Prepping for an Exam of a Class I Didn’t Take: Nüümü Poyo / JMT Gear
I’m not normally a very meticulous person. I am drawn more to big ideas and big emotions than I am detailed plans and finessed logistics.
It was the end of July when my coach Jason Koop and I first came up with the unsupported Nüümü Poyo / John Muir Trail FKT attempt idea. He wisely pointed out that the primary goal between then and the start date would be getting to know my gear systems—the body would figure things out just fine. But this precarious balance between moving light and fast while still having enough pieces to take care of myself in a variety of scenarios? That would take some experience.
So, I got to work. I found myself deep in YouTube videos, studying LighterPack pie charts and carrying the kitchen scale from room to room in my house. But I knew no internet education would beat field experience.
A few days after securing my JMT permit, I got out for an overnight on the trails in the James Peak Wilderness. Even though I had backpacked solo a bit in the past, the lightweight style made me feel vulnerable. I spent much of the night tossing and turning on my loud sleeping pad, convinced a bear was eating all of my food — (a very real fear that feels very cheesy to type). The next morning climbing Rogers Pass, I felt slow and labored from the weight of the pack. Normally, my internal vert clock seems like it’s within 50 feet of reality. But with a loaded pack (~12 pounds) my compass was far from calibrated. (“It’s seriously only been 800 feet?”)
I came home a bit deflated. “Did you have fun?!” Cordis chimed as I walked in the door. “Yeah… yeah! I did.” I rummaged through my brain trying to summarize what I was feeling. “I feel a bit like I’m cramming for an exam of a class I didn’t even take.”
It looks really simple here. But a lot of work went it to making it feel that way.
I soon remembered why I came this way: I wanted a new challenge. After Pfiffner, I wanted to see how far I could push myself solo and unsupported. I wanted to be emotionally self-sufficient. I wanted to push sleep deprivation. I wanted the vastness of a line to weigh on me. And under it all, I wanted to not crack. I wanted to feel that weight and choose to continue. Again and again and again.
The next weekend, I headed out with Hailey for an overnight on the Colorado Trail. Our packs were a reasonable combination of essentials and burritos, and we had a really special two days on the 50-mile stretch from Kenosha Pass to Copper. This run made me feel more equipped than the weekend prior: I was settling into my hiking muscles and getting used to the constant pack adjustments. Sleeping outside with Hailey made me feel more at ease than my restless night the weekend before. I took notes on all of the knowledge she’s accrued through bikepacking.
My main takeaway was to settle in and narrow the scope to the gear on your back and the goal at hand. There’s no sense in wishing you had x or y. In fact, view it in a vacuum so that wish doesn’t even exist. It’s just you and your pack bobbing along, and that’s that.
With just three weekends to go at that point, two of which were booked with commitments and the third being the weekend we had to start driving to California, I knew I had to synthesize my brief overnight fastpacking experiences into some takeaways and go with it.
Below is where I settled with my gear list by category.
Worn Gear
| Item | Weight (g) | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| adidas TERREX Agravic Flow | 310 | Wore entire time | ||
| adidas TERREX Agravic Tee (men's) | 93 | Wore entire time | ||
| adidas Adizero Sub-2 Shorts | 58 | Wore entire time | ||
| adidas All-Me Three Stripes Sports Bra | 56 | Wore entire time | ||
| Buff (mask) | 31 | Wore entire time | ||
| adidas Lightweight Hat | 40 | Wore by day and put away at night | ||
| Socks | 50 | Starting pair that I wore for the first two days, wore different pair last two days | ||
| LEKI Micro Trail Race Poles (and hand straps) | 175 | Used entire time | ||
| adidas Sunglasses | 20 | Wore by day and put away at night | ||
| Ultimate Direction Fastpack 35 | 710 | Wore entire time | ||
| Dirty Girl Gaiters | 42 | Wore entire time |
Sleep System
| Item | Weight (g) | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Sleeping Pad (chopped down to fit hips through head) | 170 | Used for every nap | ||
| SOL Thermal Bivvy | 248 | Used for sleep nights 1-3, skipped for any sleep shorter than 1 hour. Would have served as waterproof shelter if needed. |
Hydration & Nutrition
| Item | Weight (g) | Quantity | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Katadyn Be Free Filter (screwed into adidas TERREX 450ml soft flask) | 72 | 1 | Used entire time | |
| Additional 500ml soft flask | 38 | 1 | Used for mixing drinks (coffee, protein powder, Tailwind) | |
| Target 1L plastic bottle | 34 | 1 | Basically a SmartWater bottle. Used as reservoir, and for Tailwind days 3-4 when mixing bottle got nasty. | |
| Bearikade Weekender Bear Canister | 850 | 1 | Hard-shell bear canister required for travel on JMT | |
| Spring Energy Caffeinated Speed Nut | 55 each | 14 | Ate all of them | |
| Spring Energy Speed Nut | 55 | 7 | Ate all of them | |
| Unived Recovery Mix (Turmeric Chocolate) | 57 | 16 | Ate ~13 | |
| GU Roctane Electrolyte Capsules | 10 | 8 | Had 6 (two per hot day) | |
| Tailwind (mix of caff. and non-caff. pouches) | 54 | 12 | Ate ~10 | |
| CLIF Nut Butter Bars | 50 | 4 | Ate all of them, but somehow ended up with random uneaten chunks scattered in my bear can | |
| Nissin Soy Sauce Ramen | 85 | 8 | Ate ~6 | |
| Ziplocs for ramen cold-soaking | 2 | 2 | Used both, but should have used hard-sided vessel | |
| Alpine Start Coffee | 3 | 12 | Had ~6 | |
| Back to Nature Double Stuffed Sandwich Cremes | 17 | 18 | Ate all of them |
Layers
| Item | Weight (g) | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| adidas TERREX Climaheat Insulated Jacket | 389 | Used every night and into each morning | ||
| White adidas arm sleeves | 35 | Used to reflect light as form of heat management and sun protection | ||
| adidas Adizero tights | 149 | Wore nights 1-2 or 3 (can't remember), but not on night 4. Ankle zips so I could easily slide on without taking shoes off. | ||
| adidas TERREX waterproof jacket (special UTMB edition) | 172 | Wore every night, but didn't need in hindsight (though waterproof layer is an important precaution) | ||
| Additional socks (Archmax) | 30 | Rotated in halfway and wore days 3 and 4 | ||
| Warm hat | 33 | Wore nights 1-3 | ||
| Lightweight gloves | 33 | Wore nights 1-3 |
Electronics
| Item | Weight (g) | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garmin InReach Mini | 100 | Mandatory, but mismanaged battery settings. | ||
| iPhone 8 | 148 | Backup mapping (downloaded Google Map for offline use) and backup lighting | ||
| GoPro 8 | 116 | Used entire time | ||
| (2) GoPro 8 Backup Batteries | 122 | Used one of two | ||
| Petzl IKO Core Headlamp | 79 | Used every night | ||
| Petzl Bindi Headlamp | 35 | Used night four to avoid fumbling with IKO Core battery change | ||
| (9) AAA batteries | 100 | Used 6 of 9 | ||
| Anker PowerCore 10000mAh Power Bank | 180 | Used but did not drain! | ||
| iPhone dongle and watch charging cord | 80 | Used both, forgot USB-micro cord for InReach :( |
Personal
| Item | Weight (g) | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ziploc of sunscreen | 20 | Used one day but not every day, could have skipped since I wore arm sleeves during heat of day (only my arms burn, not my legs) | ||
| First aid basics | 37 | Small ziploc with two cleaning wipes, gauze bandage tape, and two Band-Aids | ||
| Tom Harrison paper maps | 72 | Used at key junctions where trail networks became more complex (Devil's Postpile, Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite) | ||
| SPF 15 Lip Balm | 10 | Used daily and constantly! Very important piece of gear. | ||
| Tiny ziploc of castille soap | 10 | Used for a little self-cleaning session on day 2 | ||
| Chopped toothbrush and dried toothpaste dots | 5 | Used once, despite great amounts of effort that went into preparing. | ||
| Four strips of KT tape | 15 | Used one to cushion/protect rubbed sores on back | ||
| 2 safety pins | 1 | For gear repairs, did not use | ||
| 2 rubber bands | 2 | For gear repairs, did not use | ||
| Contact lenses (daily pairs) | 10 | Used 2 of 4 pairs | ||
| Toilet paper | 5 | Used all of it | ||
| Ziplocs for garbage/TP | 5 | Used all of them |
My adidas TERREX Agravic Flow looking satisfied and tired in the eerie wildfire light the day after I finished.
Prepped for Scenarios A-Z
This was not an FKT or bust mission. Been there, done that. In my experience, preparing with only the A scenario in mind can block you from having some pretty formative, beautiful experiences.
Whitney Portal, September 1 / start weight coming in around 22 pounds.
Late night packing at the Quality Inn in Lone Pine.
Example: in my 2016 supported attempt, I set out carrying only enough food for my A-splits, which meant once I slowed down, I didn’t have enough calories to fuel properly (which slowed me down even more). This slow down also meant I needed sleeping gear sooner, which I did not have. Arriving late to my crew, I was deep in caloric deficit and cold from an unplanned long night out. This led to my bail.
This time around, I knew I wanted to be prepared for scenarios A-Z. So while this meant my pack was heavier than I intended, there was a psychological lightness to it. Carrying certain pieces of gear crossed worries off of my list entirely and allowed me to keep things simple mentally.
Sometime during the planning process, I messaged my friend Joe who has a lot of multi-day experience. I ran a few potential sleep setups by him. He thoughtfully responded with some feedback, and ultimately said something along the lines of, “these are style decisions you’re going to have to make for yourself.” This really stuck with me.
About a week out, there were still a number of priorities I was weighing. I woke up one day and made a number of gut decisions about them. They became guiding beliefs to my style choice, if you will. They were:
Sleep in this mission is not intended to be comfy. If you are cold, you get up and keep moving. If you can’t sleep, you get up and keep moving.
You obey all guidelines of the land you pass through, including carrying a proper legal bear canister (Ursacks are not legal in all parts of the JMT.) You are not exempt from any rules because you are moving light and fast.
Prioritize gear that aids in bringing you back to the present experience. For me this was: capturing footage on my GoPro (talking out loud to myself and verbally observing beauty helped ground me to where I was), as well as listening to music at night to help keep me awake. (I learned on this year’s Pfiffner overnight that my body responds incredibly well to this.)
Every “show stopper” has a redundancy regardless of predicted conditions: i.e. backup headlamp/batteries, backup warmth, backup hydration/nutrition, waterproofing and the ability to perform a basic gear repair.
More to come in the form of an official trip report, but a lot of folks were interested in this so I wanted to share this with you all now!