Hi Kerstin! Thank you so much for the positive feedback! We’re so glad you find this tutorial helpful! Best of luck on your JMT adventure!

Hi Dave. There is a massive Alcove half way in the canyon that has the only composting toilet. You can’t miss it. 2nd best option is near JAcob Hamlin Arch but can get quite crowded. 3rd best is Coyote Arch.

Hi Matt. I’ve backpacked this canyon 3 times. For inexperienced hikers, kids, or elderly I would recommend Hurricane Wash. Its the safest of the 3.

Crack in the wall is by far the most epic as far as dropping in. The most important thing once you reach the sand dune is to take the trail to your left not the one straight down that looks the most obvious. We made the mistake of going straight down and yes you cannot access the bottom once you reach the river. Use the gigantic dome mountain in the middle as your marker and then head directly to the left of it.

I documented our mistake on my youtube channel.
https://youtu.be/7j0pBLKXdmM

Any other questions about the canyon feel free to comment on the video.
Hope this helps!

Nice! So glad we were able to help you score some sweet gear. Happy camping!

Hey Laura,

That sounds like a really cool way to celebrate your 40th, and we’re glad you liked the article!

As far as advice for packing as a couple, I can give you some insight into what my partner and I did to make it a more pleasant experience:

1. As for splitting weight, try not to be super specific about dividing every last ounce. Typically, if someone carries the tent rainfly and another shared gear item (like a stove/fuel/water filter) and the other person carries the poles and tent body, the weight will be more or less evenly distributed.

2. For your tent, I would recommend going with something spacious and light, like the Copper Spur HV UL 2 or 3, the MSR Hubba Hubba NX2, or the Slingfin Portal – check out our Best Backpacking Tents list to see all of our favorites. My partner and I spent more than one afternoon waiting out heavy rain inside our tent and we were really glad for the extra space! We spent many evenings and soggy afternoons playing cards or dominoes inside the tent.

3. We always made packing up camp fun. We had a pretty fun routine for taking down the tent, and we got to the point where we could do it in under 30 seconds! Make sure mundane tasks don’t become too tedious.

4. Make camp chores less painful by dividing and conquering. It definitely can get monotonous to do all the camp tasks every night – making a fire, filtering water, hanging your food, setting up – but a cozy camp is crucial for recovering from the exertion of the day. For example, it works best if one of y’all goes to get the water while the other gathers twigs for the fire.

5. Hike separately sometimes. You know what they say about too much of a good thing…. It’s usually a good idea to get some me-time in to keep things fresh. On days like this, my partner and I would designate a spot on the map to meet up for lunch so we could still enjoy a meal together!

Hope that helps, and I hope your thru-hike is awesome!