This past summer, from Aug 15-31 2011, I had the opportunity to hike the entire 210+mile hike of the John Muir Trail with a couple of friends from Virginia. Even though I’m a Yankee to them, we all seemed to get along without much trouble. Our trip was filled with unbelievable scenery, new stories to tell & marked by fantastic memories! I’m grateful to have had the time to hike with Aboman & T2.
The weather was something completely adverse to what we experience here in New England. The humidity level in this area is much higher, at times being over 90%. A hiker on the JMT mentioned to us one day that he was feeling the high humidity of the area. It was about 15% 
.Summers in New England leave you drenched in sweat as you hike, never having the chance to fully dry. On the JMT in CA, no matter how wet I was with sweat, whenever we stopped for a break, I was dry in about 10 minutes. The dry air was amazing. With this difference in the weather, I found that by wearing a cotton/poly blend material for a shirt was better than having something designed to be fully wicking. This allowed some moisture to stay on my body for a short time, keeping me cool & regulating body temperature.
Before we officially started our thru-hike of the JMT, we’d planned to spend a few days acclimating to the higher elevation. Abo & T are from VA, elevation 200 ft or so. I live at sea level, with the cold Atlantic ocean within a mile of my home. We wanted to give our bodies a chance to get accustomed to the higher peaks. We hiked over 30 miles in the 3 day acclimating hikes and, overall, each of us faired pretty well in the thinner air. To the right is a pic of the famed Half Dome, which we did take time to visit & top its majestic peak. It was one of the most memorable points of the hike for me. I still smell the steel cables as I pulled my way up the hill.
The hike of the JMT took us 15 hiking days with one zero day at Vermilion Valley Resort. All in all, our bodies did pretty well. I lost one more toenail, that of the big toe on my right foot. This came about on our 2nd day of acclimation hikes, & proved to be a nagging injury throughout the trip. It’s since healed. For some insane reason, Aboman thought it would take me off the trail. I guess he didn’t think I was too tough. No way was a busted toenail gonna keep me from hiking this trail!
My return flight home from Reno, NV had me arrive at Logan Airport in Boston after 1 am on Sept. 2nd-my wedding day. Yep, you read that right. The day I returned from the JMT, I climbed another mountain in New Hampshire to the Lonesome Lake Hut on the Appalachian Trail to marry the woman of my dreams. I’m thankful that everything went as scheduled on my return trip. And so was a fitting end to the summer of 2011. What a blast!
~Pilgrim.
