Met a guy on the John Muir Trail who changed how I plan my trips

I was about three days into the hike from Tuolumne Meadows, feeling pretty beat, when I met this older hiker named Carl at a campsite near Thousand Island Lake. We got talking over our stoves and I mentioned my usual plan of trying to hit 15 miles a day. He just shook his head and said, 'You're racing the trail, not walking it. The point is the lake you swim in at lunch, not the number on your map.' He showed me his own map, which was basically just a list of spots to sit for an hour, like a certain rock for morning sun. I cut my next day's goal in half and just sat by a creek for most of the afternoon. It was the best day of the whole trip. Has anyone else had a stranger give them advice that totally flipped their hiking style?

3 comments

3 Comments

charles_hayes24d ago

That's a great story. It makes me wonder, what do you think it is about being on a trail that makes us so focused on the miles? Do you think you would have listened to that same advice from someone back home, or did it only hit you because you were already tired and out there?

amyk9223d ago

Yeah, that's exactly it, charles_hayes. I used to roll my eyes at that "just focus on the next step" stuff when I was safe on my couch. It sounded like a cheesy poster. But when you're actually out there and your feet hurt and the next campsite feels forever away, your brain can't handle the big number. You have to break it down or you'll just stop. That advice becomes a real, physical thing you have to do, not just a nice idea. It only works because you're in the middle of it, tired and stripped down to basics.

parker_sullivan23d ago

Honestly, the trail strips everything else away. You're just a body moving through space with one simple job, so the miles become the whole world. Back home that advice is just noise, but out there it's a survival tip.