View Full Version : "Mile...Mile and a Half!" - JMT film
Uncle Joe
12-10-2015, 21:44
So I just watched this film and was pretty surprised at the pack weights of the group. Is this just the way it is on the JMT? They had resupplies and were still packing as much as 70lbs! I think the lightest was in the 40's. Granted, they had camera equipment too so that has to be factored in.
chknfngrs
12-10-2015, 21:47
They're artists who happened to go backpacking with their stuffs. But I don't think it's unusual to find that sort of pack weight on a trail.
They were hauling all their professional camera and sound equipment.
There is life beyond a 20 pound backpack.
Wayne
Sent from somewhere around here.
I like to think they had an excuse for their heavy load .specially when you know they are not LD hikers in real life.
saltysack
12-10-2015, 22:42
Real cameras and sound gear is heavy....they also forgot to cut the handles off their tooth brushes, carried matches and a head lights!!![emoji16]. Glad they made the film....it inspired me to do the JMT...
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Real cameras and sound gear is heavy....they also forgot to cut the handles off their tooth brushes, carried matches and a head lights!!![emoji16]. Glad they made the film....it inspired me to do the JMT...
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And they did not know about dehydrated water!!!!
saltysack
12-10-2015, 23:00
My heaviest load was 32lbs from MTR to Whitney...I'm not a Ul guy but I was probably lighter than 90% of the people I met along the way. That said most hikers carried more food as they were taking longer to finish. I met a few Ul hikers but the majority carried well over 40lbs...
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Uncle Joe
12-11-2015, 00:39
Yeah I figured their gear would be at least somewhat heavy. But they also seemed to take a lot of food. Beautiful trail, though. I haven't given hiking it much thought as it always seems bear stories come out of the PCT and JMT but they apparently only saw a couple. Maybe I need to re-think it.
I also saw in the credits that someone I know worked on the film production which was cool!
MuddyWaters
12-11-2015, 07:52
My heaviest load was 32lbs from MTR to Whitney...I'm not a Ul guy but I was probably lighter than 90% of the people I met along the way. That said most hikers carried more food as they were taking longer to finish. I met a few Ul hikers but the majority carried well over 40lbs...
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Id say 40 was probably normal.
I met one young lady carrying about 50 with heavy camera gear, taking 4 wks. She put out a book of the photos she took.
My heaviest was 25 leaving mtr. Could have been a lot less. I ended up with 5 lb food left, and i carry too much water anyway.
JMT thru hikers typically are not "ultralight" and weekenders in the Sierra are typically not lightweight at all. I'd say that anywhere from 30-45 or even 50 pounds was not at all unusual. In contrast PCT long distance hikers usually have much smaller packs. Mile, mile and a half came out shortly before my JMT thru hike in 2013. It was hard to wait the few weeks between seeing the film and starting my hike.
saltysack
12-11-2015, 09:27
Id say 40 was probably normal.
I met one young lady carrying about 50 with heavy camera gear, taking 4 wks. She put out a book of the photos she took.
My heaviest was 25 leaving mtr. Could have been a lot less. I ended up with 5 lb food left, and i carry too much water anyway.
I m not sure I could ever get that light! I could probably drop 3lbs off my big three but other than that....I actually had almost no food left at the end! And used everything else daily...even used up almost all vit and tpI!!
Ula circuit to arc blast....1lb
15*Helium bag to quilt....1lb
LHG solong6 to tarp...1lb
1.5 L of water/Gatorade to
taking all into consideration I'm happy with what I carried and wouldn't change much for another JMT hike.
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colorado_rob
12-11-2015, 10:29
Fun movie! But really, those guys were fairly clueless when it comes to long distance backpacking, and of course as has been said, they had a lot of extra camera/sound gear.
Don't forget about the bear canister requirement on the JMT; a significant difference, requiring for many a larger pack. this would especially affect the ULers out there that just plain cannot get by with their 30L packs like they can along the AT.
Also, my base was a tad higher only because I took my DSLR camera on the JMT. On the JMT, there really is a bigger need for better camera equipment than along the AT, not that the AT beauty didn't have it's moments, but along the JMT, it's pretty much non-stop gorgeous.
Other than the bear canister and the camera thing, my base setup was nearly identical to my spring kit on the AT, and I didn't notice any more stupid-huge packs along the JMT than I did along the AT.