I had planned to go after the official JMT record this week, but a week out I didn’t feel I was where I needed to be to give it a proper go.
Instead, I packed a bigger pack, extra calories (still ran out with 24 hours left), and a sleeping bag (luxury!), and added 30 miles to start from Cottonwood. Instead of 20 minute naps, I slept 5-6hrs each night and pushed during the day. My only process goal was to swim at least once each day, happy to say I nailed it!
JMT Split (Whitney Summit to Happy Isles):
3 days 22 hours - including about 15 hours of sleep.
At the very end, there was 1 mile of trail closed by Nevada Falls, the “Ice Cut”. I took the official JMT re-route down the mist trail, then back up to Clark Point to re-join the JMT for the final 2 miles. Absolutely brutal to go down 600 uneven stone steps at mile 238 compared to the well-graded paved section of JMT that was closed.
Overall, a great and challenging adventure.
Editor's note: A trail closure prevented Wyatt from taking the correct route through Nevada Falls. This section is specifically called out in the route guidelines. As the trail was closed, we decided that accepting with a flag was the fair course of action this time around.