[pct-l] The JMT ''a love affair''

[Reinhold Metzger]

It started as a challenge in the summer of 1996.
The challenge became a puppy love; the puppy love turned into true love and
every summer since she has been calling me.

So here it is, 12:15 AM on top of Mt. Whitney........She is calling me.
I try to sleep, but I can't.    My mind is on the John Muir Trail instead.
I see Forester Pass, I see Muir Pass, I see the Palisades, I see Rae Lake,
Garnet Lake, Thousand Island Lake, Banner, Ritter, and the Minarets.
I try to resist but the lure is too strong...I MUST GO...I MUST GO...I
MUSTGO.

And go I did,  faster than I ever did.
At 12:45 AM, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2006, I step out of the Whitney hut on to
the John Muir Trail heading north to Yosemite in quest of a sub five
unsupported trek of the JMT and break the current unsupported record of 5
days 7 hours, 45 minutes.
At 9 PM,  two mountain passes and 45 miles  later, I arrive at Wood Creek.
On my prior JMT marathons I always stopped at Wood Creek the first night.
Not this time kido.  You have to make it over Pinchot Pass and keep on
going.
11:30 PM - disaster, almost at the top of Pinchot, I step on a loose rock,
take a nasty fall and sprain my ankle, bruise my thigh, and bloody my knee.
I decide to stop for for the night and access my  condition in the morning.
6 AM - I can walk but not very fast and jogging is out of the question.  My
sub-five JMT is over.
I decide to bail out via Sawmill Pass, the closest exit route.

I promised my wife this would be my last JMT marathon......"You said that
the last time....and the timebefore that....and the two times before
that,"...
my wife counters.
"We'll see"......but I tend to agree with her that at one month shy of  66,
I'm getting too old for those JMT marathons and it's best to leave it to the
younger generation to improve upon  my time.

Oh, I will still hike the JMT, after all....IT'S MY BABY....but at a slower
pace.

Even though I failed in my attempt of an unsupported sub five JMT, my
records of 5 days 10 hours set in 2003 and 5 days 7 hours 45 minutes set
in  2004 still stand

THE  CHALLENGE  HAS  BEEN  MET...............THE  LOVE  WILL  LAST
FOREVER................HER  CALL  WILL  NEVER  END.

JMT Reinhold
Your hopelessly in love with the JMT trail companion