JMT next August

[Migolito]

Just happened upon this site. Lotsa good info and its going to take a while to do some searching.

I'm starting to plan N to S JMT hike next August. I have moderate BB experience, mostly consisting of local S-Cal experience. I'm planning on 3 resupplies and about 21 days. At this point I'm leaning towards using a tarp/bivy, however, Squitos love me. So, any experience from those who have hiked the JMT would be welcome. Based on others advice, I'll be upgrading from my 40 deg bag to a 15deg bag.
Feel free to give any advice you think is relevent, I'm open.

M

[BSquared]

Hi, Migolito, and welcome to the board! You'll find a lot of advice here. I've done the JMT once completely and the first and last parts of it a second time (just last year), and many people here have done it many times.

I bought a TarpTent for my first JMT through hike and haven't looked back since. It's only condensed on me once, and for me it was the perfect blend of the light weight of a tarp and the skeeter and weather protection of a tent. Look here for details. The only drawback I've found is that it is not free-standing, so in areas where you can't drive tent stakes it takes some improvisation.

[copeg]

I'll preface my first comment by saying I'm personally not a fan of bivys, mainly due to the cramped quarters (for a short trip I could take it, something like the JMT I'd definitely consider an alternative). When I did the JMT I carried a tart and hung some skeeter netting down from the top -provided ample distance between myself and the skeeters as well as quite a bit of room. Used hiking poles to set up the tarp above treeline. Something else to consider is camp location - the JMT is the highway of the Sierra, so quite a few campsites are packed down locations where water pools in strong rain. I mention this for 2 reasons 1) a tart isn't freestanding so you need somewhere where you can actually stake down the tarp (some extra line on the tie-outs give you flexibility on where you can place the stake) 2) without a bathtub floor, choose a campsite carefully - water can pool quite easily in some spots (yes, this is coming from experience ).