Setting the John Muir Trail FKODT in Under Six Days!

Gabe Peterson

Hi team,

This is a late post -- I had trouble accessing Le Forums that last couple of weeks. Here is my detailed account of fastpacking the fabled John Muir Trail in Under Six Days, possibly setting the Fastest Known Old Dude Time (FKODT). It's a long one, but there are lots of pictures if you just want to skim through.

This was the most epic and most difficult challenge I've done. I may never top it. To put it in perspective, it was about as difficult as doing an Ironman or running a 50 mile ultra every day for six days.

Hit me up with your questions!

https://sway.office.com/jiYKqzFiAPJrl2hL?ref=Link

scott dinhofer

@Gabe Peterson - the pics are awesome! The details you can remember are incredible. Thanks for sharing this awesome adventure and knowledge base with us. I have a bunch of questions for you after reading through that.

did you leave the power bricks in the food bucket? or take some with you from inception? or both

How much water would you carry? (bottles/bladder? other?)

water filtration?

what do you use for food? 

what bars?

what gels?

what gear did you wish you had?

what did you bring that you didnt need?

Question Specific to me..

watch choice? I have the Fenix 5+, wondering if this is ok for a multi-day fast pack?

Gabe Peterson

@scott dinhofer thanks, it was definitely the adventure of a lifetime!

Let me work through your questions:

• I took two Nitecore nb10000 that has a capacity of 10000MAH each. This is the lightest charger I could find. The case is made from carbon fiber, so triathletes should love it. I was able to charge all my devices for four days. I had a phone (in airplane mode with Bluetooth on), Garmin InReach, Fenix 6X Pro, and Aftershikz headphones. I was able to partially recharge them on day 4 at Muir Trail Ranch and then fully recharge on day 5 at Red's Meadow. Kevin had a solar charger for emergencies.
• I almost never carried more than 1L of Tailwind/water. It was rare to go more than an hour without a water source on the JMT. The only exception was Mt Whitney, where I carried 2L to start. I usually just gulped down 0.5-1L of water at a source and had 0.5L of Tailwind on me.
• I mostly did sports nutrition. Lots of Cliff Bars and Spring Energy products (gels made from real food). We had Mountain House dehydrated meals at night. I had trail mix but found it hard to eat on the move, so I didn't take any from the resupply bucket. I ate about 3000 calories per day but burned about 6000. The last 57 miles were done mostly on candy and beef jerky I bought at Red's Meadow. 😂
• I had my gear really dialed in. I did two overnight trips to test everything. I changed the sleep pad I had originally because it was uncomfortable for a side sleeper. I had solar charger but ditched it when it barely got a charge strapped to my pack. It needs to be stationary, pointed directly at the sun. Hard to do that when I was on the move every daylight hour. I would have slurged for a better tent. I had the REI Flash 1, which was more like a bivy you could sit up in. I weighed just over a pound and only cost $185. But sucked when I had to hang out in the tent because it was could out. The most valuable piece of gear was my Garmin Inreach Mini. I stayed in touch with my family the entire way. We arranged a rescue for Jose in 20 minutes when he decided to bail.
• I carried rain gear the entire way but never pulled it out. We had perfect weather. Otherwise, everything was put to use.

Coach Patrick

@Gabe Peterson when you hallucinated...what did you see? What was your lowest point emotionally?

Biggest requirement of strength: physical? mental? emotional?

I popquiz you so hard Hot Shot...

Coach P

Vincent Sivirine

@Gabe Peterson ... wow. amazing pictures and really fascinating that you recall every single detail, everything about these days when you were operating on so few hours of sleep per day. I grew up in the French Alps and i know how beautiful mountains are but I have never seen anything like this. It's now on my bucket list now but surely not in 6 days. Well done!

Gabe Peterson

@Coach Patrick good question, I had to contemplate on it for awhile. We went into it thinking it would be challenging but still a gentlemanly fastpacking trip where we'd have time to reflect at camp in the evenings and stop for swimming. At the end, Kevin and I realized maybe 100 people have ever done the JMT in under 6 days -- and the number could be half that. There was a reason I couldn't find similar accounts other than FKT attempts. We estimated maybe half to field of a 200 would be able to do it.

I'd say it's a combinations of things:

• Definitely fitness to go all day at high altitude over multiple mountain passes while carrying a pack and not get tired. I felt mentally tired but never physically tired at any point. This is where years of consistency add up.
• Durability to put in a long day on often technical trail and not get injured. Then sleep 3-4 hours and get up and do it again and again and...
• The mental training from Moab 240 helped. I knew I could go all day for multiple days. The scenery was usually so amazing that it was easy to focus on other things than pain and fatigue. Much tougher in the dark just grinding away.
• Preparedness by making the right gear choices and testing them in advance. My goal was to keep my pack wight under 20 lbs. It started out at 24 lbs with all the extra food I needed to get to the resupply on day 4. I saw so many backpackers schlepping 40+ lbs packs. I did two overnight test runs to dial in my gear. It was key to have easy access to food and water upfront without taking off my pack. Every time I took my pack off was at least 5 minutes. That adds up.

Gabe Peterson

@Vincent Sivirine thanks, it was an amazing journey! JMT is one of, if not the, most beautiful places on the planet. Should definitely be on every endurance athletes bucket list. We agreed that 9-10 days would be much more ideal. Still challenging but enough time to take in all the sights. The days usually started to suck around mile 21-25.

Gabe Peterson

I and Kevin Goldberg recently joined the John Freakin Muir podcast to recount our tale of adventure and misadventure:

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8xMzEwMWFhNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw/episode/MzMwZWRjNjUtYmI5NC00ZWM1LWEwNjAtODViNzJmNDQzMTFi

robin sarner

Another great adventure for you.

And this maybe more unique than your others?