35 years ago, when I was 17, I attended a Catholic High School. In one summer, one of the teachers there organized a 5 week JMT trip, where each week 10 lucky first-time hikers would start out for a weeklong hike. Each leg was about about 50 miles, and then after finishing their portion, they would resupply and give their pack and bag to another group member who would then do another segment, and so on... As human nature and luck would have it, I was in the first week out of Happy Isles. When it came time to end the week in Reds Meadows, one of the new hikers of week 2 had suddenly dropped out, and I was asked if I wanted to continue for another week, free of charge, since everybody had paid months in advance anyway. On the beginning of the third week, the same thing happened again. The fourth week, once again the numbers dropped and I continued. On the last week, even though there was no room for me to go- everybody showed, they invited me to join again, in order to finish as the only full JMT trail hiker of the entire group. We finished off the week sleeping on top of Whitney. It did not cost my parents any more than the one week initial portion. (I think they were glad to be rid of me actually.) By the end of the last week I was hooked and I have never looked back.
