til mid-June,
Trish

Almost Crunch Time

The girls and I have been training via hikes, walks, swims, and a smattering of other fitness exercises.  Our main, intense training period will happen between mid-June and the end of July, when we'll finish (or almost finish) two NH hiking lists the girls have been casually working on for years.  We plan to do between 20-22 peaks in six weeks.  After that, we should be good to go as far as being in shape for our thru-hike.

I have almost all the gear I need.  After our hike, in September, I'll go through each piece and explain how and if it worked.

Visit our main blog for pictures from our last few hikes.  Once mid-June rolls around, I'll post direct links to each training trip report as we tackle and hopefully finish the 52 With a View and Trailwrights 72 (peaks...Alex will still need to put in the rest of her TW72 trailwork).

Spring!

The girls and I continue to train using trails and paths that are relatively snow-free.  It'll be a few more weeks before we'll get back up into the mountains.  All three of us have hiked the higher peaks with snowshoes in spring conditions, but it's no fun...the deep, soft, melting snowpack sinks beneath your weight and you end up postholing even while wearing the snowshoes...yuck.  We'd rather wait until the white stuff is almost all gone, which will probably be in late April or early May.

In the meantime, we'll continue to hike trails in the southern part of New Hampshire (hooray for state parks!), and we'll continue to walk the various, hilly, five-to-eight-mile road-routes by our home.

Catamount Trail, Bear Brook State Park, NH

Thanks for donating to Feeding America!

If you've already contributed to our Feeding America virtual food drive -- thank you!  You're the reason we've already reached over 60% of our $2104 fundraising goal!!  :)  If you haven't yet contributed to Feeding America, then please consider doing so.

We continue to prepare for our upcoming JMT hike.  Though, since this was my pay-your-taxes-month, new gear purchases will have to wait until April.  We still need: one ultralight sleeping bag, one water filter, plane tickets (I won't buy those until June), food resupply (I won't buy those items until July), and updated clothing for the girls (which I won't buy until the last possible second, since Alex and Sage tend to outgrow things quickly).  I will post a full gear list, with candid reviews of each item, after we return from the JMT in September.

One thing I recently realized -- most of this blog won't be created until after we return from California!  Unlike in Spain on the Camino, I won't have cell reception every day on the John Muir Trail.  Therefore, I'll keep a paper journal while we hike, take a slew of photos, and blog each day after we come back.  There will be a full report of our trip with plenty of details about every aspect of our adventure, but it will all be posted after-the-fact.

I hope everyone is handling the weather.  I woke up to over a foot of heavy snow in my driveway this morning...and it's the first day of spring!  Gotta love living in the Whites.

Resupply and Zero Days

We're hiking the JMT to raise money for Feeding America; we're just over halfway to our $2104 goal.  Please help if you can -- every cent goes directing to Feeding America, and your donation is tax-deductible.

We've booked our reservations at Red's Meadow Resort, Vermilion Valley Resort, and Muir Trail Ranch.  We'll spend two evenings and a zero day in each of these locations.  I'm not sure we'll need that many rest days, but I'm sure we'll enjoy that many rest days.  Part of the fun of thru-hiking is hanging out with other hikers, and I can't think of anything more enjoyable than three backpack-less days of R&R with PCT and JMT folks.  Plus, all three resorts look wonderful and I'm sure the girls and I will love staying at each.

As for resupply -- we'll send a bucket to Muir Trail Ranch...and I've booked an on-trail resupply with Dee Berner of Sequoia Kings Pack Trains.  This is a pricey option, but Dee has a solid reputation and years of experience.  If I was doing this solo, then I could manage hiking from Muir Trail Ranch to Whitney without needing a resupply at all...but with two kids, I definitely need a resupply option.  I can't carry ten days worth of food for myself and the girls during the southern half of the JMT.  We COULD leave the trail and hike down to Onion Valley to resupply, but that's a detour of 18 miles roundtrip, and we'd lose at least a day...hence my decision to book a resupply date/arrangement with Dee.  I enjoyed speaking with her on the phone and I'm grateful for her service -- this is well worth the price, for now my kids and I will not have to labor under the weight of too-full backpacks during the last half of our trip.

We continue to hike weekly for training.  No photos for today's post, though -- our last hike was five miles of hills close to our home.  We had to do this instead of going up a mountain since the temperatures were below zero (F) and the wind speeds were dangerously high.  Hope to hike something substantial this Friday.  Once June rolls around, we'll hike mountains at least twice a week with full JMT packs until we leave for California.

Resupply Options

I now have an itinerary!  We will happily make use of Reds Meadow Resort, Muir Trail Ranch, and (hopefully) Vermilion Valley Resort (I haven't yet received confirmation of our reservation).  I've also been in touch with Dee from Berners' Pack Outfits.  What a nice lady!  I enjoyed speaking with her and I look forward to meeting her on the trail about halfway between Muir Trail Ranch and Whitney.  Yes, I know, that's a pricey collection of rest stops and resupply options...but this is our 2014 vacation, and I want the girls and I to have fun.  Having a bed every so often during the first half of our journey will be nice -- and not having to lug ten days worth of food for three people will be wonderful!

I'm planning on a maximum of 23 days on the trail.  That should be more than enough time to get from Yosemite to Whitney, barring injury or illness.  The girls are tough and experienced, and they now regularly beat adult book time on hikes here in the Whites.  I've sketched a conservative plan with an average of ten miles a day, so I think we should be fine in terms of not overdoing it.

Meantime, here in snowy New Hampshire, we're back to hiking once a week (my leg seems to be completely healed!).  Here's a photo from our latest trek.  It's the girls being goofy on Mt. Crawford (click here for the full trip report).

More next week.  In the meantime, please donate to Feeding America!