Lessons Learned

Jon O followed Jim’s progress on the John Muir Trail remotely. Jon interviews Jim about recording his experience, the podcast production, feedback from listeners, what happened after the end of the hike at Whitney Portal, equipment, food, and lessons learned.

Transcript

Jim: Hello, I'm Jim Z! Welcome to the Season-1 Finale of Flowing Water | Fragrant Mountains. Today my good friend Jon O is joining me, thanks Jon.

Jon: Good to be here, Jim!

Jim: Now Jon, you and I have been hiking together for many years, mostly in Southern California, and also on a few backpacks in the Sierra. When I did the John Muir Trail back in September it helped me a lot that I could share my real-time GPS coordinates with you, and also communicate via text with you. Much appreciated, thanks.

Jon: No Problem. I think going it alone on the JMT is a pretty big deal. I know the solitude would be difficult for me to handle, so I made up my mind prior to your departure I would reach out to you each day just in case you needed a virtual hiker at your side. I can tell you, from my prospective, it was actually pretty fun to watch your progress during the month, and I enjoyed being able to support you remotely, even though I didn't feel like you necessarily needed it.

Jim: Well I did come to look forward to those texts, both sending and receiving. Especially at the end when it turned cold, it was reassuring to know you were paying attention.

Jon: Well, good to hear. I have a few questions for you about your trip, but first tell me how you decided to do a podcast for this experience.

Jim: I really owe that to my son, Thomas. He has training and experience in radio production, and late last year he asked if I'd be willing to do a podcast on a topic of my choice, so he could get some experience in producing one. The JMT seemed a natural. Thomas is responsible for the recording, editing, and music.

Jon: I thought the music was really well done.

Jim: I agree. And so do a number of listeners, it seems, based on feedback I've received. Thomas composed, played, recorded, and mixed all of those musical interludes.

Jon: Was the podcast your first idea to chronicle your trip?

Jim: Well actually, it wasn't. About a month or two after I finished the JMT, I started putting together a Power Point presentation, based mainly on the photographs I took with my iPhone. But I never got very far with it and sort of put in on the back burner. Then when Thomas approached me, it seemed the obvious choice for a podcast would be the JMT.

Jon: So you had your photos and of course your memory, what else did you draw upon?

Jim: That's very similar to a question I got from a listener, who asked "...did you take notes sort of as you went along, or just write the daily adventures by recollection when you got home?" Well, I really took very few notes as I went along. But it turns out that my Garmin inReach Mini kept a good record of my messaging with you, Jon, and with my wife Cindie. Reading back on those messages was really helpful in jogging my memory and reminding me of what frame of mind I was in at various points. And the GPS tracking was a good record of time and place.

Jon: So tell me more about the feedback from listeners.

Jim: Yeah, I got a lot of feedback, mostly of the "thanks for sharing, I enjoyed that" variety, which of course I appreciate.

Jon: Anything a little more specific?

Jim: Well, from several who had themselves done the JMT or something like it, I heard things like the podcast "...brought back fond memories...", or "...brought to mind fun memories of my JMT hike..." or "...brought back a lot of personal memories...". So that tells me that listening to the podcast for some was a way to be reminded of their own similar adventures in an enjoyable way.

Jon: Was any of the feedback a surprise to you?

Jim: Yeah, I was surprised to hear words like "scary", "ordeal", and "grind" as, I guess, take-aways that listeners had of my JMT experience. And thinking about how I described the hike in the podcast, I can see how that might be. You know I tried to tell a story in each Episode, and picked something specific for a little drama, obviously. So the podcast over-emphasizes difficulties, and I think under-represents the fun.

Jon: Ha, well that's good to hear. Tell us a little bit about the title of the podcast, "Flowing Water | Fragrant Mountains"? Where did that come from?

Jim: "Flowing Water" - those two words - describe a lot of what I experienced on my trip. I'm used to day hiking in Southern California, where as you know, Jon, flowing water just isn't common. And it was really stunning to experience it pretty much all the time on the JMT. Anyway, there's a two-line poem I came across at the Huntington Library in Southern California that translates to "Flowing water can purify the mind; Fragrant mountains are good for quiet contemplation." And that's where the title came from.

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Jon: I'm Jon O, and I'm here with Jim Z, talking about his JMT experience last summer. Jim, I'm wondering about the end of Episode 7, Pickup At the Portal. You had finished one of the longest days on your trip and you were waiting for a ride from the Whitney Portal into Lone Pine. What happened then?

Jim: Well I had arranged with a shuttle service to drive me from the Portal down into Lone Pine. But the driver texted me that he was going to be late, or even a no-show... And right after I finished reading that text a pickup truck rolled up next to the Portal store, and the driver asked "anyone need a ride?".

Jon: That's interesting, did you take 'em up on the offer?

Jim: Yeah, and their story was kinda interesting. They were two forty-something hikers, a guy from the US, a gal from Italy. Turns out they had been doing the JMT themselves. They were a few days behind me and, after experiencing some bad weather, had exited the trail over Bishop Pass.

Jon: How did they wind up at the Portal?

Jim: Well, at the start of their trip, they had left their car at the Portal, somehow got to Yosemite for the beginning of their southbound JMT. And then, finding themselves at the trailhead above Bishop after leaving the JMT, they told me they were lucky to find an organized youth group that drove them down to Bishop, south to Lone Pine, and finally up to the Portal. They felt so grateful for getting that ride, that they decided to circle around the Portal until finding someone who needed a ride!

Jon: Sounds like you were a lucky recipient of a pay-it-forward thing! How did you wind up getting back to LA from Lone Pine?

Jim: Well, I didn't have a car myself, and wanted to experience public transportation from Lone Pine to LA.

Jon: How did that go?

Jim: Really well, actually. There was a bus, started in Mammoth, I think. It picked me and a few others up in Lone Pine, mid-morning, and its last stop was at the Metrolink station in Lancaster. I waited there for less than an hour for the train that goes to Union Station in LA. It wasn't as fast as driving would have been, but definitely more relaxing. I think I'd do it again.

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Jon: Jim, tell me a little bit about the gear you brought and what worked out well for you?

Jim: Yeah, things that worked well for me were my electronics. I had my iPhone, my InReach Mini, my Steripen UV water purifier, a rechargeable USB battery, and a small solar panel. I had a very lightweight, small volume, bear canister; and a pretty small volume pack, only 50 liters, that helped me to limit what I took to only the essentials.

Jon: What would you do differently in the way of gear?

Jim: Well, I should have started with trail shoes that didn't already have over a hundred miles of wear. And, especially for late September, I think a stronger tent would be better, I'd be less worried about high winds.

Jon: I remember you telling me a story about your belt.

Jim: Right. Yeah, on short backpacks before the JMT I had been using Outdoor Research suspenders to hold my pants up. For some reason I swapped those out and took a belt on the JMT. That belt and my backpack waistbelt did not get along, and there was a lot of bad chafing on my skin.

Jon: What was your solution? 

Jim: I ended up not using the belt at all, which meant I had to constantly yank up my hiking pants. The obvious lesson: don't make a change unless you have experience with it under the conditions you expect.

Jon: Tell me more about the food you brought with you.

Jim: I made what seems to be a common mistake for thru hikers: carrying more than you can eat. One to one-and-a-half pounds per day was plenty for me. Things like Pringles and Peanut M&Ms are appetizing to me, pretty much all the time.

Jon: A pound-and-a-half a day sounds pretty slim, Jim...

Jim: Well the JMT is short enough that you can get away with it for a few weeks. Certainly I think individuals need to consider their own needs, one-and-a-half pounds per day might be way too little for some. One of my listeners said "I am guessing you lost weight on this...".  And I did, about ten pounds, even with big meals at Mammoth, Vermilion, and Independence. But it was those big meals that allowed me to catch up some on calories, every few days or so.

Jon: Any meals that you would recommend?

Jim: Well over the weeks I rotated through four or five boil-in-a-bag backpacker meals. The bean burrito and mac & cheese from Mary Janes Farm were very good. In the mac & cheese I would add torn up pieces of pre-cooked bacon.

Jon: That sounds good! I know you did this trip solo, what is your feeling now on doing this type of trip on your own versus going with friends?

Jim: I think it's hard to make a generalization. Depends on who you're going with, and the tradeoffs of safety, loneliness, companionship, independence, all of that. If you are going solo, I think it's an advantage that the JMT in summer has lots of people.

Jon: In hindsight, how would you rate your preparedness for this trip?

Jim: Well I was overly concerned about water crossings and bears. I saw no bears or even evidence of bears. (I realize that's not necessarily the usual experience on the JMT.) As for water: even though the prior winter was 50% above normal in precipitation, I went late enough in the season that only once did I even have to take my shoes off for a water crossing.

Jon: Was there anything that happened that you didn't expect?

Jim: I underestimated the physical wear and tear it took on me. And I felt a little underprepared for the spell of cold weather the last few days.

Jon: What can you tell me, or what can you share with regard to any lessons learned?

Jim: Well I think you definitely have to do planning for something like this, it's necessary; but it has its limits, you just can't plan everything. And you have to adopt an attitude at some point that whatever might come your way you'll be able to deal with it. For me some of examples of that were the cold weather and the wind, transportation at trailheads, and poor trail conditions, like the spur to Vermilion and icy conditions near Mount Whintey.

Jon: Do you think you'd ever to the JMT again? And if you did would you do anything differently?

Jim: You know I can see myself doing something similar, like the JMT but going northbound; or sections of the Pacific Crest Trail; there's the High Sierra Trail. One thing I think I probably would do differently is pick a time of season, earlier in the season, where there's more sunlight. I've also looked at the possibility of stringing together several longer - greater than twenty-mile - day hikes, with zero days in between at places like the Valley or Mammoth or Vermilion.

Jon: What's next for the podcast?

Jim: I've been thinking of some ideas for Season 2... we'll see. I hope that the current pandemic situation will wind down enough to allow some opportunities this summer for fun outings.

Jon, thanks for joining me today.

Jon: You're welcome, and I look forward to another Season.

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