John Muir Trail (CA) « Thread Started on Nov 2, 2009, 11:16am »
Brett Maune holds the unsupported and overall record at 3d14h13m from Whitney Portal (3d9h58m from Whitney summit), set Sept. 3-6, 2009.
Sue Johnston holds the women's FKT, supported, in 3d20h (3d15h32m from the summit), Aug. 24-29, 2007.
I lay down on a rock in the sun to warm up for a bit and I dozed off. A nice middle aged woman sat down next to me and looked at all my gear. She said, ‘Looks like you have some decisions to make.’ I said yes, I am trying to finish this trail but I have a plane to catch that I really can’t miss and tons of work to get back to and I’m trying to decide if I can/should try to make it. She replied, “Why are you here?” I went into a long explanation of how I was running the 225 mile John Muir Trail and I was doing it unsupported and I was trying to set a record. She smiled and looked at me with warm penetrating eyes, “But why are you here”. And then she just got up and walked away... -- John Stamstad, 2005 (from his report on a failed attempt at the unsupported JMT record in September 2005)
The John Muir Trail (JMT) runs 223 miles from Whitney Portal to Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley, crossing some of the most rugged and remote country in California. The JMT traverses Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Parks, and the John Muir and Ansel Adams Wilderness Areas (Inyo National Forest). The southern terminus of the JMT is technically on the summit of Mt. Whitney (14,495'), and hikers/runners must traverse an additional 11 miles between the summit and the trailhead at Whitney Portal (8,500 feet). Click here for a profile of the route.
Brett Maune, a 30-year-old laser physicist from LA, redefined the JMT records on September 6, 2009, when he arrive at Happy Isles TH in Yosemite at 2:58pm, 3d14h13m after leaving Whitney Portal, and 3d9h58m after leaving the summit of Mt. Whitney. Maune's trip was unsupported, yet he smashed the overall (supported) JMT record by nearly 6 hours, and obliterated the unsupported record by over 19 hours! Prior to this trip Maune was unknown in the ultra and fastpacking scenes. He made an attempt on the record a month prior to his successful trip, but made several "rookie" mistakes and crashed and burned on the first day. Apparently undaunted, he resolved to make a second attempt on the next full moon, and was ultimately successful. The story is detailed on www.backpa ckinglight.com, where there is also an in-depth discussion of all things JMT (Portal vs. Summit, NoBo vs. SoBo, sleep deprivation, nutrition, etc.) Maune's report is on the 10th page of the BPL link. Because Maune was unknown, and because his trip was unsupported and therefore essentially un-witnessed, I made an attempt to verify his claim on the record, which is discussed on this page. Following this effort, I personally believe he did what he said he did.
At the start of his trip, Maune met Ian Alloway on the summit of Whitney, where Alloway was acclimating for his own unsupported record attempt (Alloway's view is that the southern terminus of the JMT is Whitney's summit, while Maune wanted to challenge the records from the Portal and the summit as well.) Alloway left the summit 1 hour after Maune, and arrived at Happy Isles 4d5h5m later, breaking Michael Popov's previous unsupported record by 20 minutes. It is of note that Alloway took the Mist Trail into Happy Isles, which is about 1.5 miles shorter than the official route of JMT, which has been used by other record seekers. Unfortunately for Alloway, Maune had crushed that record the previous day. Alloway's report also appears on the www.backpackinglight.com forum, and is archived here as well. Earlier speed records and attempts are discussed below.
What is this disgusting yellow crap I'm coughing up? Should I be concerned? -- Brett Maune, hours after completing his JMT record.
There have been many amazing, fast trips done on the JMT over decades. I have a lovely email from Mrs. Christine Speed, who's husband, Robert (Speed!), apparently set the speed record in 1948. Unfortunately, Mrs. Speed didn't know the time. Here's an exerpt:
I think that to hold a record in 1948 you had to at least jog the trail as late into the night as you could see, eat very little and drink out of streams. My husband was exceedingly self-reliant, fearless and needed very little in nature. He could just throw himself down anywhere on the ground and go to sleep. But someone must have timed him and obviously, his time was formally entered because he knew he had set the record. All he did say, in self deprecation, was that the record was superceded virtually immediately in the next year or two. - Christine Speed, June 15, 2005.
In the age of the internet it has become much easier to keep track of the records. Nevertheless, prior to the trip I did with Buzz Burrell in 2000 the actual record was murky. We concluded that Jim Knight held the record from Whitney to Yosemite (around 4.5 days), while Blake Wood held the car-to-car (from Whitney Portal) record at 4d22h, Aug. 9-13, 1998 (Jim had slept on top of Whitney.) Buzz & I beat both times on our trip (4d14h39m from Whitney Portal), but didn't reach our goal of 96 hours, car-to-car. Our trip reports are archived here. Some interesting discussion of the Portal vs. Summit issue, and other JMT items, is on at this thread.
I recently learned via John Rosendahl that Don Douglass did the JMT supported in early August 1982 in 4d21h30m from Whitney Portal to Happy Isles. This time would appear to beat Blake Wood's 1998 time. The run was reported in the LA Times (8/11/1982). Douglass started with 6 companions. Nicki Lewis and David Hermitage finished the trip in 5d16h, while Greg Laval, Bob Holtel and Fred Copeland did not finish because of injuries. Lewis' time may have been the fastest by a woman up until Sue Johnston's 2007 trip, though Catra Corbett apparently did the route in 5d15h50m in 2004 as the first leg of a yo-yo (which she completed in 12d4h58m, which I think is the overall yo-yo FKT).
I went back in 2003 and did 3d22h4m solo, supported, Whitney Portal to Happy Isles. My trip report is here. About a month later, Flyin' Brian Robinson failed to beat my time due to getting lost in a sleep-deprived fog on the final night. The next year, Kevin Sawchuk ran it in 3d21h5m. The record was lowered to 3d20h0m by Sue Johnston in 2007. Johnston's time is the fastest by a woman. Michael Popov took serious stabs at Johnston's supported record in 2008 and 2009, but failed both times.
There have also been many fast unsupported trips on the JMT (Mr. Speed's trip was almost certainly unsupported.) Some unsupported people have liked to keep their times from the summit of Whitney, rather than the Whitney Portal (car-to-car) terminus preferred by supported runners, which can make for some confusion. Reinhold Metzger claimed the record for a long time, beating his own records from time to time, with a best time of 5d7h45m (Mt. Whitney to Happy Isles, 2004). However, it turns out that John Rosendahl did a faster trip way back in 1988 (Aug. 25-30), hiking solo, unsupported and uncached from Whitney Portal to Happy Isles in 5d7h50m. Rosendahl's trip was reported in the Los Angeles Times (10/3/1988), the Irvine World News (9/29/1988), and the Sierra Club Newsletter (Dec. 1988). Mark Davis hiked solo and unsupported from Whitney Portal to Happy Isles in 5d10h8m (5d5h18m from the summit), starting on August 18, 2008 -- a fast time but not faster than Rosendahl. Davis' report is very instructive for anyone wishing to try this, so I am quoting it extensively here:
I departed Whitney Portals at 5:10 a.m. on August 14, 2008. I hiked to the Summit of Mt Whitney in 4 1/2 hours and departed at 10:00 a.m. Kept hiking till midnight and camped at Rae Lakes. The next day I felt tired going over Pinchot and Mather passes, and camped on the Kings River. The third day went better. I made it over Muir and Seldon passes. This was my favorite part of the whole trail and I hope to go back there someday to explore. The fourth day also went great and I made it to Devils Postpile for the night. Leaving Devils Postpile the next day, I came upon a small wildfire, attempted to put it out as best I could and called 911 with my cell phone - which worked! I felt very good about doing something to protect this gorgeous wilderness. That afternoon my left leg developed a horrendous cramp and I limped into Tuolumne Meadows for the night. The next morning I felt a little better and hiked the 24 miles to Happy Isles, where I was surprised to find the bridge missing. My wife and kids met me here and took me down to Cathedral Beach so I could soak the dirt off of my feet and drink a beer. My total time on the JMT was 5 days, 5 hours and 18 minutes (not that I was keeping track). This was a very exciting and challenging 5 days...and I'm thinking about doing it agian. Also, I like the way it removed my "love handles". Through the whole trip I had doubts about being able to finish this trail and I was pleased every time I passed an exit trail and kept going. This helped build my confidence and made me feel real good. - Mark Davis
Davis' starting pack weight was 18 lbs, including 10 lbs of food, which consisted entirely of the Hammer Nutrition sports drinks Perpetuem and Recoverite. In his report he discusses the bear canister issue -- Davis did not carry one.
All previous unsupported times were crushed by Michael Popov, in 4d5h25m (starting July 30, 2007, from Mt. Whitney summit, where he spent 2 days acclimating). Here is a link to Popov's trip. Maune's time of 3d9h58m from the summit of Whitney (Sept. 3-6, 2009, see above) annihilated Popov's unsupported record, and beat Sue Johnston's supported record as well.
Jacqueline Florine holds the women's unsupported FKT on the JMT, 6d6h53m from Happy Isles to Mt. Whitney Summit (6d12h27m TH to TH), set in Aug. 27 - Sept. 2, 2005. Her trip report is here.
A lot of great info on the JMT and some other fast times are given on the www.backpack45.com website.
JMT Speed Trips (chronological order, not all are/were records):
Robert Speed
1948
unsupported(?)
time unknown
Don Douglass
Aug. 1982
supported
4d21h30m
Nicki Lewis & David Hermitage
Aug. 1982
supported
5d16h
John Rosendahl
Aug. 25-30, 1988
unsupported
5d7h50m
Jim Knight
?
self-supported(?)
(about 4.5d)
Blake Wood
Aug. 9-13, 1998
supported
4d22h
Buzz Burrell & Peter Bakwin
Jul. 31 - Aug. 5, 2000
supported
4d14h39m
Peter Bakwin
Aug. 11-15, 2003
supported
3d22h4m
Kevin Sawchuk
Jul. 31 - Aug 4, 2004
supported
3d21h5m
Reinhold Metzger
2004
unsupported
(5d7h45m)
Catra Corbett
2004
?
(5d15h50m)
Jacqueline Florine
Aug. 27 - Sep. 2, 2005
unsupported
6d12h27m (6d6h53m)
Michael Popov
Jul. 30 - Aug 4, 2007
unsupported
(4d5h25m)
Sue Johnston
Aug. 24-29, 2007
supported
3d20h (3d15h32m)
Mark Davis
Aug. 18-25, 2008
unsupported
5d10h8m (5d5h18m)
Brett Maune
Sep. 3-6, 2009
unsupported
3d14h13m (3d9h58m)
Ian Alloway
Sep. 3-7, 2009
unsupported
(4d5h5m)
Times in parentheses () are using Mt Whitney summit as the southern terminus, others terminate at Whitney Portal. Italics indicate women.
Sleep deprivation is a pretty fascinating thing. Everything I could see was moving, even the rocks, they just kept shifting around... The mind also has an interesting way of coping with stress. I was starting to get a couple of blisters but in my mind they weren’t mine — they were someone else’s The one on my right heel belonged to a girl at the office which is even more strange because I don’t work in an office. I kept getting mad at her “would someone please tell her to stop smashing that blister, it hurts like hell!”, or “my god do I have to stop and bandage that for her again? Can’t she do anything herself? -- John Stamstad, 2005
Peter Bakwin on the JMT in 2003
« Last Edit: Jul 20, 2011, 7:00pm by Peter Bakwin »
Re: John Muir Trail (CA) « Reply #1 on Apr 21, 2010, 3:09pm »
Brett's reported record breaking time on the JMT is so amazing that he is indeed Jesus. I've waited 6 months for someone else to speak up but no one has, so I guess I'm the one to act as Brett's Thomas.
I need more Proof. I am not calling this a hoax, and sincerely do hope Brett's claim bears out. I'm just saying the proof offered so far is not really proof. I've seen all the videos and they are interesting, but not proof, there is no one in them until the last 2 miles. The only real verified sighting is Ian's on the Whitney Summit just hours into the hike.
third party verification is the only real verification. Everything else is Faith.
Faith is based on Credibility. Credibility is composed of Character and Credentials. I have no reason to doubt Brett's Character, but don't know him. So my faith must rely on Credentials. Leading up to this endeavor Brett essentially had none. A man from no where performs an amazing feat. Yes its been done before.
A word to Brett : Your claim would be much more believable if you were to offer up other achievements in the future, say the next 3 to 5 years. Not for me because I don't matter. But for your legacy and the believability of your record claim. Lacking third party verification, Credentials = Credibility.
The biggest problem I have with believability is Brett's claim that he beat Sue Johnston's "supported" record by almost 6 hours, in "unsupported" style. Brett started out with a 20+ lb pack, Sue began with a 4 lb pack. Brett had no support, Sue had a goodly amount. Now we circle back to Credentials. Prior to her JMT, Sue held women's course records in both the Vermont 100 and the Massanutten 100. She was also a 3 time top 10 finisher (men included) in the Hardrock 100, the toughest trail 100 in America. Accomplishing these feats required a huge training base. Some called her JMT record soft (in supported style) yet no men could beat her for 3 years. Is it possible Brett surpassed Sue's amazing "supported" feat ... in "unsupported" style ? Anything is possible. I'm just arguing that Credentials = Credibility.
Re: John Muir Trail (CA) « Reply #2 on Apr 23, 2010, 12:41am »
As enjoyable this is for me, I definitely prefer people voicing concerns so I at least have the opportunity to defend myself rather than silently believing I did not in fact break the record.
First, I believe some context is in order. Prior to my unsupported attempt there was virtually no verification of other unsupported attempts. Verification of supported attempts have solely been by the support staff itself with no additional means of verification. At the time of my run I knew I was going to have--without question--the most documented, and hence verifiable, unsupported run--ever. It’s easy in hindsight to question why I didn’t distribute cards with an email address (which was introduced last year incidentally) or taken a SPOT (proposed after my run), but look at it from my perspective. Can you really blame me for assuming that 10s of videos taken during the run would be sufficient for verification? Obviously, if I had to do it again I would take the cards or a Spot.
If you outright dismiss all the videos with timestamps then what can I say that can possibly make a difference? If you think about it, the videos are ironclad. Study them closely. Look at the time of day, etc…I invite people to find something fishy. Peter (thanks again for your time and effort!) analyzed the videos and has also discussed the run with me. His thoughts on the verification are documented here.
Furthermore, I have made every effort to be as open and forthcoming as possible regarding the run. I have made myself available to speak with anyone who has had doubts. If interested, I can even refer people to some of my coworkers who can verify the horrible physical condition I was in after the run.
Regarding ‘how I did it’, it is entirely possible (probably likely) I was not the best conditioned among the recent record holders, though any differences one way or the other could not have been large. I suspect some of the previous runs were executed with the primary goal being to break the existing record. This may explain why the record tended to drop by an hour or so with each breaking, but this left open the possibility that the record could be crushed. My goal was to run as fast as my conditioning allowed, which is actually quite different. By analyzing the numbers, I never doubted I could break Sue’s record and I felt I could probably crush it. Not having ultra experience and hence not knowing of Sue’s (or the other record holders!!!) accomplishments was definitely beneficial. Secondly, I am one masochistic son of a bitch. If you go head-to-head with me in a sufferfest your best possible outcome is a tie. For most of the run I simply could not have gone any faster. I redlined it and I think it damn near killed me. My emotional breakdown near the end was genuine. I thought I was about to collapse and then I’d be screwed. I cannibalized so much muscle during the run that afterwards I was weakened to the point that I had to concentrate when descending stairs so as to not fall down. I was in pretty bad shape. Only recently have I been able to resume running regularly.
In the future I hope to pursue more ultra goals but they definitely will not be for JMT cred. Currently, however, personal factors as well as lingering JMT injuries make this impossible though--the latter of which may ultimately doom me. Well, actually either may doom me now that I think about it…When my record does fall I really do hope to mount a supported effort to reclaim it. I just hope a certain European doesn’t crush it too much to make this physically impossible…
Re: John Muir Trail (CA) « Reply #3 on May 30, 2010, 12:50pm »
Brett, It's not so much the time you came in it is the amount of time. Beating the previous Unsupported Record by over 19 hours with a heavier pack means that you would have had to average 4.5 mph for 20 mins of every hour on top of Popov's time. This is hard for some to grasp. Good luck on your future endeavours. I thought about giving the Supported Attempt a go this year with Popov. That lasted for about 3 days and then I woke up. Aaron Sorensen
Re: John Muir Trail (CA) « Reply #4 on Jun 22, 2010, 8:44pm »
Records are interesting things. On one hand they provide a common framework upon which people focus their time and energy to surpass all previous efforts for some arbitrary athletic achievement. They challenge, inspire, and—at times—completely mesmerize us. On the other hand, records can smother us. They can limit ambition and impede progress. People can be blinded by records. They may improperly assume the existing record is near what is humanly possible—after all, how could it be the record if it were not? In seeking to break records people often (probably) strive to simply surpass the existing one by a conservative amount. The tendency to do so is completely rational and understandable. Attempting to break these records consumes enormous time and energy and people naturally want to maximize the probability of success and minimize suffering along the way. Once a record exceeds a certain level of difficulty one can understand that doing the least to surpass the existing record becomes the default strategy. Follow the previous guy’s/gal's time sheet but do a little better.
I simply didn’t do that. Even after the blow-up on the first attempt I could not bring myself to employ a conservative strategy and risked everything to feel satisfied with my effort at the end.
I became interested, some would say obsessed, with the record when I learned it was >3 days. I felt the JMT could be hiked unsupported in less than 3 days. After my run I know this to be true. My run was far from perfect and I lost significant time due to avoidable circumstances. My time can be crushed, which has obvious implications for the supported record. Doing a quick survey of the records on the other trails I would argue the same for those. All current records can be crushed (except TRT) and many totally annihilated.
Re: John Muir Trail (CA) « Reply #5 on Aug 21, 2010, 11:30pm »
Well done Brett. Been there and know what you went thru. I think it's cool that you went solo, laying it on the line and risking real injury. I hope you've recovered with no permanent damage. You sound like one tough dude.
Ultrarunners and fastpackers aren't necessarily the same breed. I discovered ultras after doing adventure runs, and thought wow, catered events! How sweet is that? However, going balls-out for days with no support in the boonies adds a level of stress that some athletes don't tolerate, yet some folks relish. I'm one of the latter, but I enjoy ultras too.
In 1990 I knew it would be possible for someone to do the JMT unsupported in 3 days. Before I had reached Happy Isles it was clear to me what worked, what didn't, what I would do differently, etc. It seemed pretty obvious even in my sorry state: (a) Carry less (b) Sleep less (c) Don't get lost (d) Don't get hurt (e) Keep to a ruthlessly efficient pace.
It was a personal event and I didn't really spray on about it. Frankly, I never imagined it (JMT) to become an event. I enjoyed it, returned a few years later to do sections with my wife and one of my sons, and did similar events without fanfare, hype or a second thought.
With all the uberlight gear, super nutrition, gps, amazing clothing (stuff taken for granted now was a far-out concept not so long ago) AND all the glut of info that's been amassed and available to everyone, I'm surprised the record wasn't set sooner.
If there had been more & better beta out there prior to my doing it (July 22-26, 1990 in 97 hrs - btw) there's no doubt I might have done it faster. It was, in climbing terms, an "on-sight" for me, having never been on the JMT before. It was an experiment in time-based suffering with superior scenery, as you–and other happy fools–well know.
Nope, I provisioned in Lone Pine, and used cornmeal, bagels, ramen and jerky. Dropped in at Bishop and scored a permit same-day (a trip cancellation just 2 min beforehand) and enjoyed flawless Sierra weather in a drought year.
I was lucky to not get sick or injured but both my 2 partners dropped out enroute (Shepard's, June Lake). We started from the summit of Whitney because it seemed the most logical, and all the known maps published indicated the trail starts there. So the clock started there. Carried all the food I ate with the one exception: I bought a burger at Red's (orgasmic) the gastronomic highlight of the trip.
I gotta say (and I'm guilty as the rest of us) I think the all training, rehersals, pacing, support etc. would make John Muir gag and he would remove his name from his namesake trail. It is, after all, supposed to be congressionally-designated wilderness experience and resource. When did it become a competitive event? Let's focus on the style we do it in and the quality of the experience, not so much on the elapsed time.
If John were alive and well today, I bet he would shun the electronic gizmos like spots, gps, etc., (despite the great inventor/tinkerer that he was) and embrace the superior lightweight gear and comfortable clothing, and be merrily rambling about as fast or faster than he ever did, loving every minute of it. Not sure about the performance powders and gels, though. I see him brewing his tea, enjoying another stunning Sierra sunset.
Perhaps the spirit of John Muir lives on in the next generation of trail runners who, having grown up with all the great techy stuff and beta, will be the ones to leave it all behind, doing more with less and in great style. I've seen a few young guns out there, miles from nowhere, running like the wind, with little more than shoes, shorts, shirt and a smile on their face. Who knows? Maybe they just passed him on the trail.
Re: John Muir Trail (CA) « Reply #8 on Apr 4, 2011, 2:47pm »
There is no real verification for Brett's JMT record claim. However, Brett's recent completion of the 2011 Barkley proves he is indeed a true champion and deserves the beneift of the doubt Re. his JMT record. Congratualtions Brett !
Re: John Muir Trail (CA) « Reply #9 on Apr 6, 2011, 11:28am »
As far as FKTs go, having looked into Brett's JMT trip carefully, I'd say his verification is pretty much as good as anybody's. If he would have carried a SPOT that would have been better. If someone had reported seeing him somewhere, that would have been helpful. But, the videos &c are quite convincing.
I like Carl Laniak's statement about Brett, after they spent many hours together on the Barkley course: "If the guy sees the formula for something, then he can solve it."
Re: John Muir Trail (CA) « Reply #12 on Apr 9, 2012, 11:59am »
Looks like someone beat me too it, but Brett Maune just broke the course record at Barkley by over 3 hours and beat 2010 Hardrock 100 (33k feet of gain over 100 miles in the Rockies) champ Jared Campbell by over 4 hours. Absolutely amazing!
Re: John Muir Trail (CA) « Reply #14 on Jan 8, 2013, 2:02pm »
for those who go for the JMT record, I'm curious which version of the trail is taken when passing through Tuolumne. The Original Classic version ? or the newer Official version ? or does it matter since they only seem to vary by about a half mile ?
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