Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Awesome new JMT movie - Mile...Mile And a Half

I got a chance to see a screening of this movie and it really catches the spirit of the JMT and Whitney. Amazing HD photography and a great story by some really talented people. They did this in July of 2011 which a lot of you may recall was a very high snow year which made it a rather grand adventure and gave them a chance to get some great video. They are in the post production process and are submitting it to film festivals and hopefully to a big screen near you soon. It is a labor of love and it shows.

I loved it! Check it out and spread the word.

There are several trailers on the attached links. They are really really good. A word of warning: it will make you really miss the trail and wish summer would get here already!

http://themuirproject.com/
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/themuirproject/mile-mile-and-a-half-a-feature-documentary

Sounds great, can't wait to see it.

Kudos to the group for having the foresight to produce such a great film. I hope they achieve the success they desire. I spent two weeks solo on the JMT this past August, and the film brings back fond memories...especially now that I am back in so-called civilization.

Ahhh..... I can never get enough of this trail, it is so absolutely beautiful!!

Watching this movie just makes me think maybe I better go back again this summer (.... so VERY tempting!!)

Go for it... It might provide me with the motivation to get back into shape so that I can do a couple more epic visits...

The movie will be fun to watch.

I just saw that The Muir Project is having an "event" next Saturday at the A-16 in San Diego! Ugh! WHY does Washington have to be so far away!!!

http://themuirproject.com/next-step

I'm serious Richard! I'll let you know when I've got a schedule

Thanks for that link Rosabella!

I see the San Diego event will also have an appearance by the band Opus Orange. They hiked the last 8 days of the JMT with the filmmakers and even did a performance on top of Mt Whitney which appears in the movie. One of the guys from the band also did the musical score for the movie so he understood what he was scoring since he was there. If you are in the San Diego area you shouldn't miss this free event. A chance to meet some really great people and see what some professional filmmakers can produce out on the JMT.

This is your chance to convince friends, or show a loved one why you need to get out on the JMT. Or just go enjoy the free show.

Check out this trailer of the film and you'll want to go. The song is by Opus Orange.

http://themuirproject.com/video3

I talked to Ric Serena yesterday and asked him when the DVD would be available. He said hopefully the end of March or in April. The DVD will be available for purchase at the Muir Project website Store where there are already many items listed for purchase.

Thanks Ernie!! I'll be watching for it!!

Rosie

It is a really neat video, I donated to the Kickstarter campaign. Also met the people at one of their events at REI in Arcadia - interesting stories from all, just regular folks that were transformed/mesmerized by the whole experience. Maybe when I get the digital download link that could be a fun WPSMB event at the hostel...

You can pre-order the completed movie on their kickstarter website. It says about May availability on the website.

I was lucky enough to share a sunset with them at Rae Lakes. They remembered me and invited me to a screening of their movie. You know how your photos never look as good as being there? Well they solved that problem at the expense of their backs by carrying a lot of equipment out there. Amazing photography.

Like JeffH says these are just ordinary folks that got together and decided to do this. Funding came out of their own pockets. This is not your usual testosterone infused adventure movie. It's about a group of average hikers doing something that is pretty hard, but not quite out of reach for most people. They just happened to get the experience down on film which ended up being part of the story. Of course it helped that they happen to be very good at the filming part and just average at the hiking part. I think that's what makes it appealing. They did something really hard and came up with a beautiful film.

Can't wait to get my blu-ray version!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/themuirproject/mile-mile-and-a-half-a-feature-documentary

Attended the A-16 event last night. What a wonderful evening. Opus Orange is like a mix of Simon & Garfunkel, John Prine and Arlo Guthrie. They played several pieces and shared some of there experience on the trial.

There were several "behind the scenes" clips from the hike and some of the other hikers they met. This will be a great film, I can't wait till it's available.

A couple of my sisters and my Mom were there last night as well (most of my family still lives in SoCal); they said the presenters and the musicians were wonderful! Evidently this was the largest gathering at that store ever - standing room only!

My sister Marianne is now inspired to do a thru-hike of the JMT!

As apeman45 said, this project is spearheaded by ordinary folks with an incredible vision. The event at A16 last night was, as my daughter put it, a room full of awesome. To top it off, Sheldon Neill, from Project Yosemite, was there...such a humble young man. If you missed that video . . .http://vimeo.com/35396305. Many thanks to A16 for their wonderful hospitality!

I love Sheldon's videos! I've watched them at least 100 times.

Me too! Sheldon is very excited about the next project. I can't wait!