That old timer on the JMT who called me out for rushing

I was powering through the John Muir Trail near Thousand Island Lake in 2018, trying to hit 20 miles a day. An older guy sitting on a log with no gear but a tiny daypack just said 'Where you going in such a hurry?' I stopped and sat with him for 20 minutes. He told me he'd been hiking that same stretch every summer for 30 years and never saw the same thing twice. Has anyone else had a random stranger slow you down and make the trip better?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_robin14d ago

Have you ever tried using a GPS tracker with preset waypoints? It helps me plan my days way better than just guessing. I run into this a lot on the Sierra sections where weather can flip fast. What I do is set a hard cutoff time for each day, like 4pm or whenever the afternoon storms usually hit. That way I can push hard in the morning when I need to, but I stop when the weather window closes. I also carry a paper map and not just my phone, so I can see where the good campsites are before I get there. If you plan your miles around the forecast instead of just a number, you end up with more time to sit and talk to folks like that old timer.

zara_sanchez14d ago

Look, I get the appeal of that moment but I have to push back a little. In 2016 I did a 22 mile day on the PCT near Sierra City because I had a 3 day window before a massive storm rolled in. Some people hike slow and some people hike fast for REAL reasons that have nothing to do with being in a hurry. That old guy had 30 summers of leisure. Some of us get one trip a year and have to fit 200 miles into 10 days. I am glad he made you stop but not everyone who cranks out miles is missing the point. Sometimes the mountain is just telling you to keep moving.