Now that spring has arrived I spend my late afternoon in the sun with a lovely cuppa coffee and the JMT cicerone guide.
With each single page that I read (not only reading through the cicerone guide but also using Wenk’s book and Ray’s eBook) I’m looking more and more forward to finaly hitting the trail. I find it really helpful to read several guides and hear about (sometimes) different opinions. It gives me a more “total” view of what to expect and it’s a great deal in preparing for my hike. In addition there are numerous websites (first of all the Yahoo JMT Group, where fellow hikers are all really friendly and always there to answer questions or to discuss on JMT topics…. It’s amazing! They really help me out when it comes to descision-making…
for instance whether I should take along the Bearikade Expedition or the Weekender) and blogs to collect information on the JMT… It’s actually kinda fun going through all that info. It doesn’t take any magic away (that’ll be so there when I hit the trail, no books or websites can compete with the real thing… I’m sure!), it rather makes my “pleasant anticipation” (wow that are two boring words… in German it is called “VORFREUDE” which kinda expresses the feeling better) waaaaaaaay bigger!!!