Vent: My GPS track said I did 28 miles in a day on the John Muir Trail, and I still don't believe it.

I was on a solo stretch south of Muir Pass last month, aiming for a solid 18-mile day to a specific campsite. I felt good, the weather was clear, and I just kept moving. When I finally stopped and checked my watch, the number 28.1 just stared back at me. My first thought was that the GPS was broken from the canyon walls. But checking the map, I had indeed blown right past my planned stop and added a whole extra lake basin. It wasn't about being fast, it was about getting into a rhythm where the miles just disappeared. That number mattered because it showed me what my body could do when my mind got out of the way. Has anyone else had a day where the mileage totally surprised you, for better or worse?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_sanchez672mo ago

Yeah, that part about the miles just disappearing is so real. I had a day like that in the Winds last summer where I just hit a groove and the trail felt like a conveyor belt. You're not even trying to go fast, you're just...going. It's wild when you finally look at the data and it doesn't match the feeling in your legs at all. Those are the best days, when you prove your own brain wrong about what's possible.

fox.jesse2mo ago

Used to think those big mileage days were only for ultra runners or people with no pack weight. Had a similar thing happen on a section of the Long Trail last fall. Was just plodding along, lost in my own head, and ended up covering way more ground than I planned before I even felt tired. It really does change how you see your own limits when you stop overthinking every step.