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  1. #1
    Thru-hiker 2013 NoBo CarlZ993's Avatar
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    Default JMT GPS Coordinates

    During a 2004 JMT thru-hike, I recorded GPS coordinates of all the trail junctions and camps along the way. It was recorded in UTM coordinates with the NAD-27 datum. I uploaded the Excel spreadsheet into Google Docs. This may be helpful for those trying to hike this trail this year. Unsure if there have been any trail re-routes.

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...gid=1758626614
    2013 AT Thru-hike: 3/21 to 8/19
    Schedule: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...t1M/edit#gid=0

  2. #2

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    Don't do it Carl. Delete your post. Ink out the CS GPS coordinates. Easy enough to see where to camp by um, ding the "adventurous' thing" um reading a map.

  3. #3
    Thru-hiker 2013 NoBo CarlZ993's Avatar
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    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

    I think the other link didn't work.
    2013 AT Thru-hike: 3/21 to 8/19
    Schedule: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...t1M/edit#gid=0

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    Good stuff Carl. When we did it we used the Elizabeth Wenk book since it had rough locations of a few campsites that helped us out in deciding if we wanted to push further for daily miles or not. It even had guesstimates of how many tents each "site" could take. However, my friend and I noticed that her book was just downright off in the more remote areas. Enough so that we started using the term "Wenked" for getting screwed over by something while hiking. Heh.

  5. #5
    Thru-hiker 2013 NoBo CarlZ993's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Collin View Post
    Good stuff Carl. When we did it we used the Elizabeth Wenk book since it had rough locations of a few campsites that helped us out in deciding if we wanted to push further for daily miles or not. It even had guesstimates of how many tents each "site" could take. However, my friend and I noticed that her book was just downright off in the more remote areas. Enough so that we started using the term "Wenked" for getting screwed over by something while hiking. Heh.

    'Wenked?' That's funny. I drove the guys I was hiking with a little crazy when I kept saying, "Wait... I gotta get a GPS fix of this trail junction."
    2013 AT Thru-hike: 3/21 to 8/19
    Schedule: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...t1M/edit#gid=0

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    What was more useful to me was the cross section views of the trail sections that showed altitude gain and loss, or the ups and downs that would be encountered during the day. Hiking up a steep section is a lot easier in the morning! But, sometimes I would hike the extra steep miles at the end of the day, especially if it meant I would be at camping near the base of a steep pass climb. In fact I do remember continuing to hike in an evening rain just to reach the base of a pass I would be climbing over in the morning. As it turned out when I awoke, my site was above the clouds that had nestled into the valley I had made the effort to hike out of the previous day. Beautiful! Blue sky above, rain clouds below!

    Coordinates did suggest places popular to camp, but usually they were full by the time I arrived. I found camp co-ordinates not to be useful. Sometimes, hiking past designated spots lead me to even more beautiful places to camp. Finding places to camp was never an issue.

  7. #7

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    I am intrigued by your take on the Wenk book. I did a thru hike in 2012 and used it and thought it was great. I used it along with the Blackwoods Atlas and the Harrison maps. I am curious about what inaccuracies you found, and where.

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    If you cant find a place to camp on jmt yourself, your a really, really, bad hiker. Or have very limited vision.

    I found the Wenk book totally useless. Unless your into wanting to know about rocks and plants along way. And way too heavy to consider bringing for that.

    Some people claim it helped them find campsites they otherwise wouldnt have. Maybe so, but by following her , you miss innumerable special ones you could find on your own too.

    Lots of gps tracks...of every trail out there.....exist and are already on internet.
    People just want to play with electronic toys, because hiking actually bores them. They want a distraction from it.

    Example:

    http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/979329
    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 03-29-2017 at 22:39.

  9. #9
    Registered User colorado_rob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MuddyWaters View Post
    .....

    People just want to play with electronic toys, because hiking actually bores them. They want a distraction from it.

    Example:

    http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/979329
    WB's #2 all time curmudgeon actually presents us a link to a really cool JMT trip report, thanks! These guys sure don't look bored hiking to me, and I wonder what electronic toys you are referring to? They had a common GPS, like probably what, 80% of us carry these days? Bad hikers the great majority of us, to be sure!

    And it was useful to my wife and I numerous times on our JMT hike having locations of established campsites. It's good form to use well established sites on a heavily used trail like the JMT.

  10. #10

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    One great thing I learned on the JMT was 'hike your own hike'. I had never set foot in the Sierra Nevada before hiking the JMT and wanted to learn about the area - including its rocks and its plants - so I did take Wenk for her description of the environment. I would read it at night for a general idea of what to expect the next day and really learned a lot from it. I tore the book up so I only carried the pages for the segment I was walking and resupplied book sections along with food. I didn't use Wenk to find specific campsites because my experience, like yours, was that beautiful campsites are plentiful on that trail, and I was not looking to socialize, so I would actually want to avoid any site identified in a guidebook. Apparently Collin did it differently so I thought maybe I could learn something from him. I'm not sure that anyone here deserves to be called bad hiker or accused of lacking vision.

  11. #11
    Registered User JPritch's Avatar
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    Is there a JMT guidebook that is considered the "gold standard" akin to AWOL's and the AT?

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by JPritch View Post
    Is there a JMT guidebook that is considered the "gold standard" akin to AWOL's and the AT?
    That would be the Blackwoods Press JMT Pocket Atlas by Erik the Black. Elevation profiles, mileage, 1:63,360 topo maps,trailheads, easy to read symbols for locations of water sources, campsites, etc. And resupply info, public transportation info and town maps, in a small, compact book about 8"x5" and thin. It is all you need.

    If you are willing to take one more thing, I really like the Tom Harrison map pack. It is the same scale map, but it covers a broader area and has slightly narrower contour intervals (80 ft, whereas I think Blackwoods is 100 ft). The March, 2016 issue of The Atlantic magazine had an article about Tom Harrison, 'How a Modern-Day Mapmaker Does his Job'. A great story about the subjective genius of Harrison's cartographic work.

    I used these along with the 1st edition of the Blackwoods book. It appears that the topo maps in 2nd edition are improved so that it is an easy decision to skip the Harrison maps if you want to.

  13. #13
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    Thanks for sharing, Carl! Hiking certainly isn't boring, but sitting at my desk at work when I can't be out hiking is--so I play with maps.


    "Your comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.
    "


  14. #14

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    Has anyone had experience using Guthooks on the JMT? I loved it on my AT thru and am considering purchasing the JMT version if I land my permit for next year...
    Great blog site for new and/or female hikers! www.appalachiantrailclarity.com

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    The jmt lets you visually see landmarks to know where you is vast majority of time. So many lakes, passes, etc. Eriks atlas was great. I didnt use guthook on jmt. Didnt even carry smarty phone.

    What any jmt source shows as campsites or water sources is just small, small, fraction of possibilities. As such, that info is all pretty unnecessary.

    Better is knowing the few closed areas for camping...
    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 07-19-2017 at 15:10.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by twistwrist View Post
    Has anyone had experience using Guthooks on the JMT? I loved it on my AT thru and am considering purchasing the JMT version if I land my permit for next year...
    I loved it... but it's far from complete. You need to partner it with the National Geo JMT Map/pamphlet because the map is more complete in terms of where you can find campsites.

    One of the uses for the Guthook guide is to make sure you're still on the JMT. Usually, that's not a problem. But as you approach front country areas (think TM, Red's, etc), it's not always obvious which trail is the JMT, and it's usually not marked.
    One case-in-point... if you want to stay true to JMT, here is an intersection as you approach Devil's Post Pile. The 'MAIN' trail that takes you right under the monument is actually the PCT. If you want to stay true to the JMT, you have to follow a trail to the right where you get an upper elevation view of the monument from across the valley. There's also numerous day-hike trails in this area, and pretty much none of them are labeled for the JMT, and not all of them clearly appear on the map. (Yes, at least twice I found myself heading down the wrong trail in the Devil's Post Pile area and Guthook got me back on track will minimal back tracking).

    The way I used Guthook to find campsites as to fire up the app about an hour before the time I'd like to start finding a campsite. Once Guthook could tell me where I was, I could translate that position to the National Geo map and see what campsites were up ahead.

    One minor point... when your phone has been turned off and you are out of range from cell and wifi signals, it can take a while for your phone to determine its location ONLY via the GPS satellites. Usually 5 minutes was sufficient, but in a few cases, it took 15 minutes. This is a short coming of the phone when away from cell towers as apposed to a short coming of Guthook.

  17. #17
    PCT, Sheltowee, Pinhoti, LT , BMT, AT, SHT, CDT, TRT 10-K's Avatar
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    I'm not usually worried about finding a place to camp - that's pretty easy and in a pinch I've never not been able to make something work. What I like to know is where water sources are.

  18. #18

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    Gravitating to known CS's actually impacts the CS habituating critters like bears, mice, etc to these sites. It beats down the CS's too ah ala AT lean to's. Finding places to camp, allowing oneself to have some adventure, not kowtowing to information overload, and looking at a map can be part of timely safe JMT/High Sierra experience.

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