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Day 1 August 29th Start - Tuolumne Meadows Ranger Station I left my home in San Francisco on September 29th at 4:00 AM and 5 hours later arrived at the Tuolumne Meadows Ranger station. I have reserved a permit online to start on the 30th and knew that I could easily change it for 1 day earlier if I asked in person. Just as I thought, the Ranger issuing permits says “no problem” Great, I now a 1 extra day. Good insurance to have just in case something happens along the way. I already had pre-arranged that a friend shuttle me back from the Whitney Portal on Sunday 9/10 back to my truck in Yosemite now 13 instead of 12 days later. So after parking my truck at the trailhead and a final go-through with my gear, I take my first step of my SOLO SOBO JMT at 10:30 AM. Even though I was tired from the long drive, I was eager to get started and was running on adrenalin. My step off weight BTW is 32 pounds which includes EVERYTHING for 6 days. I only plan to re-supply once at Muir Ranch for the remaining 6 days. Between my 1 food drop and the food I was carrying I knew that I could manage 1 extra meal. I modified somebody else’s Excel worksheet to jot down my arrival times at each major intersection shown on the 13 page Tom Harrison map set. This other worksheet shows the elevation, elevation difference and mileage between segments. I thought that I would use these times after I get home to calculate my trail hiking miles per hour just for the fun of it. At every major intersection, I would stop, take out my pen and note the time I arrived. This became a very strange obsession of mine. Very weird…..
The trail from through Lynell Canyon is a gentle stroll and I end up at what I think is called the base camp at the base of Donahue Pass at 5pm. 11.5 miles in the first day. 4.4 miles short of my planned destination at Marie Lakes. Not bad considering I didn’t start till 1030 AM. I know that I can make up the miles in the next day. I keep reminding my self that 1 left 1 day early. I wrote down 6 different arrival times on the check sheet.
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